Sustainable and Circular Design
Reading
Design and the Circular Economy
In this week's reading, the topic of circular design was introduced as a way for a regenerative and resilient future. Circular design gives an opportunity for us to think with a bigger picture in mind by considering how we can reuse or waste continuously in new products instead of using raw materials. This became very important recently as climate change and the amount of waste we generate is uncontrobale and we need to find a solution from the root. This is why my favorite sentence in the reading was "We are at a critical point in time and circular design can help us address global challenges at the root"(Foundation, 2020). Let us think of it this way, if we are making new products anyway, why cannot we reuse what we already made to remake other products instead of continuously and wastefully extracting new materials to do so. It all about thinking with a bigger picture in mind, for our own benefit, for humanity.
Lecture
The lecture this week was about two topics, sustainable design and circular economy. These two topics tie back together as by designing with sustainability in mind, we can reach a concept called circular economy. Furthermore, by depending more on renewable energy rather than non-renewable resources will be more sustainable. To become more sustainable we have to think of different waste mitigation strategies (re-use, repair, re-engineer, recycle, recondition, dematerialisation) to be able to make the most use of our materials. This can be thought of when looking at the life cycle analysis, LCA, of a product to try to eliminate the over use of energy in the making, the usage and disposal of our products. So why dont we remove the disposal stage and allow for other products to be made with the materials of already used products. Then we would save energy and materials. Other ways that I found to be interesting is "End of Pipe Technology" where it removes formed contaminants from streams of water, products, waste and air. As designers we should aim for clean manufacturing, green design and eco design in the first place as they are the most sustainable for our planet. A software that caught my attention was "SolidWorks" where is analysis the LCA of a product for you to see the different ways it can impact the environment.
Bibliography
2021, 31 M., Lack of clarity on sustainability reporting metrics. Lack of clarity on sustainability reporting metrics | Accountancy Daily. Available at: https://www.accountancydaily.co/lack-clarity-sustainability-reporting-metrics.
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Anon, Diploma Design Technology. Available at: https://sites.google.com/a/dc.edu.hk/diploma-design-technology/topics?authuser=0.
Foundation, E.M.A., 2020. Design and the circular economy. Medium. Available at: https://medium.com/circulatenews/design-and-the-circular-economy-95bc4dafaec6 [Accessed November 27, 2021].
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