What Design Can Do: Embracing Traditions for a Sustainable Future

UnBox Cultural Futures Society and Quicksand Design Studio are country partners for What Design Can Do’s Make it Circular Challenge. Co-founder and managing partner Ayush Chauhan shares an Indian perspective on circular economies.

edible archives cuisine-agnostic menu shines a spotlight on local ingredients

Traditionally, India has always been circular in thought and design, from our understanding of ecosystems, waste management, rainwater harvesting to textiles, built environments, farming practises. We ate the last morsel of food, and waste was minimal, if any. Many Indian homes didn’t (and don’t) have a garbage bin. Households simply didn’t believe in the concept of ‘waste’—making sure to utilise everything. 

Leftover vegetables often became mixed vegetable dishes like chorchori, the Bengali delicacy. At the end of the week, leftover rice was fermented and vegetable peels became condiments. An understanding of what was being consumed allowed households to make informed and creative decisions that reduced wastage significantly. Home composting, an indigenous knowledge system passed on through generations, recovered and repurposed nutrients, allowing for a circular model to come into effect. 

Despite these historically successful practices, the Food and Agricultural Organisation estimated that 40 percent of the food produced in India is wasted every year, even before it reaches the consumer, due to fragmented food systems and inefficient supply chains. Inside the home, about 50 kgs of food per person is thrown away annually. To add to this, inefficient supply chains, lack of innovative farming options, increasing disconnect between urban consumers and food, and a shift in market practices such as the increase of e-commerce has led to a culture of bulk-buying, and wastage. 

Unfortunately, there are limited efforts to alter existing practices contributing to such massive waste generation. There is an opportunity to educate consumers to manage their food waste in sustainable ways, to implement urban agricultural practices, or introduce better storage facilities, all of which could reduce excessive food transportation, and subsequently decrease food waste and food loss in India. 

The result of these lack of efforts is a fragmented landscape, characterised by a lack of cohesive understanding and inadequate policy interventions to inform the varied interpretations of circularity.

Moving back towards a circular economy 

We now need to return from the linear model of make, take and waste, and meaningfully reincorporate circular design into how we eliminate waste, recirculate products and regenerate nature, instead of depleting biodiversity and resources, especially in an environment of rapid urbanisation, industrialisation and population growth. Our focus needs to shift to a holistic model that encompasses production, usage and disposal. 

For our society to become fully circular again, we need to change the way we design: from quick fixes to long-term solutions, from exploiting nature to collaborating with nature, from creating new materials to using what we already have.  

What design can do  

If we look at food, agriculture and value chains through the local lens, we see a lot of existing issues, as well as opportunities for design to make a meaningful difference. 

An example of sustainable food design is the Goa-based Edible Archives, an ingredient-driven and cuisine agnostic restaurant helmed by founder-chef Anumitra Ghosh Dastidar and partner Shalini Krishan. Edible Archives shines a spotlight on traditional ingredients, many of which are fast disappearing, that they either grow themselves, or source directly from farmers and local vendors, and limit waste as much as possible throughout the value chain.

Edible Archives began as a project at the Kochi Muziris Biennale where the focus was on the diversity of India’s rich indigenous rice heritage. In its current manifestation, Edible Archives shows how it is possible for a restaurant to be a catalyst for sustainability, environmental issues, and the preservation of local food traditions. 

Circular design is not new in India—as a country we are known for our frugal innovations. We need to collectively think about the future and in this context, circularity is an urgent call to action. When it comes to the food value chain, we need to identify how design can make a difference; for example, how can design introduce agricultural practices into urban spaces? How can design educate consumers to be more mindful of their food waste and where their food comes from? How can design encourage government policy to look at accessible interventions and schemes for people on the ground?

Similarly, when we also look at textiles, or built environments, the challenge that presents itself before us is to proactively think about the impact of design in our everyday lives. We need to identify the opportunities for thoughtful design and ultimately tackle some of the existing issues of waste and unsustainable practices. How can we create products that can be reused, or regenerated? 

Do you have a bold climate solution using circular design? 

The Make it Circular Challenge shows how it is possible to use creative design practices to rethink our current problems, and address the most pressing needs in order to create a more equitable future for all. 

Our partnership with What Design Can Do will bring to designers and creative entrepreneurs an opportunity to drive meaningful change by submitting their radical climate solutions using actionable circular design principles.  A circular society takes the circular economy one step further and considers the social and ethical dimensions of how people live their lives, from sun-up to sun-down.

We encourage designers and creators to dig deeper into local perspectives around circularity, and highlight specific challenges and key opportunities facing this region, and submit their design-driven innovations and projects across themes: what we eat, what we wear, what we buy, how we package and how we build. Winning proposals will be made into reality with an impact-driven development programme, an approximate €10,000 in funding and further strengthening their projects—propelling them through 2023 and beyond. Applications close by January 31, 2023. 

Submit yours at makeitcircular.whatdesigncando.com.