This article explores the application of Activity Theory (AT) and Bloom’s Taxonomy to inform the design of sustainable behaviour interventions. Activity Theory, with its core concepts of externalisation and internalisation, provides a framework for understanding cognitive processes and user interaction with tools and environments. Bloom's Taxonomy can categorise these processes into higher-order and lower-order thinking skills, offering a structured approach to encourage sustainable actions. Aligning externalisation with higher-order skills and internalisation with lower-order skills expands our understanding of learning and behaviour change. This analysis proposes guidelines for tailored design interventions that consider the cognitive levels of the subject identified by Bloom’s Taxonomy. The purpose of this study is to propose and illustrate a decision-support framework that integrates Activity Theory with Bloom’s hierarchy to guide the selection of sustainable behaviour interventions. Through the theoretical analysis supported by a case-based example, this study operationalises Bloom’s Taxonomy with AT to select appropriate sustainable interventions and aligns these interventions with the components of the AT triangle, allowing a strategy for achieving sustainable behavioural outcomes by addressing tensions in activity systems.

 This paper reports on the practical application of a recently developed design tool, Shame Cues, which is a card deck created to help designers understand, reflect upon, and discuss social concepts related to shame and other self-conscious emotions. It consists of 64 cards divided into 16 categories, explaining how shame manifests itself in society and through concepts such as awkwardness, guilty pleasures, euphemisms and taboos. The tool has been tested in various workshops and for different contexts, mainly concerning social challenges focusing on stigma and taboos. Changing the focus toward sustainability, this paper reports on applying Shame Cues in the context of waste disposal and littering. While Design for Sustainable Behaviour provides a rich repertoire of design strategies to stimulate sustainable practices, scrutinizing the user research that has informed these littering cases reveals that aspects of shame, guilt, and hedonistic motivations have received limited attention. Addressing sustainable behaviour through a “shame lens” may lead to different insights about the suitability of Design for Sustainable Behaviour strategies and open for more empathic approaches rather than forceful ones. For this case study, the tool was made available to professional designers and design researchers without prior focused attention on shame as part of user research. The workshop was recorded and analysed, and the results were jointly discussed. This allowed for conclusions on two levels, considering both theme and method. Firstly, how can using the shame perspective inform the design process and expand the solution space in the context of littering? Secondly, what is the learning potential for designers when encouraged to look through a “shame lens”, in comparison to the default situation of applying design for sustainable behaviour strategies in which shame does not play an explicit role?

Acknowledging the inherent complexity of many sustainability challenges, and the shortcomings of traditional linear approaches in tackling them, we have seen a rise in design-driven approaches, which are deemed better suited in handling socio-cultural, economic and environmental implications. Existing literature shows that products and services guided by EcoDesign concepts have the potential to promote users’ behaviour towards a sustainable direction. However, due to the primary focus on the material aspect of design (e.g. environmental impact, reusability and recyclability), there is a lack of guidance for incorporating the behaviour perspective of users into the design research phase. This research aims to develop a framework to help designers determine factors that can possibly impact the behaviour of the target user. The study draws on theoretical insights obtained from a non-exhaustive literature review (observed to be driven by Global North perspectives) and a meta-synthesis of five case studies, primarily situated in the Global South. The findings showed that to influence users’ behaviour through design interventions, the designer would need to account for various determinants. We summarized these determinants into three lenses—context, culture and intent and then developed a conceptual framework based on these lenses. We believe this framework can guide designers in selecting relevant user behavioural determinants in their design research phase, thus supporting them in identifying what factors should be considered for introducing design interventions to promote sustainable behaviour.

“Cook and eat” meal kits from pre-packaged food delivery services provide exact portions of ingredients required for specific recipes, promoting sustainability by eliminating food waste in the cooking process. However, these services often overlook some of the current consumer behaviours associated with their use. This study aims to explore consumer behaviour regarding the use of meal kits in the Swedish context, with a particular focus on the sustainability of these behaviours. Applying activity theory as the theoretical framework, this study explores how consumers interact with meal kits during the ordering, cooking, storing and disposal and identifies potential areas for service and packaging improvement to promote sustainability. The methodology used includes a combination of qualitative survey (24 answers), in-depth interviews and observations with 4 households to gather data about consumer cooking practices and perceptions and self-reporting from 3 of the authors. Specifically, the study focuses on the operational layer of activity theory, analysing the routine actions and adjustments consumers make while interacting with meal kits, which directly and both consciously and unconsciously impact food waste and its sustainability. Considering the harmonies and tensions found between the consumer, the meal kit, including the recipe, the food, and the packaging, and the homemade meal, the findings show that while meal kits ease the cooking process and save time, they are perceived as having excessive packaging and do not completely eliminate food waste as promoted. Design suggestions include considering returnable packaging systems, offering ingredient replacement options, providing freezable and microwavable recipes, and including new cooking guidelines such as taste-testing steps. These changes can better align them with consumer needs, and potentially reduce the impact of consumer use, reducing food waste and increasing the sustainability perception of the system.

