Ecocraze, a case study: negotiating a Greener Product Design Landscape
Ecocraze, a case study
Research Fellow, Simon Lockrey's presentation 'Ecocraze, a case study: negotiating a Greener Product Design Landscape' was given at the Fifth International Conference in Design Principles and Practices at Sapienza University of Rome in Rome, Italy in 3 February and the Sustainable Living Festival on 24 February.
"Changes in consumer demand for 'green' or 'eco' products is becoming increasingly apparent, as global campaigns gain traction, such as climate change, due to western and, increasingly the developing world's appetite for goods and services. The machine that created such concerns in the pioneering days of capitalism has turned to marketing and spin to cash in on this "ecocraze". Manzini has proposed that the ecological crisis we face is based on a crisis of the commons, a lack of contemplative time, and a proliferation of remedial goods (Manzini 2006). Seemingly, purchasing patterns are the same as the unsustainable buying behaviours that started the environmental crisis dominating world news. There lies the juxtaposition between designing for consumers, and designing to the core principles of sustainability, where avoiding, reducing, reusing, recycling and regenerating are somewhat detached from a purely consumer driven market. Whether products are environmentally preferable or not is another story, but generally this could be verified with life cycle assessment (LCA), which unfortunately is often above and beyond the means of the designer.
This paper explores case studies of contemporary design that do make large shifts to lower environmental impact, by analysing them from an LCA perspective. The streamlined models will be completed in Simapro (TM) software package, with data taken from current life cycle inventories, past studies and primary sources, and look at the shifts that the presented products may have realised. The quantitative results shall be compared to a standard product default or orientation. The author will explore whether the products allow users to enact behaviours or decisions needed if environmental impacts are to be reigned in."