Green washing anyone?

Is refillable the solution to single use plastic bottles?

👨‍💻What if there's another solution?

If the goal is to stop the use of single use plastic water bottles, then you can’t say refillable bottles are a successful solution. People are still buying bottled water.

If the goal is to reduce waste, then it’s still a failure.
Complicated designs feature over-moulded grips, seals, valves, springs, clips and screws, making them hard to disassemble and recycle.

Single use is very recyclable… when it gets recycled. ♻

1️⃣ A good solution shouldn’t add to the problem.
2️⃣ A good design should change behaviors.
3️⃣ A good idea is adopted by the masses.

💡 Being a Dyslexic Designer and Lateral Thinker forces me to look at things from alternative angles, identifying solutions that aren’t obvious to linear thinkers. We’re creative thinkers, fault finders and problem solvers.

🔍 When a solution is found it’s easy to call off the search for better ideas, we don’t look back to analyse if it’s the best solution.

🧠 A linear brain pushes forward with one solution, not looking back. Whereas a dimensional thinker takes time to understand the issues, explore multiple opportunities and evaluate potential options with a holistic approach.

🚮 The market is saturated with badly designed bottles, its doubled down without looking around to check for an out of the box solution.

🔅 So what’s the alternative?

🌍There is no doubt the world want's an end to plastic bottles in oceans and landfill. As designers we have the creative brainpower to explore alternative ideas that can push towards a better future.

A good start could be to remove badly made, hard to recycle products from the market, leaving a handful companies manufacturing refillable bottles who offer a full circular service (which I know some exist).

What are your thoughts?
Who does it better?

Don’t worry about sounding professional. Sound like you. There are over 1.5 billion websites out there, but your story is what’s going to separate this one from the rest. If you read the words back and don’t hear your own voice in your head, that’s a good sign you still have more work to do.

Be clear, be confident and don’t overthink it. The beauty of your story is that it’s going to continue to evolve and your site can evolve with it. Your goal should be to make it feel right for right now. Later will take care of itself. It always does.