Unit 8: Sustainability (HL)

• Sustainable development


  Satisfying human needs for resources now and in the future without compromising the carrying capacity of the planet
• Designers


  • Utilize design approaches that support sustainable development across a variety of contexts
  • Need a holistic and systematic approach at all stages of design development to satisfy all stakeholders
  • Must balance aesthetic, cost, social, cultural, energy, material, health and usability considerations
• Triple bottom line sustainability


  Environmental, economic and social
• Economic growth


  Environmental quality decreases
• Sustainable development frameworks enable the evaluation of the complex and interrelated concepts that are associated with development
• Economic development


  Consumes resources, resulting in environmental impact
• Decoupling


  Disconnecting economic growth and environmental impact so that one no longer depends on the other
• Kyoto Protocol


  An international treaty that sets binding obligations on industrialised countries to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases
• Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro (1992)


  The UN sought to help Governments rethink economic development and find ways to halt the destruction of irreplaceable natural resources and pollution of the planet
• International and national laws


  Encourage companies to focus on aspects other than shareholder value and financial performance, which include transparency of corporate sustainability, transparent sustainability assurance and whether businesses, public services, national resources and the economy have the means to continue in the years ahead at a micro and macro level
• Sustainability reporting


  A company report that focuses on four aspects of performance: economic, environmental, social and governance
• The reliability and acceptance of sustainability reporting requires accurate data gathering to be maintained over a lengthy period of time
• Students need to be able to explain the benefits of sustainability reporting for governments, manufacturers and consumers
• Product Stewardship


  An environmental management strategy that means whoever designs, produces, sells, or uses a product takes full responsibility for minimizing the product's environmental impact throughout all stages of the product's life cycle, including end of life management (disposal)
• Examples of product stewardship


  • organic foods
  • genetically modified food
  • green cotton
  • forest stewardship
  • bioplastics
• Manufacturers


  • Have the greatest ability, and therefore the greatest responsibility, to reduce the environmental impacts of their products
  • Reducing use of toxic substances, designing for reuse and recyclability, and creating take back programs are just a few of the many opportunities for companies to become better environmental stewards of their products
• Retailers


  • Are one of the gateways to product stewardship
  • From preferring product providers who offer greater environmental performance, to educating the consumer on how to choose environmentally preferable products, to enabling consumer return of products for recycling, retailers are an integral part of the product stewardship revolution
• Consumers


  • Make the choice between competing products and using and disposing of products responsibly
  • Must make responsible buying choices which consider environmental impacts
  • Must use products safely and efficiently
  • Must take the extra steps to recycle products that they no longer need
• Sustainable consumption


  Focuses on reducing the use of resources of a product to minimize its environmental impact
• Designers develop products, services and systems that satisfy basic needs and improve quality of life while also minimizing the use of natural resources, toxic materials and waste, and reducing emissions of pollutants at all stages of the life cycle
• It is not only the role of designers to create markets for sustainable products, consumers need to change their habits and express a want and need for these products
• Eco-warriors


  Actively demonstrate on environmental issues and protest anything that is damaging to the environment
• Eco-champions


  Champion environmental issues within organizations and lead a team to tackle environmental problems
• Eco-fans


  Enthusiastically adopt environmentally friendly practices as consumers and buy almost anything that is environmentally friendly
• Eco-phobes


  Actively resent talk of environmental protection
• Eco-fans


  Enthusiastically adopt environmentally friendly practices as consumers
• Eco-fan


  Someone who accepts all new technological advancements for green design on the current market
• Products eco-fans will buy


  • Dolphin friendly tuna
  • Aerosol spray cans that do not contain CFC propellants
  • Cosmetics that have not been tested on animals
  • Products packaged in environmentally friendly materials (reusable/recyclable)
• Eco-phobes


  Actively resent talk of environmental protection and purposely go against the ecological movements
• Eco-phobes believe that the environmental problems are irrelevant to their lives, and some even believe that it is a scam
• An example of an eco-phobe is George Bush, who refused to sign the Kyoto agreement which is based on controlling the Co2 output in a country to a limit in order to decrease global warming
• Eco-labelling


  A legal organisation grants a special label (eco label) to a product to indicate that it is very environmentally friendly
• Many products now are labeled according to how environmentally friendly they are
• Eco labeling schemes have come about as a result of legislation and consumer pressure
• Eco labels


  Enable the consumer to compare potential purchases and make an informed choice
• Advantages of Eco Labelling


  • For consumers, they're a shortcut to doing good: they're an easy to use, trustworthy guide to products that help the environment in some way
  • For manufacturers, eco labels offer a potential point of difference and a competitive advantage
  • Labels encourage a general raising of environmental performance, even among products that aren't labeled
• Disadvantages of Eco Labelling


  • Manufacturers may be tempted to make exaggerated or misleading claims, which confuse consumers into thinking products are better than they really are
  • Eco labels need to be trustworthy, trusted, simple to understand, and easy-to-recognize
• If a company manufactures or sells household electrical equipment within the European Union, it must provide customers with the energy efficiency rating of your products by having a clear labeling on the product

  
• The Good Environmental Choice Label is the only environmental labelling program in Australia which indicates the environmental performance of a product during its complete lifecycle

  
• The label is awarded to products that meet voluntary environmental performance standards which have been created and assessed in comparison to international environmental labelling standards