Our world is powered by electronics, but its chemical pollution is already becoming a new colonialism of our environment and contamination in our food chain. 

 

Project "The Sweeeet Side", is a sweet cart operated by humans and bacteria Acidithiobacillus Ferrooxidans, together creating sweets consisting of wasted pure copper through a Bioleaching and cooking process. With our bacteria assistant, the pure copper is extracted from the e-waste and becomes purified enough to return to nature/the human body. The consumers are encouraged to recycle their e-waste as the new currency, witness the process, and enjoy the tasting experience as a reward. Copper is one of the essential minerals the human body needs and this sweet will benefit our body as a supplement. This project aims to raise the possibility of connecting the material flow of the metals from the industrial system and our future food chain, as a sustainable interconnected ecosystem.

 

If we have the alternative of reusing the valuables from E-waste, future urban mining would go beyond simply handling industrial obsolete left by our digital society. Instead, it generates a new food resource that humans physically need. To combat E-waste is a long journey. We may start imagining our sustainable future with a small but sweet bite.