A lot of people are getting used to the term sustainability. A time that is coming up a lot more in design education to fight Climate Change. As a designer, you play a pivotal role in the fight against climate change. 

The truth of the matter is, the world is f*cked. Climate change is such a huge issue that Sustainability needs to be an underlying principle that needs to be incorporated into your Design Process. Only then can we help turn the tide on a wasteful design culture.

We got ourselves into this Mess

Unfortunately, as a Designer we have to understand that we are responsible for a lot of the pollution, plastic, and carbon emissions that help contribute to the situation we’re in. In defense of the designers who came before us, they didn’t know the impact at the time. 

It’s easy to blame the powers that be. It’s easy to say that businesses and CEOs of the past few decades are responsible, in a sense that is true. But also, the designers of those businesses who helped create and market the products and materials, help put us here.

But this presents an opportunity, as we are the ones who are at the forefront of change. It is up to us to research and discover ways to reduce emissions, plastic pollution and create products that help reverse the damage we’ve done. If design got us into this mess, it will be the design industry that gets us out. 

This is a topic that should spark a fire under your ass. This affects all of us. In this post I’ll show you how we got into this situation and how we can use this as an opportunity to innovate our way out of it.

How Climate Change has Changed

I was raised in Aberdeen, Scotland. A city known as the Oil Capital of Europe. The entire economy of the city depends on the price of a barrel of Oil. My family and friends work in the Oil and Gas industry.

When I first started my design career, my first job was for a company that provided eLearning for Oil and Gas companies that were sending their staff offshore. At that time we were aware of Climate Change, but it seemed like the repercussions would be decades not years away.

If anything, I was kind of looking forward to the prospect of Scotland getting some sun for a change! Looking back now, that was a very naïve attitude to the situation.

I was introduced to Sustainability when I began Product Design education. We had to pick a product, then work out what materials were used, then break that down by where the resources came from, and worked out how much emissions were caused to create that product and get it to you.

This totally changed the way I think about my work, and hopefully, this post will change the way you think about yours. 

We know that Climate change is happening NOW. Wildfires are far more common and far more dangerous. Extreme floods are sweeping parts of the world. 

How will Designers be Affected by Climate Change?

Everyone across the world will be affected by climate change. As Designers we solve problems with creative solutions. Climate Change is a problem that you must address in your Designs.

Climate Change affects all fields of Design too. Your clients and their businesses will be affected by it. By providing a solution that takes the problems that will affect that company into account you’ll be innovative and provide a lasting solution to your client.

What is Climate Change?

The climate crisis started after the Industrial Revolution, when we started using factories and production lines to create our products. Making things suddenly become much, much easier.

The factories caused the burning of Fossil fuels, such as coal, oil, and natural gas for energy. When these fuels are burned, it releases carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. This carbon dioxide is pollution and gets trapped in the atmosphere, like someone farted in an elevator. 

The more carbon that gets released into our atmosphere the more the problem grows. The pollution in the atmosphere is affecting weather patterns on Earth, known as Climate Change. The earth is now experiencing rising temperatures, extreme weather, changes in rainfall, and a decline in biodiversity. Our polar ice caps, glaciers are melting resulting in rising sea levels. Animals are going extinct. Grim.

Although it may seem doom and gloom, there is hope. People often talk about Doomsday, the moment of which there’s no return from the climate crisis and the damage is irreversible. A day when we will just have to give up… What these predictions fail to mention, is human resilience. 

After Doomsday are we just going to stop trying to fix this? Probably the opposite. By then, there will be more companies pushing to create a net positive impact on the environment. Companies that will be doing so with a little help… from their design team.

How can YOU start Fighting Climate Change now?

Every design field will have it’s own climate issues and ways of tackling the problem. As we aim to provide a resource for the transferable skills in Design, this blog will give an overview of techniques that you can incorporate into any design process that will reduce your solution’s environmental impact.

By making sure we factor in the long-term environmental impact of our designs we can help push toward making sustainability a standard practice for all designers. 

Now is the time to start thinking about Sustainability in your design practice. In our Design Process post we mentioned you should take note of and adapt your Process. By adding Sustainability into your Process, you can ensure that you will be looking for the best environmental solution on every project.

Learn from your Local Environment

The best way to start practicing sustainability is to think of your design impact on a local level. 

For starters, sadly, one very easy thing to spot is plastic pollution. Plastic is derived from fossil fuels, with 4% of the world’s petroleum production being used to make plastic. In 2021, this account for approximately 850 million tonnes of greenhouses gases put into the atmosphere. For all that plastic, less than 12% is recycled.

Go for a walk and look at all the plastic you find polluting your woodlands, beaches, city, town, etc. Do you really want to help contribute towards that? If you do opt for plastic in your design, you can ensure it is disposed of properly.

10 Ways you can Incorporate Sustainability into your Design

1. Use sustainable materials

Use materials that will reduce the environmental impact of your design. Reduce your use of plastic in packaging by replacing it with paper based materials. Use energy-efficient materials like Bamboo or reclaimed wood. 3D print your prototypes with alternative plastics, like Bio Filaments. Use sustainable Fabrics, like Cotton, Hemp, Soy Silk and Pinatex.

2. Use Local manufacturers

By using a local manufacturer, you are more likely to get a better quality result than sending your design to a factory abroad. It helps boost the local economy and builds a rapport between you and the local indutsry. 

3. Life cycle analysis

Put consideration into what happens to your design once it’s in use. You should plan how long your customer will use it for and how it will be disposed off. What happens after the design has served its purpose?

4. Design modular elements

Designing for Adaptability is a great way to futureproof your design solution. If possible have elements of your design that can be swapped out and upgraded. When something doesn’t work anymore, just swap it out with something new without replacing the whole design.

5. Encourage clients to adopt sustainable practices

You are the designer. It is up to you to influence the design. If your working for a company, try persuade them to consider sustainable practices. Make decisions where you can to make the design as sustainable as possible.

If your freelance, your client might not have any idea of sustainable design practices, so it’s up to you to show them. 

6. Use digital tools

Digital Tools definitely reduce the energy needed to get to a final solution. Before computers, billboards were hand painted and required a large amount of time and skill to produce. Comment below if you are interested in learning about Design software.

7. Design for Multifunctionality

Design for one solution to tackle multiple problems. Reduce the need for additional products. The tiny home and vanlife design industry, who don’t have a lot of space to work with, are incredible at designing for multi-purpose.

8. Reduce Waste in the Design and Production Process.

Waste not, Want not. Every project has waste, but you can take certain steps to optimize it. When cutting make sure you make full use of the material, cut close to the edge rather than in the centre of your material. Find a use for your offcuts, or try use the offcuts from other companies.

9. Biomimicry

Biomimicry is using nature as inspiration for your design. One great example, comes from Japan. During the building of their bullet trains, they used the beak of a kingfisher as inspiration after seeing how little they splash when diving. You can find out more about Biomimicry in this Vox Video.

10. Design for Age

Speaking of Japan, there’s an amazing concept that comes from Japanese Craft, Wabu Sabi. Wabu Sabi is the thought that somethings will look better with age.

The best example is an old cup that has been enhanced when cracked and put together again with gold rather than thrown away. Take time to wonder what will your solution look like in 20 years time?

If you employ Wabi Sabi, the aging process will have added character to your solution rather than wanting to throw it out.

Conclusion

Sustainability is now becoming one of the ways we can validate our designs. This time, instead of measuring the impact of our design on our user, we focus on the Environment.

Sustainability is a very important topic and one that will show up on this blog often in the future.

Are there any design topics you want covered in a Blog Post? Let us know here.