…Poor kids.

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I’m an avid gardener.  I live in San Francisco, and have a garden full of winter crops:  lettuce, kale, kumquat, lemons, spinach, rosemary, mint, and a variety of other herbs that are in full force right now.  I recently added a plum tree, an almond tree, and an apple tree, all ultra-dwarves to accomodate my limited San Francisco-style backyard, and was telling a friend how much fun I was having.  He said, and I quote, “Sheesh.  Are you hunkering down for the Great Depression, or what?”

It was a brilliant comment, and made me think about what businesses could be doing during this downturn that would ‘bear fruit’, if you don’t mind the pun, later down the road.  For a green business during this time of economic hardship, there are a lot of opportunities to reach out to a disgruntled workforce, a slowing customer base, and other local businesses in the area to plant some seeds. 

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“At first thought, capturing CO2 from the air where it’s at a concentration of 0.04 per cent seems absurd, when we are just starting to do cost-effective capture at power plants where CO2 produced is at a concentration of more than 10 per cent,” says Keith, Canada Research Chair in Energy and Environment.

“But the thermodynamics suggests that air capture might only be a bit harder than capturing CO2 from power plants. We are trying to turn that theory into engineering reality.”

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But thanks to the National Wildlife Federation’s just released Campus Environment 2008 report card, conducted in partnership with Princeton Survey Research Associates International, we can at least be certain that, in addition to learning about beer and the opposite sex, our college students are getting a lesson in green.

The report follows up on its first run, back in 2001, by providing a review of programs at 1,068 institutions, grading them on an A to D scale for collective, national performance on a range of issues such as energy, water, transportation, waste reduction and environmental literacy.

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And a joint venture between Rose Ann Cattolico at University of Washington and investment company Recently Allied Minds might soon see a different type of algae for different types of situations.

"People don’t realize how many types of algae there are – from single cells to large kelp – and each one develops differently," Cattolico said. "What we’re trying to do is choose the best of the best, the ones that produce the right lipids for a particular type of fuel."

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“We’re a land grant institution dedicated to outreach and engineering,” said Larson, who is a professor in the Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering. “It makes sense to support this industry that will eventually help students find jobs in their own state and support this clean, renewable energy industry.”

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However a new discovery by MIT researchers has been made, that will essentially make this problem nonexistent.

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I had the occasion to stumble upon two uniquely imagined facets of the same future over the past week. The first: The World Without Us, an eerily quiet scenario in which humans disappear from the Earth and nature slowly and persistently takes over. The second: Children of Men, a visually stunning dystopia in the form of a sterile and slowly vanishing human race.

Alan Weisman’s The World Without Us uses a rational, scientific approach to describe post-human Earth. Surprisingly, the book reads like a summer page-turner…that really makes you think. The story meanders from the planet’s wildest places - a primeval forest in Belarus and Poland - to areas where human conflict has driven human abandonment and nature has found peace - in Cyprus and Korea.

Weisman’s artistic description of what falls apart, what lasts, and what happens when we’re gone is like candy for the imagination. "In a dream, you walk outside to find your familiar landscape swarming with fantastic beings. Furry rhinoceroses, big hairy elephants, and even bigger sloths-sloths??" He continues, "a dream, or a congenital memory? This was precisely the world that Homo sapiens stepped into as we spread beyond Africa, all the way to America. Had we never appeared, would those now-missing mammals still be here? If we go, will they be back?"

He also describes how man-made structures would fare the conquest of nature. For example, even on a sunny day, the people who keep New York City’s subway system working have to pump 13 million gallons of water away. Without us, Manhattan would soon turn into a system of streams and rivers. Weisman paints a vaguely haunting picture of the future, but at the same time, it’s powerfully peaceful.

Children of Men explores a slightly different future. Faced with mass infertility, our flimsy facade of civilization quickly degenerates into widespread warfare and depravity. We continue to destroy not only our own creations, but also our planet. The cause of human sterility is never explained in the movie, but one cannot help but connect the dots to the many chemicals and plastics that infiltrate our air and water today.

