Core77

[ip_wirelessly]

I am not going to go into a full diatribe over why I am bringing this up as I spent an hour or so writing about it on my blog. You can get caught up here: http://www.aialone.com/pivot/entry.php?id=455

The short story is that I had bunch of small things happen this weekend that made me question the role Design plays in big issues like Global Warming.

Where is the line drawn with respect to design morality? We, as Designers, have lamented about how we generally work for someone else who is pulling the strings on the products we work on. We don't control whether or not it is a "green" product or not.

One of the things I realized was that I don't believe that humans are going to change their consuming habits unless they start to FEEL like what they are doing makes a difference. When I put a glass jar in the recycle bin there is no proof that that is delaying that glacier in Greenland from sliding into the Atlantic by a few miliseconds.

When it comes right down to it, if Al Gore is right with some of the stats he talks about in An Inconvenient Truth, Humans are going to have a LOT of water front property in the relatively near future. I don't have enough faith in the human condition to change consuming habits.

I don't have enough faith in the Corporate world to give a shit whether or not their product is "green" or not until there are some damn big ice cubes floating around our oceans causing some serious over watering of our lawns.

This isn't me throwing up my hands in surrender. It's me wondering what the hell can we, as Designers, do about this? What can we do to make the world FEEL that changing their habits will make a difference without something catastrophic occuring?

Think about it. You don't feel any consequences when you pump 75 liters of fuel into your minivan. You don't feel like you are doing damage to the planet by keeping that hall light on for your daughter because she is afraid of the dark. You don't feel like sticking your spaghetti sauce jar in a blue box and leaving it on the curb is delaying an inevitable global catastrophic event.

We're not going to stop people consuming. How can we change how we feel about the products we consume? How can we do this without asking people to alter their lifestyle?

[blaster701]

If you think about it, if everyone does a little, it will add up to a lot.

Drive a little less.
Walk a little more.
Ride a bike a little more.
Eat a little less.
Use a little less water.
Recycle a little more.
Use a little less electricity.
Re-use stuff a little more.
Buy a little but less.

Try to fix something that is broke before you throw it away.(you might learn something)

Imagine what would happen if everyone did this? The numbers would add up fast. Hey, the byproduct, you save $$!

[ip_wirelessly]

I get it. It still is one of those things that has zero feedback. There is no quantifiable means to tell me that it really is making a difference.

Put it in perspective this way. I am one that believes that something needs to be done. I would argue that I (along with most on this forum) are early adopters of this thought process.

Here's a scary observation for you. My wife is a 7th grade teacher (Grade 7 teacher for my Canadian amigos). Her observation is that kids these days have become complacent on this topic. That this is a change she has observed over the last 10 years or so. That there is a resignation to them. That the generations that preceded them fcuked things up so thoroughly, why should they care.

Now, amplify this thought process and apply that to the 2-odd billion "have-nots" on the planet right now. As they come online, and the middle class expands exponentially, caring is going to be a tough thing to convince people of. Unless we can figure out a way to do one of a couple of things:

1. Create a Feeling associated with consumerism that by doing the "right thing" works. We don't know if it will. The light at the end of the tunnel could be a train.

2. We design every product so that there is no choice but to be conscientious.

Number one seems more realistic to me. Anyone have any other possibilities?

[cg]

As designers, we have a unique social responsibility that goes far beyond personal conservation efforts.

"There are professions more harmful than industrial design, but only a very few of them. And possibly only one profession is phonier. Advertising design, in persuading people to buy things they don't need, with money they don't have, in order to impress others who don't care, is probably the phoniest field in existence today. Industrial design, by concocting the tawdry idiocies hawked by advertisers, comes a close second...Today, industrial design has put murder on a mass-production basis. By designing criminally unsafe automobiles that kill or maim nearly one million people around the world each year, by creating whole new species of permanent garbage to clutter up the landscape, and by choosing materials and processes that pollute the air we breath, designers have become a dangerous breed."
-Victor Papanek, Preface to the First Edition of Design for the Real World (1963-1970)

[ip_wirelessly]

Appropriate quote, however I have never agreed with Papenek wholly. I find him well intentioned but profoundly irritating because I always got the impression that he was an all or nothing mentality.

All or nothing meaning humans effectively have to stop consuming for him to be satisfied.

I look at the problem and agree that consumerism is out of control. That there is more crap out there than people know what to do with. But there is still demand. People still buy the crap. They buy, and buy, and buy. That want for more is not going to go away. I firmly believe that.

So rather than advocate abstinence, how do we promote prevention? How, as designers, can we design "crap" that is less crappy? Especially when the products we are creating are less the problem (except for maybe automobiles) and more the source of the materials for the products......oil and the processing of oil for plastic, the electricity to run the plants and equipment to make the products, the gases emitted from paints.

I am not a creator. I am an integrator (not sure that's the best word). I pull prefabricated materials and guide them into the form of a new product. If there isn't a chipset which consumes very little power, or a plastic that isn't made from oil, or.....

What am I to do? There is a demand and it needs to be filled. But can we change the tide and fill the need with a product that isn't harmful (Less harmful)?

Is there a "catalogue" of components that I can integrate into new designs that follow this methodology?

[cg]

How, as designers, can we design "crap" that is less crappy?

