PS

Having studied sustainability in past courses, I was are of the issues surmounting, but primarily how it applies to corporations, not designers. I learned a great deal about the design industry's impact on the environment, but that ultimately the responsibility is still held by all of us.
I would like to learn more about design activism because it seems to have a very broad scope. I like how the products serve multi functions and engage the consumer.

Reading Buddy

Though the world can be simply divided into over-consumers and under-consumers, sustainable solutions require integration of all levels. A characteristic shared by both populations is ignorance on the state of the world. Over-consumers are educated, but don’t understand their role or ability in global issues. Under-consumers are ignorant, simply because they are focused on survival. “Under these conditions, quality of life remains an abstract expression. These people are striving to meet basic physiological needs, permanently stuck on the bottom of Maslows hierarchy of needs (Fuad-Luke).”

 Sir Francis Bacon told the world that “knowledge is power” in 1597. His words carry more weight than ever as means towards a sustainable future. Many of the environmental and social issues facing us today are due to a lack of education and a division among populations. I propose a line of  shirts with short stories and visual aids printed on them to be sold to the world of over-consumers, and with the purchase of one shirt, an identical shirt is distributed to an under-consumer. The shirt given to the under-consumer will have the exact short story printed on it and will act as a wearable “book” to aid in literacy. Attached to each shirt you purchase will be an online code which will allow you to track a match to your shirt and the recipient. You can then be put in contact with your match and you have a “reading buddy” across the world.

This line aids in literacy for the under-educated population and brings awareness to the fact that 3 billion people in the world can’t read at all. This is a concept that could be adopted by a children’s book publisher and a large brand such as Hanes who has the resources to develop the software to accompany the line.  

The Big Picture

Humans today have become inextricable with natural resources, so much so that they take from nature what they want and demand it to replenish itself.  The concept of biomimicry demands that humans learn to mimic the biological systems of nature. This concept gives way to nature’s principle that waste equals food in that “the very concept of waste does not exist.” (McDonough) From this notion, comes two proposed metabolisms – the biological metabolism (cycles of nature) and the technical metabolism (cycles of industry.)

Cradle-to-cradle is a related concept that opposes the traditional cradle-to-grave production cycle. Cradle-to-cradle works within either a biological metabolism or a technical metabolism and doesn’t consider the life of a product to end with one use. In discussing these concepts, the Roehner video argues that the question isn’t growth or no growth, the question is, can we follow nature’s laws?

I propose that instead of considering one product’s life-cycle, or one company’s product, we challenge the entire manufacturing industry to create a cradle-to-cradle approach. This concept could be considered more biomimetic in that it will mimic an entire ecosystem’s life-cycle, instead of just one individual. For example, as a tree cycles through its stages over the seasons, it is not self-reliant, it instead creates and utilizes the resources of other animals or plants cycles. The manufacturing industry should resemble a thriving ecosystem by working together to fuel each other through its outputs so that nothing goes to waste. This concept incorporates both metabolisms instead of separating the two because the natural outputs and the technical outputs can both be captured and sold to another factory needing the resource.

While designing cradle-to-cradle products themselves is important, on a larger scale it is vital to consider the entire production industry as a cyclical. Competition for resources is traditional, but cooperation is the future.

For Lease

Industrial Ecology is closely related to biomimicry in that it mimics nature’s processes on an industrial scale. Building on last week’s concept of efficacy in design, this week I the concept of leasing programs. Instead of selling garments to consumers with no control over the full life-cycle, companies should implement programs where they take back the clothes when the consumer is “finished.” “The unspoken assumption of all textile practice is that it results in a finished product,” adds Bradey Quinn in Textile Futures. Returned garments will be rewarded with a discount on their next purchase. This would require from stores “substantial changes from retailers, redesigning their manufacturing expertise to also include repair, etc.” claims Kate Fletcher in Fashionable Fashion and Textiles. This concept can be supported by nature’s principles of using waste as a resource and using materials sparingly. As materials come back into the supply chain, less materials are consequently used and waste in the landfill diverted.

"We are surrounded by genius," Janine Benyus, Biomimicry

"What if our economy were to deliberately look and function like the natural world in which it is embedded?" (Benyus) A not so new concept, biomimicry, could be the answer to sustaining life on Earth, however its wide-spread application is, as always, the problem. Her concept of biomimicry calls us to draw on nature’s multi-billion-year-old investment in research and development of how to not only survive, but flourish. Having read Benyus’ book, Biomimicry, she defines the concept as the imitation of life using nature as model, as a measure, and as a mentor. Biomimicry and Industrial Ecology, another aspect of this approach, have similar principles. In Industrial Ecology, Gradeal clarifies this concept to be an “approach to industry-environment interactions to aid in evaluating and minimizing impacts.” In short, whereas biomimicry generally pertains to product design, IE is the mimicking of nature on a process/production related scale. For a simple and further illustration of Industrial Ecology, see the video below.

