Sustainability should be a key consideration for every consumer when looking at the products they buy or the companies they choose to do business with. There is no excuse for not having a well developed sustainability policy, however many business selling products are still paying lip service to these ideas rather than making them core to thier business policies and strategies. I am seeking to provide some useful information on sustainability with specific relation to furniture design - and hopefully learn some stuff for myself along the way.
Thoughts
See pack for details
Sustainability is an important issue, but does anyone really care? Although there is a high awareness of environmental issues, fuelled by the threat of global warming, is this awareness actually making a difference in the purchasing decisions we make? We're becoming better about disposing of our waste, through recycling, but do we connect this with what we buy?
It seems that currently our conscience for going green is restricted to what we consume - recycling our food and drinks packaging, and also some energy conservation. But how can we broaden this narrow view of evironmental care? We need better, and more consistent information and education on what goes into the products we buy and use. How are they made?, what are they made of?, where are they made?, where does the waste go?, and finally, what do i do with our purchases when they've reached the end of thier lives?
With food packaging there lists its ingredients, calories and fat content, country of origin, etc. - information which enables us to make clear decisions on what we put in our bodies. Can we have something which enables us to make informed decisions about what we put in our homes?
It seems that currently our conscience for going green is restricted to what we consume - recycling our food and drinks packaging, and also some energy conservation. But how can we broaden this narrow view of evironmental care? We need better, and more consistent information and education on what goes into the products we buy and use. How are they made?, what are they made of?, where are they made?, where does the waste go?, and finally, what do i do with our purchases when they've reached the end of thier lives?
With food packaging there lists its ingredients, calories and fat content, country of origin, etc. - information which enables us to make clear decisions on what we put in our bodies. Can we have something which enables us to make informed decisions about what we put in our homes?
Pics from ReDesign '06
80 designers exhibiting eco friendly products in London's East end
curated content from Flickr
Eco friendly products
from Designer makers throughout the UK
There are many designers out there creating, innovating and making exciting new products which offer us new ways of thinking about sustainability. Here's an initial list - take a look
- Nigel's eco store
- Described as ...a one stop shop for sustainable living and environmentally friendly products... that is recycled, organic, green, eco friendly products and gifts.
Useful websites & blogs
Let me know if you know of others, or better ones.
There are no shortage of web sites on environmental and sustainability issues and practices, however trying to find the good ones is not so easy. Here are a few l've found very useful and informative.
- treehugger
- A great blog site for everything sustainable
- biothinking
- Edwin Datschefski's site. BioThinking means looking at the world as a single system, and developing new ecology-derived techniques for industrial, organisational and sustainable design.
- O2 - the global network for sustainable design
- The global network for sustainable design. Sign up for the mailing list.
- Sustainablog
- Sustainablog is dedicated to news, information and personal meanderings related to environmental and economic sustainability, green and sustainable business, and environmental politics.
My furniture business blog
Creating furniture that's 'built to last'
I'm launching a new business to try and bring greater sustainability into contemporary furniture, from the designs, to materials and manufacturing processes. Here are some of the recent postings from my blog site.
Fetching RSS feed... please stand bySome interesting reading
Natural Capitalism: Creating the Next Industrial Revolution
The Financial Times, 14.10.99
"An analysis of how capitalism would work if the world's "natural capital" were properly valued, resulting in a drastic reduction in resource use by industrialised countries"
Amazon Price: $12.91 (as of 11/15/2009) 
The Total Beauty of Sustainable Products
The first book l ever read on sustainability. Very accessible. The book uses an easy- to- learn system for understanding the environmental and social impacts of products and their manufacture - and shows how products can be cyclic, solar, safe, efficient and social.
Amazon Price: (as of 11/15/2009)
The Eco-Design Handbook: A Complete Sourcebook for the Home and Office
Amazon Price: (as of 11/15/2009)
The Green Imperative: Ecology and Ethics in Design and Architecture
Amazon Price: (as of 11/15/2009)
by jonathanhowkins
Interests are in branding, design, and marketing for small business, whether it be for clients, or for my diverse range of small businesses.
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