Designing packaging to make a mark – Botito: The robot that comes from the bin

Rubbish is useless… until it is useful. And in this abyss between the discarded and the transformed, Botito appears. A robot that does not come from the future, but from the rubbish bin.

Botito achieves what few objects can: give a message, provoke reflection and invite to play.

It is assembled from household plastic waste -caps, shampoo, deodorant and detergent containers- joined together by an elastic cord. It does not go through industrial processes, it is not melted or re-injected into moulds; it is simply reconverted and re-signified.

Each unit is unique and unrepeatable, with random combinations of colours, shapes and textures that do not conceal its provenance, but celebrate it as an essential part of its identity.

In a world that insists on producing everything the same, in series, without nuances or traces, Botito stands proudly as a creation with history and character.

Robotic love

The project was conceived more than a decade ago by José María ‘Boti’ Rodríguez and Daniela Czajkowski, a couple who decided that environmental education could begin with play, but not just any game, but one that invites us to look at waste with different eyes.

With patience, creativity and commitment, they began to give workshops where boys and girls learned to revalue discarded objects, turning them into toys with soul, with purpose and with a fair share of irreverence. José María wrote to me, and when we met, he put an army of Botitos on the table. All different, but all carrying an irresistible logic. At that moment, I knew that something had to be done with them.

At tridimage, we get involved in pro bono projects with a social impact. Those that give you the creative freedom to do something impactful. We’ve done it before, and we knew we could do something good for Botito.
We know we are on the right track, because the project is a candidate for a Pentaward, the packaging Oscar, in the sustainable packaging category.

BOTITO AMARILLO
BOTITO ROSA

A packaging like no other

That was the challenge. Each Botito is different, because it is put together with what is available, with what appears, with what others discard. So, making a tailor-made box was useless. The solution was to think of a universal backing, a support that functions as a stage, a containment and a symbol.

That’s where the idea of the waste basket appeared as a visual metaphor. Because Botito is born from discards, and the packaging had to do it with that same philosophy. What packaging material to use? It also had to be made from discarded material.

It was clear that it had to be made of moulded pulp, and there was a clear name: Pulpak. Their plant processes tons of post-consumer cardboard into moulded parts, a concrete example of circular economy in action. They accepted the challenge to make packaging that was as innovative as the content, and was the perfect partner to put the idea into practice.

Designed to make a mark (a good one)

Botito is not just a toy. It is an excuse to talk about what we often don’t want to see. It is an educational tool that enters through the eyes and stays in the head. And it’s also proof that design can do more than just ‘look good’: it can make sense, have impact and generate conversation.

Unlike so much packaging designed to outlast the content it protects, this one was created to be repurposed. It can be recycled, composted – both at home and in industrial systems – and cycled back into the raw material.

But before that, it fulfils an essential function: it transforms. Not with a slogan or a flashy label, but with its form, its texture, its materiality and its teaching. It integrates naturally into circular systems, leaving no trace… except the inspiration to rethink waste.

Equipo botito

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