Weisman also explores infertility in The World Without Us - through the eyes of the founder of the Voluntary Human Extinction Movement, Les Knight. His image of a sterile population is much more peaceful: "Like retired business executives who suddenly find serenity by tending a garden, Knight envisions us spending our remaining time helping rid an increasingly natural world of unsightly and now useless clutter, in pursuit of which we’d once swapped something alive and lovely. ‘The last humans could enjoy their final sunsets peacefully, knowing they have returned the planet as close as possible to the Garden of Eden."

How/if we ever go, it will remain true that human action has fundamentally altered the Earth’s climate. The effects will persist for centuries, whether we’re here to feel them or not - but it’s certainly fascinating to imagine the world in a state that we, by definition, could never see: without us.

Your House Without You

We wrapped up our discussion on sustainability in the design industry by summarizing the challenges facing green design and how we might handle them, and discussed new ideas for bringing about change in our field.

One of many hurdles to the graphic design industry "going green" is a lack of comprehensive resources for designers to turn to. This is slowly beginning to change as sites like Design Can Change and renourish emerge, and little by little, the list of good green design resources is growing. We discussed that there may be a lot of information out there, but much of it is difficult for designers to dive into. Resources for designers seem to work best when they come from designers, and are also well-designed and easy to understand.

There is no specific set of criteria for certification of green design businesses. Jess mentioned that she is having her business certified as sustainable locally, but that the certification process definitely isn't catered to the communications industry, and some of the criteria don't make much sense to her business. Also, such certification really isn't available on a nationwide scale; only certain local entities offer it. Another problem with certification is that, as Dani mentioned, "there isn't one set standard; every designer and every business is going to have their own set of challenges," or even their own definition of sustainability. And, as Eric B pointed out, it's difficult to define standards for green design that are measurable when we don't even seem to have an accepted definition of design within the profession.

Dani brought up a good point during our talk: "In order to actually accomplish sustainability, it's important that people have a system that they can a) commit to, and b) they can do in stages, without feeling like they have to do everything at once." The lack of a system like this is perhaps what intimidates designers when they first learn about sustainability. The topic just seems so overwhelming that many don't know where to begin. Change needs to be incremental so that sustainability is more accessible. If people can commit to just a few changes a year, they would be less likely to be overwhelmed and steady progress toward a greener design industry would be made. As Eric K said, "Perhaps we have to extend the notion that you don't have to do everything perfectly, but you really should do something."

From this discussion we moved into a novel idea of Dani's suggestion: "An action plan for sustainability. What can you commit to this year?" This would be some sort of checklist for design businesses with different tiers of commitment as they make changes. The list of changes to implement could be checked off as they are completed, and the challenge would be to make a small number of changes each year, gradually greening the business in a way that isn't overwhelming or intimidating.

The idea of action plans was well-received by the group, and we began discussing how something like it might come about and how it would create change in the design industry. Dani mentioned that there need to be a variety of choices for change because each designer has their own limitations and business dynamics. The action plan would need to be transparent and flexible enough to allow it to be adapted for each unique business. It is important to give people information and allow them to make their own choices based on their own circumstances. The system would need to be rewards based and there would need to be some way to track progress and keep people accountable to the changes they have committed to. We decided to develop this action plan idea in a future discussion, with the hopes that by making an accessible checklist for change, designers would jump on board and get involved in greening their practices.

As our chat progressed, we talked about how we define the term "green design." Dani's approach to green design focused on materials: sourcing local and sustainable paper, ink, and printing, reusing and reducing the use of materials, and just thinking about the green options available for each project. I found it difficult to define green design because it's such a broad topic, but basically it means trying to make each project as low-impact and beneficial as possible, and using the design medium to communicate messages of sustainability. Designers, as communicators, have an immense power to provoke thought and change, and that is one of the main reasons I became a designer. Jess mentioned the need to expand the definition of green design beyond materials, and to focus on processes and choices during each project.

