“Know before you throw!” card game

Description

Developing a probe for a workshop on recycling

The goal of this project was for students to design an informative workshop and create an interactive tool to engage participants. My group tackled the challenge of waste which we later focused on recycling.

From both our desk research and surveys, found understanding the recycling code system is a major pain point for Toronto citizens. Most people do not know what the numbers mean and which ones can be recycled. Another pain point we noticed was the lack of knowledge of other small but important technicalities that can make items not recyclable (e.g. dirty clear plastic containers).  

To bring attention to the imperfect recycling habits of Torontonians and the technicalities of the Toronto Recycling System, my group designed a fun group card game to engage and re-educate participants on recycling rules.

This interactive game helps participants reflect on what recycling information and practices they know while also teaching them new information.

Moving forward, this is a great game for people who have very little knowledge about the recycling system here in Toronto.

Group members included Dawn Jiang, Justine Orbovic, and Vermont Urbanovich.

 

Process

Brainstorming

Our group first did initial desk research to problems affecting the effectiveness of recycling in Toronto. Then as a group we brainstormed and organized the issues affecting recycling into five main issues: politics and waste, collection method, education, solutions, and resources.

Group brainstorming session on waste issues in Toronto, specifically focusing on recycling.

Identifying relevant recycling issues from people living in Toronto .

Insights

One major insight we learned was that many people did not know the compost, recycling, and garbage sorting rules. And while excellent resources, like the city of Toronto’s Waste Wizard, are easily accessible to search for quick answers, they are not ideas resources for helping people learn the rules. Therefore, the goal of our probe was to create an activity and/or kit that would help teach participants waste sorting rules in a fun and engaging way that promotes long term memory of the rules.

sketches

Based on the five identified issues, we sketched and brainstormed many different activities, kits, and probe ideas to help make our educational workshop more fun and engaging for classmates. The main challenge we had was on how to create a probe that best taught participants recycling rules without making classmates feel like they were doing more homework.

Initial storyboard of the waste workshop.

Skills Used:

  • Research

  • Brainstorming

  • Prototype

  • Collaboration

Tools Used

  • Adobe Illustrator

 

Final workshop probe

In the end, our group was able to come up with an innovative educational card game that was designed to teach and test participants knowledge of recycling, composting, and garbage sorting practices.

Breakdown of the information depicted on the cards.

Real world applications

Ideally the '“know before you throw!” card game would be used in the Toronto District Public School curriculum as a fun way to teach children the proper waste sorting rules at an early age. Helping to create more environmentally aware and proactive future generations.

This card game could also help new comers learn waste sorting rules in a fun and non-intimidating way, helping teach and engage children and adults.