ETON is a finalist for the Siemens Home Appliances Design Award 2020, enabling users to sort waste responsibly at home and thereby creating a simple, yet sustainable lifestyle experience.
The goal of the Siemens Design Award 2020 was to create a product that reflects global trends of sustainable living while facilitating the tension between sustainability and personal experience.
ETON’s purpose is to simplify a sustainable lifestyle. Two billion tons of household waste are produced every year – a number, which needs to be dramatically lowered. ETON offers a solution which works for the current stage and still works, when we have reduced the amount of waste. The design allows waste to be properly processed and reduces transport volumes.
The Process
After the concept was selected as a finalist, I offered the valuable feedback of changing the entry points of the bin from the side to the front, making accessibility easier. We then had six weeks to build the exhibit.
My initial task within the group was to build the interface for the corresponding app and to implement a display into the product. In the end, I largely contributed to the re-design and building of the physical product as well.
Using product design technologies I had never heard of before, we built the basis of the prototype using the Lamello connecting system. After letting the glue dry, we planned on spray painting the model, however the color never quite looked glossy enough. I suggested foil-coating the model, which luckily worked out rather well.
The others 3D printed tubes and a display mount while I finalized the app and display animation.
After finishing all separate components, we then assembled them into ETON.
ETON enables the end-user to take comfortable action, until further political steps have been implemented.
ETON scans the waste immediately. Afterward, it is shredded and automatically separated. An integrated vacuum system means that fewer waste bags are needed, and costs are automatically reduced.
The additional functions in the app allow used products to be added to a shopping list, which makes people control the food and packaging consumption much easier, enabling conscious supermarket shopping and saving resources.
