This week the class was instructed to read about the concept of unproduct, a new concept of design/design thinking addressing issues such as climate change. After reading Russel Davies’s (http://russelldavies.typepad.com/planning/unproduct/), Greenormal’s (John Grant) (http://greenormal.blogspot.com/) and Ben Terrett’s blogs (http://noisydecentgraphics.typepad.com/) I will try to contribute/discuss the main ideas in this post.
Design for sustainability involves delivering services instead of only products, encouraging companies by promoting government eco-policies, increasing public demand for eco-friendly solutions and designing a sustainable way of life in a capitalist/consume-driven world.
“Material reductions are made possible by recycling, by the use of renewable materials made from things that grow by miniaturization and by replacing goods by services. Energy reductions can be achieved by lightweight design of transport systems, by the optimized thermal management of buildings and by increased efficiency of energy measure of all is that of increasing product life […] people don’t discard possessions they love” [Ashby, M. and Johnson, K. Materials and Design: the art and science of material selection in product design, 2002]
Designers certainly are responsible for climate change, rises in energy consumption and excessive usage of certain materials when we design without thinking or taking full responsibility of the impact our design will have in the environment. However, design is a reflection of the society it is embedded, when consumers started demanding environmental-friendly products the market radically adapted delivering several solutions to be acquired by consumers. To name a few, cars powered with hybrid/totalflex/electric/hydrogen (Honda FCX Clarity) technology, biodegradable materials, recyclable materials, and energy-efficient lights.
Some governments even created especial credit funds / tax cuts for sustainable companies or environmentally concerned companies, i.e. Brazil. Petrobras has inaugurated buildings in Rio de Janeiro most of the heating of the building is made by reusing hot air created by sun light and the building also filters rain water to use in toilets flushes or cleaning purposes. Votorantim is growing fields of plants and trees in areas determined by the government.
To reinforce even further better design solutions the companies must be legally responsible for every packaging, material consumption and waste disposal. If we consider fast food industry for instance we clearly can notice how much packaging and rubbish is generated in a single meal. In almost every case the bills to collect all the garbage is directly sent to public agencies/governments, living all the profits to the private sector. Japan has recently reviewed some environmental policies and some effort is being made to tackle this specific issue.
Empowering designers not only as CEOs would certainly change how to design, trying to achieve long lasting products and increase the range of services provided by the market today. I personally believe public transport ought to be encouraged and private means of transport should be overtaxed. As an example, in Recife/BR, less than 20% of the population drives a car, and to attend this sector of the society governments spend hundreds of millions of reais in highways, traffic lights, infrastructure to attend this “need”, while the vast majority (80%) of the population uses public means of transport that are considered expensive for the greater part of the working class and are usually delayed with an old bus fleet.
During and after the Great Depression (1929) products were built to last less in order to increase consume / companies income. Most of the products developed today are not meant to last more than seven years, cars included. How can you change the need for a product? Offering services. In Stockholm you are able to pay a month subscription for a car service, which is very different from having one just stuck in the garage or at the parking area at work. The user phones to the service provider and schedules his car timetable accordingly to his needs of private transportation. Honda is offering something similar in the US with its new FCX Clarity. The consumer can subscribe for this hydrogen/electric vehicle at the cost of USD$600 per month for three years with maintenance and insurance included. Considering a wide range of services not only for cars, but also for appliances prices would get low very rapidly.
Energy consumption is growing every year, and it doesn’t seem it will reach stability in the near future. BRIC is growing fast and it is demanding a lot of energy to grow more than 5% every year. Brazil, Russia, India and China have plans to distribute estate personal computers for every child in order to provide a better education. Nowadays in Brazil, it would be necessary to build a nuclear power station to deliver this energy and the country would still have to invest in other energy sources to keep its growth rate.
To tackle this problem I remember an interesting concept, there was one project developed by military forces that used mechanic force in regular activities to pump water from the ground in remote areas. In small villages it would be possible to convert regular park activities in playgrounds into pumping force. Another project developed this concept further and though about developing countries and its many citizens that still use bicycles as their mean of transport, travelling around 40-60 minutes every day. If every citizen had a personal rechargeable battery that could be plugged to a mechanical system that converted mechanical force into electricity it could be possible to power a single bulb, a small laptop, a cell phone for a small amount of hours. However, the social revolution, a simple although complex idea would make is unimaginable. If a poor child with a estate personal laptop could use it for a single hour after school it would make the difference between “digital illiteracy “ and a globalized education. If a farmer, after work, could make his cell phone work for 20 minutes he would be able to call and find out about prices (mobile phones are already being used by poor countryside families for this matter however they struggle with electricity). If a housekeeper could travel home and be able to power his television for two hours without cost it would make a difference. Now if we start thinking about getting energy from other mechanical/thermal sources used daily like parks and gyms, maybe a healthy life style would contribute to producing energy.
Every house should be designed/modified to be self sufficient in energy, gathering energy from the sun and windmills. This way the citizens would also be responsible for generating energy and could contribute with supplying energy or at least slowing energy demands for a near future.
Governments must sign protocols as the Kyoto protocol, and force companies to respect Carbone credit policy.
IT components and gadgets are discarded even when perfectly working, to be replaced by the newest version. The amount of materials and processing capacity thrown away in a developed mid-size city is enormous. A group of companies in Brazil are reutilizing the processing capacities of old computers to develop supercomputers for NGOs, public schools and IT training facilities. Mobiles phones are been converted into new gadgets and low cost videogames. These companies are just the beginning of a market that is being built from our waste, converting what is considered useless into intelligent products to be either sold again to general public or given to benefit a good cause.
Hopefully I could explore main ideas giving examples when possible.
1.’Fig Leaf’ Wardrobe by Tord Boontje