Another perspective:

"...such an approach only perpetuates the one-way, 'crade to grave' manufacturing model, dating to the Industrial Revolution, that creates such fantastic amounts of waste and pollution in the first place. Why not challenge the belief that human industry must damage the natural world? In fact, why not take nature itself as our model for making things? ...Products can be designed from the outset so that , after their useful lives, they will provide nourishment for something new. They can be conceived as 'biological nutrients' that will easily reenter the water or soil without depositing synthetic materials and toxins. Or they can be 'technical nutrients' that will continually circulate as pure and valuable materials within closed-loop industrial cycles, rather than being 'recycled'--really, downcycled--into low-grade materials and uses."
--Dust sleeve copy of Cradle to Cradle, Remaking the Way We Make Things by William McDonough & Michael Braungart

[cg]

What am I to do? There is a demand and it needs to be filled. But can we change the tide and fill the need with a product that isn't harmful (Less harmful)?

Is there a "catalogue" of components that I can integrate into new designs that follow this methodology?

THAT is an excellent question!

In my opinion, we need a new Service Mark, akin to the Good Housekeeping or Energy Star seal of approval. And wouldn't it be great if everything had something equivalent to a nutrition table, so we could measure and add up the damage?

Or how about an encyclopedia of materials and manufacturing processes that list this stuff?

Does this exist?

[melovescookies]

there's this:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_U ... ergy_label

perhaps, when consumers will demand more information about their purchases, we might see "the nutritional table" of components, their origins, etc.

eta: Also, http://www.buyblue.org/ is an example of consumers being interested in supporting a specific cause(s). Supporting companies that choose to provide fair treatment to their employees is often an environmentally better choice.

[ip_wirelessly]

Ya, but what is your perspective?

How do you apply these theories? Cradle to Cradle is well and good. But for the average design integrator there are some big obstacles to overcome if you are to truly design "green".

[melovescookies]

ip_wirelessly, was that a question to me or cg?

i don't have answers. in my current role i have very little input. i do my best as far as educating myself on various issues. cutting down the number of parts needed, not adding things for the sake of adding things "the cool stuff", never use chrome in my designs...small things like that. sharing my knowledge of environmental issues and solutions w/ staff members.

i look at it as...there's a demand for a staff designer at my company, and the truth is the most "green" product is the product that isn't manufactured, basically. but because there's a demand for a designer, i think i do a better job addressing environmental issues than some SUV driving, oblivious to environmental issues dude.

there's: http://www.sustainablesolutionsinc.net/ ... lobal.html

i don't think the consultancy where i am working at can approach the kind of work they're doing. we lack expertise and there's probably a lack of clients interested in that kind of work right now in this particular area of the usa.

[ip_wirelessly]

ip_wirelessly, was that a question to me or cg?

It was to CG, but it applies to anyone who is part of this conversation. Like most things along these lines, there is a lot of talk, but nothing actionable. Even if it is small steps, what can we do? How do you integrate this thinking into your daily grind?

[ip_wirelessly]

i do my best as far as educating myself on various issues. cutting down the number of parts needed, not adding things for the sake of adding things "the cool stuff", never use chrome in my designs...small things like that. sharing my knowledge of environmental issues and solutions w/ staff members.

Never use chrome.

That's a great example of what I am trying to figure out. What is the alternative to chrome?

I tend to think that for people to change their habits prior to something catastrophic happening, they need choices that don't feel like steps backwards.

So, no chome. But if you like shiny mirror-like metal on your products, what is an alternative that is non-destructive. Chromium 4, I think that's the number, is bad bad bad....but are there other processes that provide the same result?

[melovescookies]

Depends…I guess, really high polish steel? Or some other metal? Foils? Maybe it’s a feature that somehow is illuminated by the light in an intriguing way, or visual interest is created by layering textures and colors of overlapping bits in various translucencies? Why does it have to be chrome?

Nickel plating as far as I know is less bad for the environment than decorative chrome plating, I might be wrong.

There are multiple less toxic coatings that address the functional properties of chrome plating. Designers usually add chrome not because the function of the product demands certain parts of it to be chrome. It’s added for visual appeal. And as creative ppl I am sure we can come up with other creative ways to create that visual appeal than slapping chrome on it.

Also, I am a believer that if you’re absolutely 100% sure something catastrophic is about to happen, you might have to sacrifice some “likes” for the sake of “needs”.

I guess I’d ask myself why do I want the shiny mirror like finish? Shiny things are pretty. Why are shiny things are pretty? Because they reflect light in a delightful way. What else reflects light in a delightful way?...Gems, crystals…what not…Can I replicate that?

I guess I try to ask as many why’s as possible. I also don’t see how abandoning harmful for the environment practices is a step backwards.

[cg]

Ya, but what is your perspective?

How do you apply these theories? Cradle to Cradle is well and good. But for the average design integrator there are some big obstacles to overcome if you are to truly design "green".

I'm presently pretty ignorant of Sustainable Design. But I know that I want to learn more. Here's what I'm doing:

1) Spread the word to those who can make a difference (this thread is a start)

2) Read up! Check out my growing Listmania on Amazon.

3) Start a Sustainable Design Club at your company. I'm learning from this, creating buzz etc. This is a 'club' because I'm gathering information before taking it to management as a full blown 'initiative.'

[ip_wirelessly]

I also don’t see how abandoning harmful for the environment practices is a step backwards.

You're thinking like an environmentalist, or a designer. Not like someone who doesn't care, or believe in the cause.

There's a level of progress that has been achieved. And I believe that the perception has to be that nothing has changed. If chrome plating is needed for the design to be a success, but it isn't "chrome", it is firefly extract, the end user doesn't know any better and you are safer for the environment.

I pulled chrome plating from your example because its a widely used process. One that consumers like (seeing a LOT of it on automobiles these days). The mentality of replacing a destructive process with another one that does the same thing but isn't destructive allows me, as a designer, feel as though I am doing something positive.