Fabric waste management
Design thinking - Urban research - Service design - Ciruclar economy
This project explores ways to reduce fabric waste from piling up in landfills and promotes sustainable practices that benefit both the planet and its users. It aims to promote a circular economy and addresses the sustainable development goal of ensuring sustainable consumption and production patterns.
Field visit
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One-day class trip to Commercial Street in Bangalore, a bustling shopping hub.
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Explored numerous shops and interacted with shopkeepers.
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Identified problems in need of solutions.
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Returned to class, listed observed problems, and each chose an issue to develop a solution for.
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Approximately 40 tailors on Commercial Street.
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Noticed fabric waste often ends up on the road or piled in corners for disposal.
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Some tailors send these fabrics for recycling.
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Decided to explore alternatives for fabric waste disposal.
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Conducted secondary research on textile waste and its pollution.
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Considered repurposing old clothes piling up in households for environmental betterment..
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Desk research
Secondary research was conducted to understand the types of textile waste generated and its environmental impact. This research also explored current recycling and upcycling trends in the market. Here's a snapshot of the sources referred.
A quick walk-through of the project so far,
Empathize
Interview
A short interview was conducted with the tailors from Commercial Street as primary research.
Interview questions
1. Who do you take orders from?
2. What type of tailoring work do you do?
3. What materials do you work mostly with?
4. What do you do with the fabric waste?
5. How often do you dispose of them?
Fig. 06: Responses from primary research
Ecosystem mapping
Ecosystem mapping is a visual representation that displays all the entities involved with respect to the subject.
Fig.07: Ecosystem mapping of tailors
Fig.08: Ecosystem mapping of recyclers
Fig.09: Ecosystem mapping of Textile waste generation
Define
Problem statement
Personas
Fig.10: Persona 1
Fig.12: Persona 3
To develop a service design that helps in reducing the disposal of old clothes and fabric waste in landfills and promoting the use of sustainable products.
Personas were created according to the research that represents different user types involved in the service.
Fig.11: Persona 2
Fig.13: Persona 4
Ideate
The ideation stage is about iterations of service design that could address the problem statement.
Fig.14: Iteration 1
Fig.15: Iteration 2
Fig.16: Iteration 3 (final)
The final service design idea involves an organization that collects old clothes and collaborates with tailors to create small-scale recycled products, such as pouches, hair bands, and small bags, based on customer preferences. A designer will facilitate communication between customers and tailors. Additionally, a reward system for customers who donate clothes to the organization could be implemented, where they receive points from brand stores upon providing proof of their donation.
Prototype
The prototype is a potential service design solution to address the problem. This section includes journey maps, a business model canvas, and a value proposition canvas for the proposed service design.
Journey map
The journey map explains 2 scenarios
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The journey of old clothes donated by the users and how it is processed further
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The journey of user purchasing a customized product
Fig.17: Journey map of the user when they donate clothes to the organization and the rewards they get from donating
Fig.18: Journey map showing how sustainable products could be made
Business model canvas
A business model canvas is an overview of the service in terms of resources, types of customers, and financial resources. It helps to understand what is needed in order to build and deliver a service.
Fig.19: Business model canvas for the proposed service
Value proposition canvas
The value proposition canvas describes the value provided by the service.
Fig.20: Value proposition canvas of the proposed service
Test
To test the feasibility of creating sustainable products from fabric waste, I collected fabric scraps from Commercial Street and gave them to a local tailor, asking him to make a pouch. Here are the pictures of the pouch made from the fabric waste.
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Limitations
There are a few limitations associated with this project and the proposed service. The primary research data is limited, and additional research and interviews with recyclers are needed. Regarding the proposed service, not everyone may have branded clothes to present to the store for reward points.