Information Design class focuses on environmental wellness related to our daily waste with students self-tracked data.

Environmental wellness is the way you feel about, respect, and protect the world around you. It inspires us to live in harmony with the earth by taking action to protect it. There are many aspects associated with environmental wellness and how our behavior and motivation may interact with nature and the social environment. In the Information Design class, third-year visual communication design students spent one week to collect quantitative and qualitative data related to their daily waste and how different types of waste were disposed. The self-tracked data were then visualized for the purpose of identifying connections and patterns to reveal insights of how thoughts, behaviors, habits, packaging materials, and environmental conditions could affect our waste disposal methods.

Many students felt the data collection activity made them to be more aware of the amount of waste and the types of waste they generated in their daily lives. The data collection process and the visual results also provoked evidence-based discussions of considering waste disposal in relation to individual and social behaviors, as well as structural policies and infrastructure needs.