In chapter seven of her book, Benyus discusses how human separation from nature was the outcome of the Industrial Revolution. “The farther removed we became from nature in our attitudes, lifestyles, and spirituality, the more dependent we became on the products of [the Industrial Revolution] transformation,” she states. The planet has suffered as a result of our irresponsibility and dependence on consumer products. Indeed much can be learned from nature that could unite and sustain human life on Earth. As inhabitat.com websites slogan claims, “design can save the world,” a large amount of change can take place if design processes revered sustainable approaches. A potentially useful design concept to promote a sustainable future would be a focus on efficacy by producing products of true worth.  Efficacy in design mirrors nature’s principle of optimizing versus maximizing. “The lesson is to slow down the throughput of materials, emphasizing the quality rather than quantity of new things,” clarifies Benyus. She later references how companies focus primarily on product turnover, creating products with a short life cycle - on purpose. This short life-cycle means those products end up in the landfill at a relatively fast rate. Instead, designs should focus on functionality of the product. If a product is functional, its longevity will increase. For example, the dress below can be worn twelve different ways, and utilizes only one piece of fabric.

An argument against producing garmets that have longer and more fuctional lifespans may be that the designer will sell less over a period of time. This elongated turnover process, however, can be offset through utilizing hand-made processes. This adds more value to the product, and thus each is worth more and can be priced higher. Hand-made products eliminate high environmental impacts related to industrial manufacture and require significantly less production resources.

The Three R’s – reduce, reuse, recycle, are in an order for a reason. While reuseing and recycling do have an affect on our impact, they are reactionary approaches. However, reducing our use of products is a proactive approach to a sustainable future. Steps to an overall consumption reduction can begin with a focus on creating functional, lasting, and well-made products. As consumers, we should begin demanding quality over quantity.

2050

“’Winners’ acknowledge the negative as well as the positive possibilities of tomorrow, but believe that we have considerable power to determine which possibilities are realized,” defines Tom Lomardo in The Futurist: Thinking Ahead. Pessimism and optimism are key in determining the outcome of our futures and determining our stories, according to the psychologist. The current chapter in the story of mankind’s reign over Mother Nature is a dim one. We are now called to visioneer the future of a sustainable world, and it calls each of us to realize we are “winners” with the ability to do so.

By the year 2050, I expect to the people of the world to have taken hold of their story so that it may continue. We have created a highly interconnected world that is highly dependent on natural resources to sustain it. The ever-increasing consumerism is driven by industry’s desire to sell more and they consequently feed off each other; thus both the consumer and the producer at a fault for this pattern. I believe by 2050 there will be a different kind of connection between consumer and producer, one of consciousness for the triple bottom line – people, profit, planet. This will require a sense of efficiency of resources, appreciation of community, and working with the planet instead of against it. One must come to believe in a finite physical planet to understand efficiency need. Poverty and environmental degradation of people’s homelands must be connected to instill a sense of community. We must begin to model our operations similar to nature by using renewable resources and only producing waste that can be reused.

According to Durning in Limiting Consumption, what is lacking is the practical knowledge and what it means to “meet current needs without jeopardizing the prospects of future generations.” Main factors holding society back from sustainability is the lack of widespread knowledge on the concerning issues and a world marked by indifference, indecision, status quo, and a lack of vision, according to Kim and Oki in Visioneering. Conveying a new vision for the future, contrary to the consumption based one at present, can be communicated through the existing power of the advertising industry Duning references We must reorient the message to condone one of permanence and remember “We do not inherent the Earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children.” (Kim and Oki)

Shades of Green

Today’s consumer faces an ever-increasing variety of products, accompanied by product information. According to “Eco-promising: communicating the environmental impacts of your products and services,” nearly half of consumers are confused about the differences between Fairtrade, ethical and organic products. This confusion is driven by a lack of standardization amongst environmental production platforms as well as a level of dishonesty in marketing schemes.

Eco-promising, according to the article, is the practice of making claims about the environmental attributes of products. There has been a surge in environmental reporting and due-diligence amongst businesses in recent years and often times these claims are third-party certified. However these certifications, in addition to new company specific standards, have ultimately muddied the waters for consumers. There is currently debate over the forward direction on labeling schemes. The Eco-promising report states that some advocate for a single unifying logo/label that could merge or overlap on existing labels, while others believe more separation and detail is called for.

Companies are making eco-promises in order to begin the development of a regulatory framework, but also to enhance their reputation and grow sales. Eco-promising often gives way to greenwashing which is the process of “misleading the public by stressing the environmental credentials of a person, company, or product when they are unfounded or irrelevant,” simply states the Greenwash Guide. Companies often make an eco-promise on one aspect of a product, misleading consumers to believe the entire product is environmentally conscious. Clorox’s Green Works cleaning supplies line is an example of greenwashing. While their product has 99% all-natural ingredients, the packaging and processing is the same as their other lines. The name and the label misrepresent the scope of its “green impact.” Seventh Generation is a strong example of eco-promising done right. Their product’s ingredients are non-toxic and their packaging is fully compostable and made from recycled fiber. The entire company is dedicated to environmental sustainability, which yields to higher transparency.

“In a market economy the consumer is king, and consumers have started sending strong environmental signals through their purchasing” claims the Greenwash Guide. As the green marketing rises, consumers must be overly aware of company claims to environmental stewardship. The Greenwash Guide tips that if a claim seems off – it probably is. Become familiar with the main third-party labels and be sure to look past the green leaves and flowers on packaging.