OUGD601 - Extended Essay Reading - Green Design by Paul Burall

Notes and Quotes 

Key information 

- global warming most serious environmental problem

- gases need to be reduced naturally by protecting rainforests 

- to reduce global warming fossil fuels need to be used less making energy efficiency more desirable 

- more demand for efficient appliances and manufacturing 

- other environmental problems include pollution from industrial and domestic waste as well as ineffective use of resources. Gases and CFCs cause acid rain and damage the ozone layer which are dangerous to human and environmental health 

- Between 1986 - 1989 public opinion that environmental problems should be top priority rose from 8 to 30%

- in 1980s there was more understanding about global warming and environmental problems

- there was change in how products were manufactured and considered e.g. batteries, detergents, CFC aerosols 

- support from green activists however dropped 

General Principles 

- understanding whether a design is environmentally acceptable should not be oversimplified. A long life product can be good however new materials may make the product more environmentally friendly. Instead having a more flexible product means it can be adjusted during its lifespan.

- clear that using less materials and energy in manufacture saves resources however less clear that this reduces pollution and waste. Has a double benefit.

 Principles for designers

- increase efficiency of materials, energy and resources

- reduce effects (e.g. pollution and damage) of materials

- minimise long term damage to the environment

- the product life should be as environmentally effective and efficient as possible  

- the disposal of the product should be considered 

- printed matter e.g. packaging and instructions should encourage environmentally friendly use 

- understand and reduce safety hazards

Materials and Packaging 

- Timber grown sustainably is one of the most environmentally friendly materials

- Timber from a non sustainable sources damages habitats 

- Natural materials believed to be environmentally friendly however these often use lots of chemicals e.g. unbleached cotton

- Minimising materials means thinking about the whole lifecycle of a product including minimising resources, energy and pollution from manufacture, materials in production processes 

- Lightweighting is when the the product is made thinner to reduce the amount of material used e.g. plastic milk bottle 

- There are pros and cons for using plastics in different circumstances

- Often materials from recycled sources are more environmentally friendly than new 

- recyclying minimises waste to landfill or incineration 

-'recylcing paper can halve energy consumption compared with the manufacture from trees; recycled glass uses as little as a quarter of the energy of first time glass; and recycled aluminium can cut energy costs by up to 95 per cent'

- some material qualities can change after recycling. Metals and and glass stay the same. Recycled paper has different qualities which need to be considered. Recycled plastics are limited in colour and are lower grade than the original. 

- recycled paper can be bleached to make it whiter however this is more damaging to the environment, with the double chlorine bleaching process creating double the amount of emissions as new paper manufacturing.

- biodegradables are not always effective, by products of the materials are not always understood, it can effect plastic recycling when mixed, and starch biodegradables effect landfills.

- biodegradable materials break down 

- paints and printing inks have toxic pigments 

- using water based pigments is a green alternative

The Product Lifecycle

- '120 million tonnes of waste is produced in the UK every year, less than 2% of which is recycled'

- 'every household throws away the equivalent of six trees, 32 kilograms of metal, 47 of plastics and 74 of glass annually'

- 'the British government has set a target of recycling a half of all recyclable waste by the turn of the century and is discussing the imposition of levies on raw materials to encourage recycling'

- products should be designed so elements are removable for replacement or re-manufacture and reuse

- Design for Recyclability  by Michael Henstock considers how elements could be bar coded to make it easier to identify and recycle scrap materials 

- new products and systems are needed for the public to help aid the recycling process 

- development is slow as equipment is needed to help with the recycling 

Green Ethics 

- pg 67. Code of Environmental Practice by the G7 is a 'commitment to the stewardship of living and non living systems of the Earth in order to maintain their sustainability for the present and the future, allowing development with equity'   

'to ensure that the stock of renewable resourses is maintained, with waste and pollution kept below the assimilative capacity of the environment an non renewable resources either substitued or harvested at the lowest rate possible'

'reject 'anthropocentric utilitarian and undiluted ecocentrism as, by themselves, both inadequate and dangerous''

Key Quotes and Notes 

pg 1 . 'even if the media and the public become bored with green , the subject will remain of crucial importance to everyone in design, manufacturing and business, because the basic environmental challenges are here to stay and are of global proportions'

pg 2 . 'industry, technology and design are a necessary part of the answer to current environmental problems'

pg 4. 'Global warming will pace a premium on energy efficiency'

'energy is consumed by almost everything we manufacture, design or do'

'designers will have to pay more attention to minimizing the bulk weight of products to reduce freight costs and fuel consumption' 

pg 6. in the 1980s manufacturers had to 'react rapidly to pressure for what consumers perceived to be greener products'

