Laura Smith
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losmith.bsky.social
Laura Smith
@losmith.bsky.social
Designer | Researcher | Making sense of complex systems | Director of Unwaste.io, using data to tackle global plastic waste
You couldn't make this up.

BBC News - Post Office paid £600m to continue using Horizon
www.bbc.com/news/article...
Why the Post Office paid £600m to stay shackled to the faulty Horizon system
Not owning crucial code has meant it has been unable to replace the system that led to a scandal.
www.bbc.com
April 25, 2025 at 6:14 AM
You couldn't make this up.

BBC News - Post Office paid £600m to continue using Horizon
www.bbc.com/news/article...
Why the Post Office paid £600m to stay shackled to the faulty Horizon system
Not owning crucial code has meant it has been unable to replace the system that led to a scandal.
www.bbc.com
April 25, 2025 at 6:12 AM
I let my kids text certain friends from my WhatsApp. I can see their chats + they can't join groups. That's our policy until we're comfortable with them having their own phone. But now..f-ing Meta AI. They think it's their friend. I have muted, deleted repeatedly but you can't turn the fecker off
April 8, 2025 at 5:06 PM
Reposted by Laura Smith
Unwaste.io published its monthly data report about #SingleUsePlastic and who produces it for July 2024

Although data is collected in real time, our data team typically spends a while validating and curating it

www.unwaste.io/data/2024-july

@tonyrwalker1.bsky.social @ronsteenblik.bsky.social
March 19, 2025 at 1:35 PM
That Zelenskyy Trump Vance video...wow. If those two had the capacity to feel shame they would be quivering in a corner right now. Talk about disrespect...just, wow.
February 28, 2025 at 6:32 PM
Just in case people aren't aware - as the world slowly comes round to the idea that we should reduce use of fossil fuels, oil producers spare no expense to fill the gap in demand with other products, plastic being a biggy. This is grim.

www.politico.eu/article/saud...
How Saudi Arabia became the world’s plastic cheerleader
The rich oil state has built a team of silver-tongued U.N. negotiators with a simple mandate: keep plastic production growing.
www.politico.eu
January 15, 2025 at 11:57 AM
Just today, I've been asked to 'unwrap my year' by both @tescoofficial.bsky.social Clubcard and Miro.

No, I don't want to be reminded how you're capturing data on my every move and using it to sell your product.

Can we stop this now please
January 10, 2025 at 1:54 PM
Interesting selection of options from Avanti West Coast Delay Repay service. There is no good reason why they need this information. It's also making me even more p*ssed off that I have to define my marital status to claim a refund. Obvs I chose 'Lady', as that's what I am. #BadUX
January 6, 2025 at 8:26 AM
Our little team at Unwaste.io has grown quite big this year. We've got a fantastic bunch working across marketing, engineering, logistics, funding and UX. Great to get together today (though jealous of Moz team in the Maputo sunshine).

Thanks to @cameronordsmith.bsky.social for the language lesson!
December 20, 2024 at 5:59 PM
Fantastic piece, read twice already. Relevant for anyone working in tech, service design, user research and, most importantly, AI. Thanks @lmsacasas.bsky.social

To Hell With Good Intentions, Silicon Valley Edition open.substack.com/pub/theconvi...
To Hell With Good Intentions, Silicon Valley Edition
The Convivial Society: Vol. 5, No. 14
open.substack.com
December 20, 2024 at 10:39 AM
I made a video of myself in a Santa hat to get people to sign our Christmas plastic pledge. Original, I know. I'm a geriatric millennial, I don't really get how to do this sort of thing.

www.linkedin.com/posts/unwast...
Unwaste.io on LinkedIn: #merrycleanmas #litterpick #litterpicking #plasticwaste #plasticfree…
JOIN our Christmas Clean Up Campaign 2024! 🎄🧹 We’re hoping YOU will pledge to picking up and scanning one piece of plastic waste in your area this festive…
www.linkedin.com
December 16, 2024 at 9:06 PM
🪂📍
Did a movie emoji quiz last night. This one stumped people. Fairly recent, very famous movie. Anyone?
December 12, 2024 at 6:24 PM
Do you like Christmas AND data? Of course you do!

How about signing up for the Unwaste.io Christmas campaign? Make a pledge to pick up and scan a few items of plastic waste and add to over 425k data points on our global monitoring portal.

