Fyona Seguin Design for Art Direction Working towards a sustainable future requires collective effort from all sectors of society to ensure long-term change. Affecting change in sustainability requires both bottom-up and top-down approaches. Bottom-up approaches consist of individuals such as activists, entrepreneurs and designers influencing policy through action on the ground level. As Viktor Papanek stated, ‘Design is only as good as the social and political systems within which it operates’. Throughout the development of my SIP, I have gained new perspectives on ethical decision-making and behaviour change within sustainable design. In this blog post I will touch on the controversies concerning sustainable design and ‘green branding’ from a bottom-up approach. The impact is only as good as the messaging “Almost all consumers associate plastic packaging with environmental pollution” (ScienceDirect). Yet we still see and buy it everywhere. Although most consumers are aware of the environmental impacts of single-use plastics, unless change is implemented through policy, we continue to turn a blind eye to these habits. B Corp is an example of an organisation striving to ensure sustainability within companies. In a chat with board member, Elizabeth Soubelet, we questioned designing with waste streams like single-use plastics and the impact on social behaviour. Could this practice be seen as a band-aid to the real issue, encouraging the consuming of single-use materials by implying that there are simple solutions? Brands working with upcycled materials profit from these waste streams, however, there are ways in which some also simultaneously advocate for green behaviours through brand messaging. At a panel discussion with BEEN London, founder Genia Mineeva openly tells her customers ‘We don’t want to exist in 100 years’ in hopes of waste being non-existent. Similarly, Patagonia’s Don’t Buy This Jacket campaign stated ‘It would be hypocritical for us to work for environmental change without encouraging customers to think before they buy’. With the challenge of tackling waste streams in a bottom-up approach while influencing behaviour change without avoiding the root of the issue, my SIP’s community plastics collection point would use similar messaging: ‘we don’t want your plastics, but, if you happen to have it ... drop it off here’. Are we looking at plastics wrong? In an eye-opening conversation with Elizabeth, I found myself following common belief: ‘we must turn off the plastic tap’. Elizabeth is also the founder of Squiz, a refillable packaging company, and strongly believes refill is the future. ‘Plastics is not the problem, it’s the way we use it’ – if everyone had refillable products, hence out with single-use plastics. Such systems need to be made accessible and inclusive in order to create demand. On the contrary, designers are moving away from plastics towards more regenerative materials like bio-based and biodegradable plastics. However, there is controversy around the ambiguity of such materials, making them seem more environmentally friendly than they are. For example, products branded as ‘biodegradable’ can be designed with a mix of bio-based and non-bio materials and end up contaminating other plastics recycling streams with microplastics, and can still take around three years to biodegrade. The production of these materials has increased drastically in the past few years with 2.61 million tons of bio-based plastics produced in 2018 (ifBB). Although Bioplastics do produce significantly fewer greenhouse gas emissions than traditional plastics over their lifetime, these materials have unclear instructions and definitions in the public space resulting in unproper disposal, often ending up in landfills where, deprived of oxygen, they may release methane, a greenhouse gas 23 times more potent than carbon dioxide (Columbia University). Making these materials and systems accessible is another issue, since they are currently too costly mainly due to small-scale and local production. Chris Baker, country manager of Algramo, is currently piloting refill stations in Lidl’s across the UK, in hopes of making refill more accessible and inclusive through scaling. Rethinking waste management with both a top-down and bottom-up approach is crucial so sustainable change. Designers play a crucial role in influencing policy and behaviour change through bottom-up approaches. The controversies around sustainable design, particularly regarding plastics, highlight the need for accessible, clearer and better communication of value differences, motivating consumers to make more sustainable decisions while increasing demand for such materials and systems. Citations 13, Renee Cho |December, et al. “The Truth about Bioplastics.” State of the Planet, 18 Oct. 2022. Bramston, David, and Neil Maycroft. “Designing with Waste.” Materials Experience, 2014, pp. 123–133., https://doi.org/10.1016/b978-0-08-099359-1.00009-6. “Design for the Sustainable World.” WDO Design for the Sustainable World Comments, 8 Dec. 2020, https://wdo.org/design-for-the-sustainable-world/. Patagonia We’re in business to save our home planet. “Don't Buy This Jacket, Black Friday and the New York Times.” Patagonia, 18 Nov. 2021, https://eu.patagonia.com/gb/en/stories/dont-buy-this-jacket-black-friday-and-the-new-york-times/story-18615.html. “Production Capacities, Processing Routes, Feedstock, Land and Water Use.” Biopolymers - Facts and Statistics 2019, 1 Jan. 1970, https://serwiss.bib.hs-hannover.de/frontdoor/index/index/docId/1576. Sandrine Ceurstemont 14 May 2020, and Sandrine Ceurstemont. “Bio-Based? Recyclable? Biodegradable? Your Guide to Sustainable Plastics.” Journey to Zero, 16 Mar. 2023, https://journeytozerostories.neste.com/plastics/bio-based-recyclable-biodegradable-your-guide-sustainable-plastics. Wahl, Daniel Christian. “Visionaries of Regenerative Design V: Victor Papanek (1927–1998).” Medium, Medium, 28 Oct. 2017, https://designforsustainability.medium.com/visionaries-of-regenerative-design-v-victor-papanek-1927-1998-57019605997.
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