I came across the following Greenpeace video which paints a bleak picture of the impact of the smart phone revolution over the past 10 years or so. The constant drive to own the latest and greatest smartphone is having a huge impact on resources and the environment, and this is unsustainable. The video suggests a solution in the form of circular economies, closed production cycles, where today’s waste is recycled and reused in tomorrow’s products. Within this there are significant design challenges, in developing products that are designed to last, are upgradable and recyclable. Requirements of end-of-life recycling, re-use and disposal need to play as important a role in the design process as in-use requirements.
https://www.facebook.com/greenpeace.international/videos/10154685683663300/
But the challenge is much greater than that, as illustrated in this second video. Parker is an aspiring designer/inventor who has undertaken the challenge of producing a better cup for Starbucks, a cup which is recyclable. After a long slog she produces a working concept only to have the cup rejected. It’s a bit cheesy, but also highlights an unfortunate truth, designing better products is not enough. We all know that the most successful products are rarely the best products, e.g. VHS vs Betamax. For a product to be successful it needs to have so much more than a good design of the thing itself. The economic conditions have to be right and the social conditions have to be right. At the moment unsustainable products have the upper-hand in both of these, so how can designers change the balance?
https://www.facebook.com/storyofstuff/videos/10156017957830884
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