'designers began to realize that green design meant something more than recycled paper.'

pg 7. 'the number of people saying that they 'always try a green alternative' moved from 48 per cent in 1989 to 55 per cent in 1990'

'were willing to pay extra for a green alternative rose from 42 per cent to 47 per cent'

' Ogilvy and Mather speculated that this group, being the most committed, was the most disappointed to find that some green alternatives just did not work as well as their traditional alternatives and that some green claims were proving dubious ' 

pg 15. 'The key principle for a green world is, in a word, sustainability'

'Designers therefore have a crucial role to play in achieving a more sustainable economic and social order'

'There is a need for a holistic approach to solutions'

'designers must ensure that by providing solutions to one set of environmental problems they are not creating or increasing others'

'designers who often have a critical influence over every aspect of a products life, from manufacture and use to repair and disposal, and from the choice of materials and the efficiency with which energy is used to the longevity of the products life and the effects of its eventual disposal'

pg 17. 'there is a danger of oversimplifying what makes a design environmentally acceptable'

pg 18. 'Environmentally responsible decisions will rarely be straightforward, and the different benefits and disadvantages will, as always, need to be balanced out carefully'

'it is especially important to avoid making simplistic assumptions'

pg 19. 'need for efficiency in manufacture and performance of the final product simply has more extensive and comprehensive significance when environmental effects are part of the equation'

pg 27. 'the designer should always look to see if the choice of energy source is inevitable or if a better alternative is available'

pg 39. 'The choice of material is also made more complex by the fact that its origin is often as important as its qualities'

'Any kind of presumption about materials can be dangerous'

pg 40. 'minimise the quantity of any material chosen wherever possible' 

pg 41. 'Choosing the right material in any situation demands a careful balancing act'  

pg 44. 'Finding viable uses for both low- and high - grade recycled materials is essential, and the more common this is, the more an appropriate infrastructure of recycling systems will make this approach economical.' 

pg 45. 'Recycled paper illustrates how, depending on processing methods and final use, recycled materials may sometimes be less environmentally friendly than they seem 

pg 47. 'but they risk encouraging a more careless attitude to litter and disposal than more durable, recyclable materials'

'It is in the interests of designers and manufacturers to choose materials that are not suddenly going to run out' 

'Although finite, the great majority of other mainstream raw materials and the materials made from them, including ceramics, aluminium, glass and steel , are available in sufficient quantities for fears about their depletion to be minimal'

'However, designers should always investigate new materials, new uses and using smaller quantities to achieve more'

pg 48. 'The problems of choosing materials for a process or a finish can have immensely serious environmental implications'

'The rate of change in many materials fields is likely to accelerate in the near future as the demand for greener products and processes develops'

pg 51. 'Traditionally, the concern of the designer has ended with the launch of the product but the green designer should think about its complete life from cradle to grave.'

pg 52. 'the public have a natural abhorrence of the whole notion of waste'

pg 53. 'Designers have a key role in minimizing the harm caused to the environment by a product which is no longer useful'+

'it seems likely that use - once products that have no health or similar justification will become increasingly unpopular'

'occasionally such products can have a secondary use ... but such an approach ... tends to be artificial and unlikely to make any real contribution to the longevity of a product, either because performance i the secondary use is diminished or because it is simply too unattractive' 'except perhaps  in the Third World, where people are forced to adapt anything that comes to hand to boost their meagre resources'

pg 59. 'Designers have a role in improving the products and systems that are now becoming available to help the  

pg 61. 'How is the consumer to know whether or not a product is environmentally acceptable? The first response of many advertising and marketing people to the sudden popularity of environmental issues was to introduce the words 'environment - friendly' at every opportunity. The second response was to invent a labeling scheme. Both have be subject to abuse but have fortunately prompted attempts to legitimise claims'

'what form future labelling schemes are likely to take, but clearly standardization is vital, and no satisfactory scheme will be simple'

pg 68. 'Many professional design bodies have long taken the view that designers have a responsibility not just to their clients and their staff but to society as a whole'

pg 69. 'Some designers may decide that they will take a moral stand and avoid such clients or product areas, preferring to concentrate on projects which could be particularly beneficial to, for example the Third World.'

pg 70. ‘all designers should take a look t all their own activities and establish how they can limit environmental damage from day to day’

‘Environmentally responsible design requires a clear policy, a structured approach and reliable, unbiased information.’

‘few designers – whether they are working in engineering, industrial design, graphics or any other field – receive any real introduction to either the theory or practice of environmentally sympathetic design.’