This lecture was all about "thinking green". It put questions to us as to how we can have less impact on the planet in our design processes. This ties in to the lecture we had been given previously about T-Shaped design, as we touched briefly on pollution issues. Some facts and figures I learnt were astounding. If 6-8 billion people were to become westernised, the planet would not be able to handle it. Some countries are heading this way and it is becoming a worrying problem. This is due to the amount we, as westernised communities, consume. This means that 20% of the worlds population is consuming 80% of the worlds resources. This 20% is the westernised countries, such as us in the UK. If more people become westernised, there will be a shortage of resources. This would pave the way to and ecological disaster. The other side of the argument is that if the underdeveloped countries do not succeed in becoming westernised, the disaster will be that of a social nature.This is due to the fact that a globalised society cannot support this situation. This relates back to us because 80% of the environmental impact is decided at the design stage. This impact is huge. On average, a new product is created every 3 minutes in the world. each new product has waste, and insufficient use of precious resources.This could be water, energy or natural resources. On top of this, $400 billion is spent each year on advertising. This is totally an unsustainable habit. In my opinion, advertising goes way beyond what it is supposed to. With the internet and the viral age we are in, why does there need to be so much advertising using paper and other resources like it ? I think it's time that designers in advertising look at things like this.
I found the next part of the seminar the most interesting. We are often told, in society, that certain things are "evil" or "bad". We are made to feel responsible for the bad things happening to the planet. those who are not in the know believe this and can feel guilty about it. Take flying, for instance. We are told that air travel creates 2-4% of the worlds carbon emissions. However, the cement industry alone creates more than 5% of global emissions. The reason flying is targeted more than cement is that it is more 'glamorous' as a campaign. It looks aesthetically better to show, say a TV commercial, with a jet flying across the screen than to show a pile of cement. Also, the figure of how much carbon is emitted by air travel is distorted, depending on who is publicising the figures. The travel company themselves would go for the lower figure of 2%, were as an opposing force would go for the higher number of 4%. Cement companies are happy about this as they are not getting any unwanted attention. However, it has been estimated that 20 cement plants will project 2.5 billion tonnes of carbon emission annually by 2050. This works out at 20 times more than the UK government has promised will be created by this time. Personally, I think that it is shocking that all of this goes on, covered from the knowledge of the main population. I believe we should be entitled to all of the facts before making up our own minds.
We are so comfortable with our lifestyles in westernised Britain that we are reluctant to change. I think we all play a part in carbon emissions and we know that we do. A laptop generates 4000 times its own weight in waste carbon in it's lifetime. Yet the majority of households have at least one laptop, some even more. In my house alone there are four. Ceramic mugs need to be used 1,006 times just to be worth the energy spent making them. Then there is the war against carrier bags. We are told we should use paper bags or reusable fabric bags ans they are greener than polythene (plastic) bags. However, studies have shown that it takes 4 times as much energy to manufacture a paper bag than a plastic bag. it also uses 20 times more water to be recycled than plastic does. So it looks like Fabric bags would be best. This could be the case, but the EnviroAgency found that a Fabric bag would have to be used 131 times to make it worthwhile. Only this amount of use would make it better than using plastic. The biggest amount of carbon emissions in the UK is caused by ExxonMobil. BP is twice as efficient.
We, as designers, are in a position to make a difference. We can influence our consumers with which materials we us, how we source them, how they are constructed and how efficient they are. Basically put, the seminar concluded by telling us that green ethics is complex. I agree fully with this statement and believe that I have learnt a lot from this lecture to use in my own design processes. There was a lot to take on board but this is something I have a keen interest in. I would like to be an excellent designer whilst keeping my emissions down.
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