Designers have incredible agency and influence over how we make the world.  For industrial designers in particular, each design decision can have huge implications as the output are manufactured items made in large volumes via intensive industrial processes. If you are interested in taking climate action through your work, these resources will help you begin your journey.

Also be sure to check out our Getting Started Guides starting with What is Climate Design?

Introduction

Consumer goods production is currently based on an extractive, linear model where planned obsolescence is often baked in from the start. Moving from linear to Circular Design is a necessary step to live within our planetary boundaries, but is also a huge systemic challenge due to the complexity and inconsistency of our existing supply chains and waste disposal systems.

While many industrial designers may not be in a position to effect that kind of change, there are many opportunities to decrease the negative impact of our physical goods on humans and the natural world. Removing harmful chemicals and making healthier and lower carbon material replacements is a great place to start, as well as designing for longevity and repairability with end of life in mind from the start.

Here are some questions to consider:

• Is the product easy to repair? Durable? Designed for a long life? Can physical attachments be used to aid in repairability?
• How might you design for end of life? Can you design the final product to be fully recyclable or compostable? If not, can it be designed for easy disassembly?
• Are there harmful chemicals that can be designed out, or replaced with something inert?
• Can you avoid the use of plastics and adhesives in favor of healthier materials? Have you considered material availability?
• How sustainable are your supply chains, both in terms of environmental and human impacts? If this information is obfuscated, which it often is, what opportunities are there to move towards more transparent, clean, and ethical options?

And as always, more sustainable isn’t sustainable.  Sometimes the most powerful climate action a designer can take is to design out the need for the item in the first place.

Getting Started

• The Story of Stuff - An oldie but a goodie and as relevant as ever. It’s been a long time since this first film was produced, and they have a bunch of great new ones here.