Undermining sustainable products by label and package
Aha, this is an ‘ECO Sponge’, I shall buy this and those tiresome eco-mitherers will stop bothering me!
Here we go again. More ‘sustainable’ products with the ‘Eco’ tag (one that I am growing to despise more and more with each passing day) emblazoned so proudly across its packaging. I feel that I am barely into any kind of stride with this blog but already I can see the danger that I will become a veritable stuck record. Packaging people! Continue reading →
I spent the majority of yesterday afternoon playing with various bits of my rubbish… Now before you start tutting and rolling your eyes in disbelief at my revelry in slightly mucky childish pleasures and Blue Peter-esque constructions, and the barefaced gall I have to call it ‘work’, let me explain why I think this is so important… … household waste (in UK) still totalled a not so healthy 23.7 million tonnes in the period from April 2009 to March 2010… …63.8 million tonnes of household waste accumulated over the last 4 years which has had nowhere to go other than landfill sites, with another 14 million tonnes or so to keep adding to that year on year. Continue reading →
Public parks are spaces that by definition are there for everyone and anyone to make use of. Whether you live or work locally to that area, or just happen to be passing through, you are afforded access to that space and generally speaking the facilities within it.
The principle of ‘Universal Design’ is centred on the belief that environments, products, services and interfaces should perform equally for people of all ages and abilities.
It stands to reason therefore that the design of these places and, by extension, the things in them, should aim to meet this principle in order to get the highest possible level of use and provide the best possible experience for park users. But the notion of ‘Universality’ is easily misappropriated as well as commonly ignored in its true design sense.
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Are men less likely to use reusable shopping bags than women? It might seem like a trifling question, playing so easily into gender stereotyping hands. Perhaps men do, in sweeping generalisation, put less forethought into the act of going out for groceries and perhaps that might lead to not picking that bright blue bag with the short strappy handles and ladybirds printed on it before walking out of the door. But to my mind when designers give in to basic social stereotypes as an obstacle to solving a problem then we stop doing our job.
The question of whether or not male shoppers use reusable bags is important because the answer presents a design opportunity to make an impact on a lingering problem. Continue reading →
Sustainable Product? Unsustainable Package.
As consumers in general grow more aware of the impact their choices have on the environment there is growing desire to be seen to be, or at least feel like we are doing our bit and buying products that say “Eco” or such like on the packaging is one way of making us feel better. EcoStapler™ from Ecozone® is a classic example of how the fine work and intentions of an innovative and sustainable product can be undone by it’s packaging… Continue reading →
