https://formdesigncenter.com/utstallning/plastbantarna
What would your life look like if all the plastic in your home disappeared overnight? For one month, the Hesse family lived completely without plastic, finding ways to manage everyday life using products made of wood, metal, glass, wool, and ceramic. The exhibition Plastbantarna (The Plastic Detox) reveals what happened—and what is hiding in our homes.
Photo: Daniel Engvall
Is It Possible to Live Without Plastic?
In autumn 2025, the Hesse family in Tallkrogen set out to answer exactly that question. Toys, kitchen utensils, furniture, duvets, sofas, beds, and cleaning equipment were carried out of their home and piled up in the garden before everything was transported to KTH for analysis.
The Hidden Plastic
When Emelie, Walter, Henry, and Anna Hesse had all the plastic removed from their home, the result was both surprising and overwhelming. Throughout the project, their daily lives were documented through film and interviews as they tried to live without the plastic that surrounds us—in toiletries, clothing, the kitchen, children’s rooms, and even in mattresses and cosmetics.
After one month, the family got their belongings back—but only the items that had not been replaced by plastic-free alternatives. Everything else remained with the researchers to be documented and analysed. It is this hidden plastic that you encounter in the exhibition.
What the Family Taught Us
The experiment demonstrates how deeply embedded plastic is in our everyday lives, but also that change is possible. The family’s experiences provide concrete insights into what we can actually do without, what works better when made from natural materials, and what still cannot be replaced—highlighting where innovation is most urgently needed.
The exhibition also presents new products and materials developed by companies and designers who are creating high-quality, plastic-free alternatives with care and long-term sustainability in mind.
Everyday Experiments That Drive Change
Plastbantarna (The Plastic Detox) is based on a method developed by design researchers at Green Leap, KTH: creating prototypes of sustainable futures and testing them in people’s everyday lives.
In these long-term studies—sometimes lasting up to a year—researchers examine how new products and behaviours function in real-life settings. The method reveals the norms and habits that hinder change, identifies missing products and services, and uncovers conflicts between regulations, policies, and sustainability goals.
This project shows that a plastic-smart everyday life is not only possible—it is much closer than we might think.
About the Research Project Reduce
Plastbantarna (The Plastic Detox) is part of the interdisciplinary research project Reduce, led by OsloMet University. The project explores how plastic use can be reduced through changes in design, policy, and everyday practices.
Reduce focuses on three areas: hygiene, leisure, and childhood. The researchers collaborate with designers, sociologists, historians, industry partners, and public organisations. The Swedish part of the project is led by Green Leap at KTH.