This document discusses the environmental impact of credit cards and proposes ideas for more sustainable alternatives. It notes that most credit cards are made of PVC plastic, which is not sustainable. Research in the form of surveys and interviews shows that people receive many credit cards in the mail and often throw old cards away without recycling them. The document then proposes three approaches to creating a more sustainable credit card: 1) altering the purchasing system, 2) finding new uses for old cards, and 3) raising awareness of overconsumption. It asks questions about changing the material of cards to something more precious in order to encourage thoughtful use. A prototype is presented for a credit card made of recycled PVC that could be converted into a solar panel at the

1. Environmental Impact on Money
environmental impact on money
InYoung Kim
Gemma Glasser
Hyemi Lee

2. Problem Environmental Impact on Money
PVC • particularly hardy type of plastic
premature ventricular complex
• resistant to oil and chemicals, sunlight, weathering and
flame resistant
• ranks the third in global plastic output
• over 33 million tons of PVC is being produced each year
• around 57% of PVC mass is chlorine
PVC wastes

3. Environmental Impact on Money
How Can we create a green design intervention
for the process of the credit card as well as the material?
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4. Research Environmental Impact on Money
Survey Questionnaires
1. How sustainable do you think credit card is?
2. How often do you get a new credit card?
3. Do you ever keep your old credit cards?
4. If yes, have you used them for anything else?
5. Do you think it is wasteful to throw them?

5. Research Environmental Impact on Money
1. How sustainable do you think credit card is?
2. How often do you get a new credit card?

6. Research - survey Environmental Impact on Money
3. Do you ever keep your old credit cards?
4. If yes, have you used them for anything else?

7. Research - survey Environmental Impact on Money
5. Do you think it is wasteful to throw them?

8. Research - interview Environmental Impact on Money
• Knows the system of credit cards
• Most of her cards were received through the random mails
Kelly from companies
28 years old
Banker • Receives several credit cards each week
• It is one of the ways how firms reaching out to the new
customers
• As a marketing plan, companies let people to choose options:
materials, characters, and design
Q: How sustainable do you think credit card is?
A: Since most of the credit cards are made of PVC, it is clearly
not a sustainable at all.

9. Research - interview Environmental Impact on Money
• Has 14 credit cards in her wallet
• Receives several credit cards each week
Clair
24 years old • It is one of the ways how firms reaching out to the new
Fashion Merchandiser customers
• keeps them and recycles them with other plastic materials
“There should be more ways to recycle credit cards.
Many of my friends are just throw them away because
they cannot do anything with them”

10. Research - observation Environmental Impact on Money

11. Idea Environmental Impact on Money
1. intervene in the actual system -
create an idea that would alter the act of purchasing
2. address the actual material, or energy system -
by creating a new job for these pieces of plastic
3. create something more conceptual -
bring awareness to how unsustainable our consumption
via credit cards is

12. Process Environmental Impact on Money
combining all the ideas...

13. questions Environmental Impact on Money
?
• what would happen if the actual material of the credit card
was altered?
• How would this simple alteration change or perspective
through material?
• what if there were lace ones?
• What if a credit card was a more precious object,
one that was fragile, that required thought and
care when used?
• What if it was more like an eco-system?
• If everyone used such a thing, how would that change
consumption habits?

14. PVC recycling system Environmental Impact on Money
collects PVC transports PVC to the factory pulverizes PVC
PVC solar panel compounds PVC

15. Prototype Environmental Impact on Money

16. Prototype Environmental Impact on Money
Front
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17. Poster Environmental Impact on Money