More info in here: www.linkedin.com/posts/unwast...
https://unwaste.io
Unwaste.io
December 12, 2024 at 10:33 AM
www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/... This is one of the most horrific stories of state-sponsored abuse I've heard in a long time. Very well produced. Hope these women and their children get a higher profile now.
Missing Pieces: The Lesbian Mothers Scandal - BBC Sounds
An investigation into the legacy of court decisions separating children from lesbian mums.
www.bbc.co.uk
December 9, 2024 at 9:41 PM
Sometimes I feel like I need to read a book because the person sitting beside me is a reading a book and may be silently judging me for looking at my phone, even though I read lots of books. i just need to get through my Tesco order but I still might actually get my book out wtf is wrong with me
December 7, 2024 at 2:03 PM
I have a bit of an obsession with instructional signs. Just found this one in my 'archive'. So much said in so few words.
December 7, 2024 at 11:35 AM
👋 Hello new followers from the last few days (mostly service design peeps from @louisrosenfeld.bsky.social 's Advancing Service Design conference) but also a sprinkling of people interested in plastic pollution.

Feeling a lot safer to post here than on X, hopefully will say something interesting...
December 6, 2024 at 11:02 AM
www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...

Fantastic episode - a founder who developed a specialist travel insurance company around the needs of people with health issues. 'User centred insurance' isn't a natural phrase...
You and Yours - Gap Finders: Fiona Macrae - BBC Sounds
Fiona Macrae set up travel insurance brand InsuranceWith.
www.bbc.co.uk
December 5, 2024 at 6:34 PM
Getting my son an iPhone when I use Android was a big mistake. Apple do not make it easy to do anything at all if you are not fully immersed into Apple World.
December 5, 2024 at 6:08 PM
This is depressing. When I studied food policy almost 15 years ago, food banks were not yet 'normalised' and there were many smart people and organisations proposing systemic solutions to the complex problem of food poverty. It needs holistic thinking, wide ranging solutions.
"There are an estimated 2.9m people in England with malnutrition.

Hospital admissions resulting in nutrition-related diagnoses in England increased by more than 39% over the past decade. Malnourished children are being treated for scurvy, bow legs, rickets and heart murmurs."
Who can afford longevity in a cost-of-living crisis?
We all need a healthy diet. So why are politicians normalising food banks and allowing malnutrition and associated illnesses to rise?
eastangliabylines.co.uk
December 5, 2024 at 10:57 AM
"We tend to design for people with 5 senses." This sentence from @fastfinge.interfree.ca in his talk at #AdvancingServiceDesign really made me sit up.
December 4, 2024 at 2:54 PM
Been thinking a lot about this Oz social media ban. Two opposing thoughts: 1) I want to protect my children from harm 2) I want my children to learn to navigate and get the most out of the digital age they're growing up in.

I'm falling on the side of 'total ban is not good', because...
December 4, 2024 at 12:35 PM
www.moneysavingexpert.com/team-blog/20... Will give this a go - food bank collection calendar from @trusselluk.bsky.social . Obvs @martinlewis.moneysavingexpert.com gives extra tips on how to get the most out of your donation 👏
The 'reverse Advent calendar' challenge
Use MSE's reverse Advent calendar for inspiration on donating to a foodbank for each day of Advent. Created with the help of Trussell.
www.moneysavingexpert.com
December 3, 2024 at 10:22 PM
I don't think Beth Berry is on here yet but I'm reading her book - Motherwhelmed - and it's like she can see inside my head.
December 3, 2024 at 9:46 AM
Oohh just noticed that when I reposted a link from LI it removed the camel case from the hashtags. Why @linkedin.com, why?

#Accessibility #ContentDesign
Anyone interested in digital PROMs (patient reported outcome measures)? We're hosting a roundtable and sharing some of what we've learnt - a few places left. Good for digital healthcare folk, service designers working in healthcare.

www.linkedin.com/posts/unboxe...
Unboxed on LinkedIn: #healthcareinnovation #digitalhealth #proms #patientcare #roundtable
🌟 Join our upcoming roundtable conversation: The untapped potential of PROMs We’re excited to host a virtual roundtable on 10th December (9am-10am GMT)…
www.linkedin.com
November 29, 2024 at 12:40 PM