Design and the Environment

For this blog, I decided to base my sources off of design and environment because out of all the topics we covered last week in class, I thought this was interesting and vital to the creation of a design. So here are five sources that caught my eye.

Source #1:

John Hardy, an environmental designer, created a school for children in Bali out of bamboo. All activities and materials used in the school are environmentally friendly. For example, all chalkboards are made out of bamboo and the meals are cooked with organic food on sawdust fires. This relates to a few of the 6 Stages in Product Life, even though this may not be a "product", because of the choice of materials, manufacturing, and use are what makes this design so innovative to the examples of environmental design.

I just thought this was really interesting because our environment is suffering from the way people create things and this is just a way to show with careful thought that anything is possible. This school is going on for three years with about 160 students so it is very successful. I think designers could use this as an example for their future designs, also. If they didn't exactly build a school out of bamboo, one could incorporate, for example the bamboo chalkboards, in classrooms. It's a start.

Source #2:

link:  Ducha Halo: Portable Shower

Scrolling down the page nearly halfway, a team of designers from the Art Center College of Design was sent to Chile to solve a problem in a community relating to the water availability and lack of running water systems, such as showers. In this project, the team created an expensive, environmetally friendly shower that is nearly $17 dollars that uses a simple pump, valves and hosing that yields a 15-minute long hand shower with water heated over coals. It is very convenient to the environment because it's timed in water usage. One won't be able to excessively use the water amd waste it.

I found this very interesting because of the way it is inexpensive, does not consume excessive energy, and doesn't waste unnecessary resouces. This will not only help the environment through conservation of materials but will help out the community that is lacking such technology. The simplicity of the product is very important, also.

Source #3:

Link: Go Watch-less!

For this source, an author of a blog gives reasons why someone should not wear a watch and the environmental advantages to doing so. The main point is most people don't need watches, so the advantage would be people can reduce packaging and manufacturing of batteries and noble metals. Less of that means more to nature.

I never realized this in a way this author has. I think less battery packaging would be important because the harmeful metals and chemicals used to make batteries are very damanging to the environment and harmful to people as well. This viewpoint should be encouraged more.

Source #4:

Link to site: OFFECCT

I discovered this website that designs furniture through benefit of environmental design. The company OFFECCT uses Scandanavian traditions to create pieces, like this sofa, to benefit the ecosystem. All materials used are recyclable, which is something we discussed in class as a helpful tip.

I think this is a very innovative way to showing the advancment of design. The most important thing that stood out to me about this company was the way they produce their designs is considering the emission of pollution so they can reduce greenhouse gases. Companies, in my opinion, should pay attention to issues like this because anything we can do will save our planet.

 

 

Source #5:

 

Link: Candy Wrapper Chair

 

Emiliano Godoy teamed up with Ecoist to create a chair made out of candy wrappers and wood called the 'Snowjob'. It is made out of materials that haven't been recycled yet but could be so one of the wrappers has the recycle logo visible on the chair (except the wrappers haven't officially found a purpose to be recycled). Plus, it is appealing to the consumers who would possibly buy this product.

I think it is appealing the way the chair looks and once I learned what it was made of I was much more interested in buying it. The way the materials can all be recyled makes me support the idea even more because reuse, refill, and recycle are the three motivations to environmental design, which is exactly what this chair conveys through its purpose.