Sustainability is the ability to endure, to carry on, to keep going. It is a widely used term that applies to almost every living thing on earth. Plants and trees have survived for millions of years, feeding off the carbon dioxide in our air and allowing life to grow and expand. It is only in the last 50 years or so that the growing population of this planet is becoming a problem, and as we eat away at the earth's natural resources, designers and scientists are being called on to find an alternative solution.
“The Earth: our fragile home, perhaps unique in an infinite universe, a habitat of limited resources and a finite capacity to support life.
Ever increasing demands on resources, caused by human overpopulation, the impact of contemporary western lifestyles, expanding industrialisation, the huge disparity between rich and poor and other issues is bringing widespread degradation and destruction of the natural environment on which all life ultimately depends. Clearly this trend holds dire consequences for the human race and other species.”
http://www.towards-sustainability.co.uk/
Design For Sustainability?
Design for sustainability is basically, in my eyes, design with environmental and social responsibilities. The aim of which is to find alternative solutions, that will allow us and the planet to carry on for a while longer. I personally feel that the solutions are out there, but until more people start to become aware of the problems, they might not be discovered as soon as we'd like. There is no good can be done until people realise that the earth is fragile, and that we all have to work together.
The intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is being put under more and more pressure to reduce carbon emissions, in an attempt to slow climate change. But in reality it is up everyone to reduce their carbon footprint in hope of a brighter future.
“We are also living in a world where over a billion people live on less than a dollar a day, more than 800 million are malnourished, and over two and a half billion lack access to adequate sanitation. A world disfigured by poverty and inequality is unsustainable.
Unless we reconcile these contradictions, we face a less certain and less secure future. We need to make a decisive move towards more sustainable development both because it is the right thing to do, and because it is in our long-term best interests.”
http://www.defra.gov.uk/sustainable/government/
A carbon footprint?
“A carbon footprint is a measure of the impact our activities have on the environment, and in particular climate change. It relates to the amount of greenhouse gases produced in our day-to-day lives through burning fossil fuels for electricity, heating and transportation etc.”
http://www.carbonfootprint.com/carbonfootprint.html
If I'm being honest I don't keep track of my carbon footprint, and just about everything I do, even adding to this blog, means that fossil fuels are being burnt for electricity which is currently powering my computer. And if I could do something about that I would, but the reality is that the alternatives are either too expensive or not as efficient, and I don't think people are going to spend that little bit extra, for a little bit less. That's why it's up to us designers to get out there and find something that works to everyone's liking.
The 3 pillars of sustainability?
The 3 pillars of sustainability play a big part in the way companies assess themselves in terms of sustainability. The three pillars themselves are known as the economical, environmental and social pillars, but are more commonly known as the 3 p's. People, profit and planet.
People refers to the social aspect, and basically means how a designer considers society. When they apply this to a design they are trying to see how their product or solution will effect social issues, such as politics and ethics. If their product or solution effects these areas in a good way then it can be considered sustainable. It not only this that makes something sustainable in terms of design. They also have to think about the environmental effects where the designer has to consider how much of our resources will be consumed for production, they also have to think about the environmental effects of the materials they choose, if they will harm the earth once disposed of, or are they biodegradable? In my eyes this part of the design process could make or break a product as more people are becoming environmentally aware. The 3rd pillar is based on economics, or profit. A product will fail if does not make a profit, because no one in their right mind would make something for a loss. A designer has to think about how economically viable their idea could be. It is my opinion that while all companies, at the moment, consider these pillars, they do so as individual pillars. I think the best example of this would be mobile phone companies, who really only look at profit and people. I see new phones out every week, each just that little bit better than than the last, each phone edging their way forward just enough to make people go out and buy them, abandoning their old phone in a drawer. This is known as planned obsolescence, and is deliberate of the companies to maximise profit, leaving much smaller companies like Enviro-phone to clean up the mess.
Eco-Efficiency?
“Eco-efficiency is a management philosophy which encourages business to search for environmental improvements that yield parallel economic benefits. It focuses on business opportunities and allows companies to become more environmentally responsible and more
profitable. It fosters innovation and therefore growth and competitiveness.”
http://www.wbcsd.org/web/publications/eco_efficiency_creating_more_value.pdf
Eco-efficiency is simply a means to producing a better future. For me, the future is not in the hands of companies today, but in the hands of the people that will one day work for those companies. And while introducing this to companies now will show changes to the way people think, I feel it can have a much greater effect if children today are taught to think like this.
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