In collaboration with REDUCE-researchers Nina Heidenstrøm and Marie Hebrok, project partner from The Norwegian Museum of Science and Technology Tone Rasch has developed a module based on project results that is permanently placed in the existing plastic exhibition. The module contributes to the planned updating of the exhibition.
The film documents The Plastic Detox (Plastbantarna) project conducted by KTH in the REDUCE project. In an unusual experiment, KTH researchers empty the Hesse family’s home—only to rebuild it again, this time almost completely without plastic. For one month, the family will use objects made of wood, metal, glass, wool, and ceramics. The big question in the film is: Can you live a good everyday life without plastic?
In this TV clip on the morning news on Swedish TV4, Professor Sara Ilstedt and experiment participant Emelie Hesse are interviewed about the Plastic Detox (Plastbantarna) project as part of the REDUCE project. About becoming aware of being surrounded by plastic items in such an overwhelming way, about what was easily replaced and what could not be replaced. And most of all about all the things that vanished and are in fact not missed.
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.
Despite mounting concern about excessive plastic consumption, global industry continues to flood the market with plastic products. At the same time, consumers are urged to swap plastic spatulas for wooden ones and plastic bottles for steel. Responsibility is thus shifted onto individuals rather than the systems that drive production.
Listen to REDUCE researcher Harald Throne-Holst responding to breaking news as Norway tops new statistics showing levels of plastic consumption per capita across the world (in Norwegian).
A recent article published by Consumption Research Norway (SIFO) and REDUCE researcher Ingun Grimstad Klepp and co-authors reports from a project funded by the Norwegian Retailers’ Environment Fund.15 textile companies have been interviewed about actively trying to phase out synthetic textile fibres, or not using these types of fibres at all. What do they consider essential for stopping plastification? Their views are summarised in the article and in a policy brief that can be downloaded here.
We know we use more plastic in outdoor clothing than in most other categories, and that our garments affect both people and nature. But we still know little about how to change this — and what we stand to gain by spending time outdoors with less plastic.
This project report from the REDUCE project explores how everyday plastic consumption can be decreased through political, social, and design-driven measures. The analysis shows that the plastic problem has historically been framed primarily as a waste-management issue—placing too much responsibility on consumers while paying too little attention to production systems and upstream drivers.
The REDUCE team at KTH in Sweden has cleared the home of a family of plastic and replaced every item we could with plastic-free alternatives. For one month, the family then attempted to live entirely without plastic while we documented the experiment through interviews, film, and diary entries.
