Instead of buying new plastic toys, the Play31 team encourages children to reuse discarded items for play. In 2021, South Korea's per capita PET bottle consumption was around 96 bottles (Good Design Award 2023). Unfortunately, plastic bottle caps are not easily recyclable due to their small size. The team saw potential in these colorful and safe bottle caps, and wanted to find ways for both children and adults to creatively repurpose them as engaging toys. This is how the Dodori project began.

Dodori empowers children to become climate change agents by inspiring creative reuse of materials. It features connectable blocks for bottle caps, enabling 2D and 3D creations. Thoughtful branding, packaging, and supplementary materials like stickers, worksheets, and YouTube videos enhance the experience, encouraging creativity, learning, and promoting sustainability values.

This innovative toy combines play-block toys with environmental concerns. Users can build imaginative shapes or follow guides and tutorials. Its use in schools shows Dodori's educational value, while its adaptable design allows for potential use with various materials. What a creative approach to sustainability x education x creativity.

As someone who loves Hiking, I can’t fail to introduce you “YAMAP” - Japan’s number 1 mountain climbing app. In particular, I want to highlight its feature “YAMAP DOMO”.

In Japan, if you want to “Like” or show support to something, the UI would display an “いいね” button. For YAMAP they use the term “どうも・DOMO”, to express gratitude in a larger way.

YAMAP’s “DOMO” feature is an innovative take on the traditional “Like” feature.

By allowing users to express empathy, gratitude, and encouragement, DOMO cultivates meaningful connections among individuals. Accumulated DOMO points can be used to support mountain restoration initiatives, transforming positive interactions into tangible contributions towards the betterment of the environment and communities.

Leveraging its thriving community of mountain climbing enthusiasts, YAMAP has introduced a groundbreaking circular point system. This creative solution motivates users to act selflessly, earning points that directly support the regeneration of beloved mountains. I admire how the app not only encourages sustainable climbing practices but also serves as a model for businesses to invest in the well-being and growth of their communities.

Loop is on a mission to make reuse as easy and accessible as single-use products. By partnering with brands, manufacturers, and retailers, Loop transforms everyday items into refillable versions. From your morning coffee cup to your shampoo bottle, thousands of products can then be enjoyed with less waste.

But what got me most attracted to this product, was the landing page check it out ↓

In addition to the simple and sleek website, the composition and interaction of design elements are what stand out.

At the top of the page is the tagline “リターン、リユース、リピート” (Return, Reuse, Repeat). And if you notice, the ketchup bottle movement aligns with the tagline:

Without the need to understand the company in details, the animated bottle clearly explains it with one scroll. In other words, this page was designed with full intention.

Any other products you care to share? Let me know in the comments.

See you next week 👋👋