Designing Sustainability: Minimising Waste Through Strategic Design
05.02.24
The role of design in minimising existing materials (aka ‘waste’) has never been more important for conscious buyers and environmental responsibility. It is estimated that over 80% of all product-related environmental impacts are determined during the design phase of a product1. Design decisions made at the early stages of a product or project life cycle have a more profound impact on resource utilisation, existing materials generation, and overall sustainability. Ideally, design should start from the end and work its way backwards.
Here are five tips for strategic design integration:
1. Holistic Design Thinking
Embrace a holistic approach to design thinking that considers the entire life cycle of a product or project. This involves understanding material procurement, production processes, communication and marketing channels, brand experiences, product use and end-of-life cycles. Identify potential challenges early on to make informed decisions, ensuring you consider your customers and their needs. For example, if your customers live in a small apartment, compostable products may not be ideal because they might not space or access to composting resources, nor live in a climate conducive to composting.
2. User-Centric Design
Prioritise user experience and usability. Products that are intuitive, efficient and enjoyable to use are less likely to be discarded prematurely, reducing overall waste and landfill. Encouraging second-hand use is also important—you can offer an end-of-life program or use your brand as a platform to destigmatise reuse, which is important for reframing this outdated narrative.
3. Considered Printing Processes
Explore printing technologies that reduce energy consumption and wastage of materials. Consider water or plant-based inks which have lower volatile organic compound emissions (chemicals that react in the atmosphere to form ozone when evaporated during the print process), and explore digital printing options that minimise setup and have a low minimum order quantity.
4. Recyclable Packaging Solutions
Packaging accounts for large amounts of waste in the manufacturing and retail industries, and unfortunately most packaging cannot be recycled in existing recycling systems. Ensure to extend your sustainability efforts to packaging design. Opt for recyclable materials and explore innovative solutions that reduce excess waste and offer new ways to package your products that minimise your impact.
5. Information Assets
It’s important to educate your customers, clients, and clients’ customers with information on the sustainable aspects of your design. You can do this by creating user manuals or online content that educates them on how to responsibly use, maintain, recycle, reuse, refurbish or repair the products they buy from you. Ensure the content easy to follow and understand, and use clarity and simplicity to avoid confusion and overwhelm.
Design More Sustainably
By embedding these tips into your design process at the initial stages, you can help normalise sustainable practices and support growing demand for environmentally conscious solutions.
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1 European Commission Sustainable Product Policy