The Laboratório da Paisagem has developed the CleanUp4Guimarães project to identify and implement strategies to keep waterways free of waste. A recent study revealed that plastic and textile waste together account for 97% of the materials collected on the banks of the Selho and Ave rivers in Guimarães.
In partnership with the Laboratory, Design by OOF created an environmental awareness campaign that warns of the impact of this waste on ecosystems and the legacy humans leave for the future. The campaign used materials collected from these rivers to illustrate the persistence of waste over time and its harmful impacts on the environment.
Among the various objects collected, we highlighted emblematic items such as a Planta margarine lid from the 1980s, a packet of Ruffles with an expiry date of 1995 and even a Nokia cell phone, discarded more than a decade ago, but which remain in the waterways. The multi-media campaign was centered on Guimarães’ main square, where this waste was displayed to raise public awareness.