world Changing Response 7 Pete

World Changing Response #7

Designing a Sustainable World pg. 83

Ah! A How to for my education! How convenient! This was actually probably the most interesting article I read, it was extremely to the point and made a great deal of sense. Of particular point to me was “Product design isn’t merely architecture for small things; it’s a field in which a whole set of dynamic and unpredictable factors must be considered.” (pg. 84) While this may be for me simply a rallying point around design, it’s telling to think about the impact that the objects we design and how they impact the environment. Manufacturers produce designed consumer objects by the thousands and they are sent out into the world and the consumer may use them as they like. The designer has little control over how they are used, where they are used and how they are disposed of when they break. But the designer has complete control on the objects ecological footprint when the object is in the design stage. The designer can pick sustainable materials, design for less material waste during the manufacturing and design the object to use less energy over its life cycle.

The problem with designers thinking sustainably is designers getting caught in the trap of messing about with purely technical details. This often falls into the range of strengths of a materials science engineer and relinquishes the designer’s greatest strength. Designers have the power to create objects of “sheer gorgeousness”(pg 84) that consumers simply cannot resist. The designer can create sustainable objects of beauty that are indistinguishable from or more desirable than their unsustainable counterparts. They have the power to make sustainability mainstream, something the consumer doesn’t even have to think about; the beautiful products are the sustainable products.