Use it forever
image: Google Pixel 6 Pro using 100% recycled aluminum.
Ever feel guilty that the work we do contributes to global warming or the land fill?
Working towards sustainability has gained lots of momentum over the last few years and fortunately it’s here to stay as witnessed by the many design teams who have people leading sustainability within their organizations. But I also feel “designing for sustainability” has become a marketing check box and status quo for companies.
Before I go further, recycling, reuse and making the right material choices is something I completely support. Unfortunately, I’m not sure that’s enough if we really want to help the planet. Consumers also have a big say in this and yes, there’s a behavioral change that comes with that. Changing people’s habits are not the easiest thing to do but if can happen, companies will listen and will hopefully take the next step in sustainability.
Image: World Design Organization
Acronyms and jargon: confusion.
I’ve worked with individuals who have dedicated their careers around sustainability. There are so many factors on this topic your head will spin as the data can be overwhelming, often can feel incomplete and even contradictory. The terminology also grows with the data. Recycle, Reuse, Reclaim, Repair, Circularity, Life Cycle Assessment, Greenhouse gas, Carbon Emission, Carbon Handprint, Carbon Footprint, Carbon Neutrality, Net Zero Emissions, Greenwashing and on and on.
Today it’s common to see companies show how their newly released product uses recycled content, have take back programs and mention some of the words from above. Some pundits will claim Green Washing. Recycling and reuse of materials is a critical aspect of achieving sustainability, but there is a huge part of the story that gets few mentions. It takes energy to disassemble, grind up, melt down materials and then process them for new products. It takes tons of energy to produce new products at large and deliver them into the retail stream.
With all the jargon, terminology, data and debate over that data, I asked experts (in the electronics category), “What has the most positive impact when it comes to sustainability? Their answer:
“Keep a product in play for as long as possible. Even if it’s just one more year.”
While this might not apply to every product category, it’s kind of a no brainer yeah? It’s so tangible. No chemistry, no charts and comparison tables, no questions about what happens after I send the product back to the company, just simple human effort. OK, the engineers did present a chart that shows how keeping a product in play longer is by far one of the best things we can do to help the planet.
What does that mean for product developers and designers? Design things to last. Build with real quality in mind. Select materials that last. Create designs that can achieve visual longevity. Whoa, visual longevity, that could get boring. Whoa, not selling every year will impact sales and revenue! Yeah well….gotta turn the tables somehow.
As designers, our voice goes beyond aesthetics.
How might you influence your work partners to make better, more sustainable decisions at large? Talking to:
Product management: have discussions around the frequent product release cadence. Help them care and understand more deeply about sustainability and brainstorm ways to serve both the launch of new products and the ability to keep existing products in play.
Engineers and manufacturing: let’s design and build things to last, are repairable and can be upgraded.
Marketing: they can hold the keys to crafting messages about what real steps the company and the consumer can take to save the planet.
Executive leadership: how might we help them think out of the box on this topic at large? Some companies are great industry examples and have leadership at the top that truly support sustainability. Of course that makes it easier. Find ways help the leaders who say they want sustainability but find it difficult to act upon it.
As Designers, I’ve seen it, we say we want sustainability, but don’t always act on it. We make design choices that just do not support sustainability. We glue things together that make repair difficult because we want it to be .15mm thinner. We select materials and finishes that don’t wear well or are very difficult to process. We make selections to save cost but have negative sustainable impact. Feels like there’s a lot we can do, but too often, we make “design” choices over sustainable ones.
As consumers, we can ask ourselves “do we really need that new one?” especially when the old one still works. Spend a little more to get higher quality that lasts or buy refurbed or used from places like REI’s RE/Supply store or buy from companies that truly embrace sustainability to the fullest. When enough people do this, it will get the attention of the execs. Yeah, change those habits.
image: Pantone
What about the seasonal industries? How might the thought of “lasting'' play out in consumable and fashion categories or in color offerings? How long will Very Peri last? (if you keep it for 10 years, Very Peri will be back, just with a different name!) Here’s a great YouTube piece from Climate Change produced by @Rollie Williams. It’s about how fast fashion and the climate impact it creates. He’s a comedian, it’s funny and real.
Raising the bar
While checking the sustainable boxes is great practice, companies can do a LOT more if they were really serious about this. Framework and Fairphone build their business around sustainability and repairability. Some will argue they aren’t great businesses from a financial standpoint, I don’t have the facts on this to say one way or the other. Patagonia is serious about it and I believe they are a pretty sound business.
Image: Framework
In addition to the work being done around materials, what more can we do? Design for longevity and repairability, make it last. Remember that sustainability is more than the material. Keep it simple and use products forever. OK, Just one more year, we can do this.
