Design Blog: Sustainability

After discussing sustainability in the introduction to in our design for sustainability class today (12/9/21) , I noticed more and more so especially in where I work how nothing is built to last,I work in the warehouse of an electrical shop and all day I bring out new televisions and recycle old however it’s not solely Limited to televisions all appliances are scrapped sooner rather than later, we're living in a consumer world.

You’re telling me in 2021 we can’t design a television to last a lifetime?

The fact things are being designed to fail has been known for generations yet nothing changes

I hate to sound nihilistic but unless we as a society make drastic changes(which we won’t) we are heading down a path of irreversible damage.

However, to keep up with changing technology is the real problem

You’d need to design something that could be completely interchangeable with new designs and still long lasting/ or design it to be environmentally benign, so the manufacturing and recycling of the product has no negative impact.

DESIGNERS PART IN SUSTAINABLE DESIGN

Planned obsolescence to keep users hooked on purchasing products.

Designers must make the sacrifice for an ethical production. It’s natural for humans to be ambitious and wanting to gain profit for themselves. Designers need to take accountability for sustainable design. We shouldn’t take the easy option of saying oh A products initial design was intended to be positive but it was corrupted down the manufacturing line by corporations looking for mass production and unsustainable methods. That’s bullshit, a designer should stand firm and not allow companies to uphold malevolent resource harvesting and the mismanagement of waste into the environment.

For too long designers have allowed this to happen for monetary gain and success at the jeopardization of upholding decent Morals. This is obviously in an ideal world but smaller measures can be made in the right direction. I realise designers aren't the sole reason for these issues but they are in a position to make change and anew wave of sustainable design needs worldwide support.

Designers have gained success and profit from companies for designs that are not environmentally friendly. We need an economical revolution where designers make the morally right decision to not allow designed to be corrupted and made at the consequence and destruction of our planet. I understand the blame for this eventually cataclysmic situation we find ourselves in cant be laid solely at the feet of designers. I put it down to human thinking "what can I do I'm only one person" this mentality of its not my problem is the real source of the issue. We need a combination of reform across all aspects of this consumer world we live in, especially from mass corporations that are causing gargantuan damage to the environment every second of every day.

one statement that has stuck with me is Just 100 companies have been the source of more than 70% of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions since 1988,

I've also covered a redesign of the tobacco industry which can be found on my main projects page id definitely recommend you take a look if you're interested in sustainable business models.