At present, the average American student consumes 500 cups per/year. Higher figures can be found but they are hard to substantiate. I have been collecting disposal cups for seven years. I only collect cups that I have used and I only keep the cups I have never seen before. I have approximately 300 cups.

At present, I am working with Serghei Sandacci, a PhD Researcher at the Department of Communication in the University of Plymouth, to create a demo-version of how disposable cups containing magnetic microwires can be read by recycled bins that have microwire readers built into them.

purpose
The purpose of this is to build a demo website that gives a digital count of how many cups are being put into the dispenser. This is to encourage users of cups to not only recycle their cup but also think about the amount of cups being used. Did they really need to use that cup? Could they have brought their own cup?

I will use the basis of this demo site and my cup collection to approach Tempo. I will ask them to come up with a set of briefs concerning the issues of disposable cups – should we use them but check we recycle them, or should we stop using them right now and actively seek and build alternatives?

Such questions in the proposal will be asked - Should we encourage users to recycle such cups or should we start to redesign re-usable cups? Could a cup collapse and self wash? Should ALL disposable cups be made of polystyrene? Should we market to the public why McDonalds shouldn’t be moving from polystyrene to paper cups?

The Tempo network is formally off the ground in August 2003 and will launch a website at this time. At the end of August 2003, I will propose this project to the group. In the mean time, Tempo has a manifesto and so the proposal must meet the values and needs of the group. I will therefore gain feedback from the founder of the network, Alastair Fuad-Luke and identify if the proposal is appropriate for the network.

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