7 Steps in the Lifecycle of a Green Product7 Steps in the Lifecycle of a Green Product
Despite claims to the contrary, products with zero environmental impact do not yet exist. But
these new approaches to green design point to a day when that might just be possible.
By Martin C. Pedersen
As we set out to create a green-products issue, we were confronted with a pair of dilemmas. Amid all the hype and hot air some real progress was being made, but as Ray Anderson told us in 2004, “No one should be claiming sustainable products. There is no such thing yet in terms of zero footprint. What you can do is demonstrate reduced footprint.” This remains true today—and yet the dizzying array of new efforts boggles the mind. There is no shortage of products claiming the green mantle. So how do we mark this vast but imperfect moment? Borrowing from the Okala Design Guide (www.idsa.org/whatsnew/sections/ecosection/okala.html), we’ve organized our stories around the life cycle of green products. Since there is still no perfect product, think of these as seven pieces of a Platonic whole, a set of best practices, and a possible road map for a new model of twenty-first-century manufacturing.
More at: http://www.metropolismag.com/cda/story.php?artid=2998
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Brilliant article-- a must-read/primer for anyone involved in manufacturing, for sure.
I have recently met some "kids" (25 yrs old or so) who have designed some very innovative products that are mostly focused on #7, avoiding the landfill. If one posits that recycling is broken-- no one does it, and even when they do, there's intensive use of resources-- is there a way to design products that skip recycling and go straight to re-use?
These guys got me thinking, and I've now contemplated a product that restaurants could use for take-out. It would be a durable plastic container-- sort of tupperwarish, and instead of throwing it away or recycling it, people could take it back to participating restaurants. There may also be a way to piggyback on the existing recycling schema-- your local recycling company could pick them up at the curb, clean them, and restaurants could pick them up there or at other distribution points. There are some kinks to work out for sure, but let me know if you think I'm on to something.
I mentioned the concept to SF Mayor Gavin Newsome this past weekend--- who's driving an amazing platform of sustainability initiatives-- he sort of half smiled and seemed intrigued.
- maxmsf