Big Ballot Bin
Reducing littering through play
Brief
Redesign the Hubbub Big Ballot Bin (BBB) to better reflect Hubbub’s playful, purpose-driven personality, enhance the user experience, and ensure the design is commercially viable for scalable production and real-world use.
Narrative
Hubbub is a creative charity that's making environmental action make sense, for people, communities, and businesses. The BBB prototype tested with Ellipsis Earth proved to decrease littering.
Outcome
Having begun work in 2023 the Hubbub Big Ballot Bin launched in November 2025, with the first installation at the Co-op arena Manchester polling Busted v’s Mcfly.
The Big Ballot Bin is a customisable, high-capacity bin that lets people vote with their rubbish. Every throw turns something dull into a bit of fun sparking competition, conversation, and cleaner streets. Tests through Elipsus Earth showed it captures 2.5 times more litter than a regular bin. It’s more than just somewhere to chuck waste, it’s a clever tool for changing behaviour and a platform for engagement.
Hubbub
Our project with Hubbub was not the first Ballot Bin launch. The team launched the original Ballot Bin back in 2015, a bright yellow voting ashtray. Smokers cast their vote by dropping their butt into the slot beneath their chosen answer and watch it add to the tally through the clear front panel.
Design for repair & materials
The Big Ballot Bin has been designed with longevity in mind. The electronic components sit inside a dedicated box that can be easily removed and repaired off site. The screens are protected with an anti-vandalism film, so any graffiti can be peeled away prolonging the life span of the product and preventing further invitation to damage the product. The main components—door, face, caddies and all—are designed to be repaired or replaced individually, extending the product’s lifespan and the body is made from mild steel and finished with a tough powder coat for protection against the elements. Built to last, but also built to be looked after.
User experience
Testing the prototype revealed plenty of valuable insights—most notably, making it easier to change the question cards. Changing the question cards originally required users to remove the bin liners and climb into the main body. By adding a lift up face we were able to make the user experience much easier and more intuitive. We also learned that outdoor environments are unforgiving; power stability and water resistance needed refining to ensure the bin performed reliably rain or shine. On top of that (literally), the anti-littering top helps tackle a surprisingly common behaviour: the ‘tidy littering’ habit, where people balance rubbish on top rather than putting it in. A small design tweak, but one that makes a big difference to how the bin is used.
Aesthetic
The bin’s friendly face perfectly captures the spirit of Hubbub—approachable, playful, and human. Thanks to a touch of pareidolia, it feels almost alive, smiling back at you from the street corner. Despite being made from formed steel, we softened the geometry to bring warmth and personality to what could easily have been a cold, industrial object. The ultra low-power flip-dot display adds a subtle glow in the dark, using energy only when the count updates—smart, efficient, and a little bit magical. And when Hubbub partners with others, the colour accents can be swapped out to match partner brands without losing the character of the design.
