Here are some of our favourite tools and resources to help with implementing sustainable design strategies throughout the industrial design process.
In implementing these principles you can join the movement to make industrial design part of the solution, rather than part of the problem.
Start from page 24 of the BLab guidance on how to declare a climate emergency (relevant to both design agencies and clients), followed by A Sustainable Design Handbook, a concise and easy-to-digest summary of practical tools and design strategies.
For a deeper dive, try the excellent and thorough Circular Design Guide, packed with videos, worksheets and case studies on how to apply Circular Design thinking across all phases of the design process.
For industrial designers and engineers working with polymers, the PolyCE Circular Design Guidelines offers insights and technical advice on designing FOR recycling and designing products FROM recycled polymers.
We’ve also listed out some further actions you can use as starting points below.
– Studio Wood and Morrama
‘Sustainable design’ is a massive topic. Acknowledging the areas you know least about is a great place to start. You can then break these down and start filling the blanks.
Doing a full LCA is useful to understand the impact of a product, but you only have the answers at the very end of the project when it’s too late to change anything. Learn to weigh up design directions as you go by using a LIDS wheel or qualitative LCAs.
Digging into where materials come from and exactly how parts/assemblies are made can feel like a never ending task, but getting a complete picture of the current situation is the only way to start making changes.