First year students redesign breakfast to be more sustainable

A glimpse at some recent student work, from senior workshop tutor Richard Brett:

“Ecology of Breakfast introduced the Ecology and Design module to Year 1 BA Design students, using the familiarity of food and drink to present themes of ecology and sustainability, and to investigate their relationship to design practice, making, consumption and waste.

Students were asked to bring their breakfast with them to eat, drink and share during the session, and we set up the teaching space in a refectory style. Using the tablecloths provided, students mapped and analysed the lifecycle of their breakfast to better understand where materials came from and where they went once discarded. They then looked at ways to apply principles of sustainable design to reduce the ecological impact of their breakfast and presented their ideas to the group.

Students questioned the speed and disposability of breakfast, suggesting ‘break-slow’ as a more considered alternative, while others suggested single-serving cereal pouches that dissolve in milk. The group also explored the potential of supermarket rooftops to provide locally produced ‘zero air miles’ fruit and salad veg to the shop below.

Hopefully the session will prompt students to begin to confidently question the implications of using materials and processes they may initially know very little about as they develop their studio projects in the design studios and workshops.”