anyone else think a "green curriculum" is a crock?

there’s been a lot of noise recently in my i.d. department to integrate green practices and sustainability into the curriculum. apparently, i’m the only person i know who thinks this is all nonesense. i can understand the moral rectitude of incorporating sustainability into manufacturing processes and even material engineering, but i don’t feel that school is the appropriate place for such time wastage. in my opinion, design school should be a place to learn how to design things. when you graduate and rise to some position of influence where obscure issues like “green” are even in the ballpark, then, maybe, just maybe you’d have the right to voice your little environmentalist agenda, but otherwise, maybe we should all learn how to DRAW first. any thoughts. all hippie anger welcome.

wow some real innovative thinking goin on here! its important that you retain that narrow minded ideal of what id should be. it’ll come in handy when you get that coveted gig designing wire shelving for drug marts.

If all you want out of your I.D. education is a glorified version of your high school shop class than you exemplify all that is wrong with the profession.

I’d love to think that green is little more than a feelgood hippie crock, unfortunately, if you want to work in design, especially in the industrialized world outside of america, you will have to learn it or be bypassed in alot of jobs. American companies that sell products in Europe, i.e., knoll, 3m. motorola, ford, what have you, have to have designers who are up to date on this stuff as it is law there and has been for 15 years. You shoot your career in the foot by calling something like this crunchy and hippie, it has been, and is a growing part of the business paradigm. not knowing about green is like not knowing about nanotechnology, or computers, sounds great, but don’t end up letting your assumptions about where we are now let you get left behind.

I think green design will continue to increase in importance with regards to the value which design and engineering can add to a product. Remember, design is all about adding value to a product (unless you want to comiditize the product, but in that case, the chinese will always be able to make your product cheaper).

As for integrating sustainable and environmental factors into a design curriculum: I think it could be great if done right. Could you describe in more detail how your school is planning to implement this?

i think youre looking at this in the worng way. First of all, I doubt they will replace your sketching classes with sustainability lectures, so calm down. I think implementing green education into the curriculum is great, especially in the market you are in today: we waste incredibly, and having an edge in green methods will only give you an advantage against your rivals in the market.

so, look at it as another tool youll be able to learn, not a crock of whatever…you will be grateful later.

Being forced to join the Sierra Club is a crock. Learning to design with integrated green practices and sustainability in mind is not. Learn your materials. Learn how you create and materials you use effect the environment. That does not mean your design will be forced to save a spotted owl or close off wetlands to public use… it just means you are aware of how design and the enviroment are symbiotic. School is the most appropraite place to learn that.

ok…if thats what they are doing then your school is taking it too far

jbeuys7,
i suppose i am one of the hippies you are referring to here. i wonder why you feel taking into consideration that which sustains and maintains life is ‘time-wastage’? what would you rather spend time on?
there are two ways to look at the increasing importance of taking into account resources and life when creating and designing- you can be angry at being ‘forced’ into considering such ideas, or you can embrace the additional challenge and value added to the profession. designers are at a point now where we can lead the world into more sustainable lifestyles, or we can fight and ultimately lead humans more quickly to the depletion of natural resources.

be happy you have the opportunity to create change through the thing you love, design.
jw