New food delivery systems with returnable packaging are currently being implemented to reduce the amount of single-use packaging waste. This study aims to study the behaviour of the users of these services, gaining a better understanding of the environmental impact of the usage process by considering the users' doings. A simplified life cycle assessment is conducted based on qualitative data gathered through interviews, surveys, and user diaries. This assessment is taking, as a reference, a Spanish company which offers returnable packaging, and it involves the participation of consumers who use this type of packaging. The study applied the outcomes of the returnable packaging usage process and compared them with single-use packaging, considering different consumer choices, such as transportation for collecting the packaging. The results of the analysis show a significant percentage of CO2 allocated to the container transport compared to the other activities carried out throughout the cycle of use of the packaging such as its cleaning, or how it is handled together with the food. Based on these findings, a preliminary packaging design is proposed, considering the design lens for sustainable behaviour and the less environmentally sustainable behaviours identified in the analysis data. Understanding the environmental impact of the different steps in the process of using these packaging enables the optimisation of the service and packaging so that the user can take and recognise more sustainable alternatives when ordering returnable packaging.

In an era where food packaging plays a dual role in both reducing food waste and contributing to global packaging waste, this study presents an analysis of packaging-free systems. As governments and organizations attempt to address the environmental impact of single-use packaging, packaging-free alternatives have emerged as a promising solution. However, there is a need for a comprehensive assessment of environmental sustainability and its alignment with consumer behaviours and preferences in this growing type of grocery system. Considering this need, this study employs an integrative literature review process, selecting 51 research articles. This selection was classified into three principal areas: the characteristics of packaging-free services, the dynamics of consumer behaviour and patterns from a household perspective. This review evaluates the effectiveness of packaging-free systems, exploring the factors that drive consumer adoption, the obstacles to transitioning and the relevance of theoretical frameworks like the theory of planned behaviour (TPB) and practice theory (PT) in understanding and assessing the sustainability of these alternatives. The result of this study is the identification of significant research gaps and opportunities, leading to a comprehensive research agenda. This agenda emphasizes the need for a more refined understanding of consumer classifications that extend beyond standard demographic metrics, delving into aspects like household structures, dietary preferences and regional variations. The study highlights the limited scope of existing literature by advocating for a holistic grocery analysis that blends packaging-free and conventional shopping practices to understand more realistic grocery scenarios, as not all products are available in packaging-free alternatives. It also underscores the importance of integrating environmental assessments with consumer behaviour studies to see the sustainability of the systems beyond reusable containers. Additionally, this research sheds light on the relatively unexplored area of online packaging-free services, questioning the sustainable implication of incorporating online alternatives in grocery practices, and suggests a broader application of theoretical frameworks, including activity theory (AT) as a new perspective to achieve a new understanding of these systems. Lastly, contributing to the overall understanding of packaging-free systems, the study concludes with a SWOT analysis that briefly identifies strengths in environmental sustainability and consumer awareness, balanced against weaknesses like data gaps and complex consumer decision-making processes.

Within design for circular economy, the power of the inner loops is frequently stressed. The closer one can stay to the original product, retaining its shape and value, the better it is thought to be from a circular economy perspective. One of those loops, inside of material recycling, is repurposing: re-applying parts and materials with a pre-use history in new and different applications. Showing the history or previous life of the material is then deemed a value-adding aspect.

Repurposing, or upcycling, has worked well in artistic one-off solutions, but presents challenges when scaled to higher volumes, due to fluctuations in material flows and the challenges associated with processing larger volumes of waste streams. However, scaling up of repurposing is required if a meaningful environmental contribution is to be achieved.

By contrasting four cases, analyzing previous design projects, on 1) railway timetables into consumer products, 2) on turbine blades into playgrounds, 3) truck tarps into bags and 4) on dining room chairs into wooden games, we explore when and how repurposing makes sense and when it doesn’t.

We explore how well expected material stream volumes match proposed applications. We contrast what would be the alternative, outer-loop process for each material stream, and how future looping is affected by the repurpose loop. We re-assess the ‘inner loop’-principle using the concepts of flexibility of application and batch entropy. We argue that in terms of circularity and sustainability, in cases where the waste material can be recycled well, such a route through the outer loop back to inner loops, may be preferable to opting for the tighter ‘repurpose loop’ if that represents a high change of spinning out of your control and ending-up in incineration.

This paper reports on the practical application of a recently developed design tool, Shame Cues, a card deck created to help designers understand, reflect upon, and discuss social concepts where shame and other self-conscious emotions play a central role. It consists of 64 cards divided into 16 categories, explaining how shame manifests itself in society and through concepts such as awkwardness, guilty pleasures, euphemisms, and taboos. The tool has been tested in various workshops and for different contexts, mainly concerning social challenges focusing on stigma and taboos. Changing the focus toward sustainability, this paper reports on applying Shame Cues in the context of waste disposal and littering. While Design for Sustainable Behaviour provides a rich repertoire of design strategies to stimulate sustainable practices, scrutinizing the user research that has informed these littering cases reveals that aspects of shame, guilt, and hedonistic motivations have received limited attention. Addressing sustainable behaviour through a “shame lens” may lead to different insights about the suitability of Design for Sustainable Behaviour strategies and open for more empathic approaches rather than forceful ones. For this case study, the tool was made available to professional designers and design researchers without prior focused attention on shame as part of user research. The workshop was recorded and analysed, and the results were jointly discussed. This allowed for conclusions on two levels, considering both theme and method. Firstly, how can using the shame perspective inform the design process and expand the solution space in the context of littering? Secondly, what is the learning potential for designers when encouraged to look through a “shame lens”, in comparison to the default situation of applying design for sustainable behaviour strategies in which shame does not play an explicit role?