At the end of our discussion, we summarized the challenges we face as green designers and how we may address them. Some of those challenges include educating consumers, clients, and designers about sustainable options, overcoming the intimidation factor of sustainability, removing the stereotypes associated with going green, and the American tendency to be overly competitive and see going green as some sort of contest. We need to begin by educating each other and making sustainability a focus in design education as well. Green designers need to constantly be learning and sharing what they learn about sustainability, and discussing it with their vendors and clients. This may require discussing sustainability as a business advantage and revealing how interconnected it is to success. Change happens from the bottom up and the top down, so we need to use every avenue available to educate about sustainability and bring about change.

The enthusiasm and energy we shared about green design has renewed my interest in sustainable design and my faith in the design industry. As the Green Design Dialogue participants showed me, sustainability is alive and well in my chosen field, and it will only continue to be more important. Designers are making big strides in the right direction, and the fact that we're discussing the issue and seeing so many resources pop up is a good sign. We hope to continue the Green Design Dialogues (and the action plan for sustainability idea) in the future. I want to thank each person who participated in our first discussion, and I hope other designers will catch on and join us!

In my first report on Green Design Dialogues, I introduced the six participants of our May 25 discussion on green design and summarized a bit of what we talked about. Obviously, sustainability and design is a huge topic, and one these green designers love to talk about, so here is a continuation of our first Green Design Dialogue.

The energy of our conversation was rising as we discussed changes in the design industry. It is clear that designers are slowly beginning a journey towards a more sustainable way of working. Eric K said, "We're crawling, but it may be a little messy before we really work things out." Sustainability really offers a great opportunity for the design industry, and we all agreed that it's taking hold and will be very important to design in the future.

The paper industry is one example of a growing consciousness of green practices. Paper companies are big contributors to pollution and greenhouse gases, and they're slowly realizing it. There are now many sustainable paper options designers need to be aware of as greener papers evolve. Paper distributors, printers, and ultimately, designers, are all starting to pay attention to the chain of custody and all the effects of their paper choices. Of course, many of us agreed that part of the challenge of green design was moving beyond paper.

Eric K said, "The paper issue is a key one, but I keep asking how we can move past that paradigm as the key method of communication. There are more intelligent ways of reaching our audiences…. We've been saying 'solutions, not stuff.'" Graphic designers do tend to be stuck in the realm of the printed page. Reducing our dependence on paper and expanding our offerings to include other media are certainly great ways to design more sustainably. But, as Dani mentioned, there is still a need for print. Printed pieces do have a role to play in design and communication, but design as a strategy and process can be applied much more broadly than to just brochures, packaging, and magazines.

Some designers feel a bit threatened by this talk of moving beyond paper and print and making something intangible. It probably scares a lot of printers as well! As Bryn puts it, "for years, design has been all about the artifact, not the thinking." This is slowly changing as we begin to place more value in the intangible (think mp3s or other digital media).

Efficiency and choosing the right media and materials for the message are a large part of green design. Another important aspect is the idea of simplifying and using less "stuff." This is a challenge, especially in such a competitive capitalist environment. Our culture is fixated on materialism, and it is largely by design that this has happened. So the question of how we can get by with less needs to be answered for consumers. As Jess said, "We need to educate consumers on how to shop and consume all over again. AND we need to educate businesses on how to produce appropriately."

We began discussing the idea of no-waste solutions, which is what we agreed every design should strive for. Nature is a great example of beautiful no-waste design, for it recycles everything. Sometimes this may require going beyond what the client asks for and choosing a medium that will solve their problem without creating waste. It can definitely be difficult to convince some clients to try unconventional ideas in their marketing, so designers need to make a business case for more sustainable solutions. Eric K says that his company has had to become more creative with how they pitch ideas to clients to convince them that sustainable solutions are in their best interests. In this way, designers are becoming more strategic and consultative, and less likely to be just "making stuff." Green design requires asking more questions and digging deeper into truly effective and efficient communication.

So, we know that the industry is changing, but how can we help bring change about and make design sustainable? It begins with education, of both designers and consumers. As Eric B said, we need "influencers" in the profession to lead the way. We also need to be able to convince our clients (and fellow designers) that green design makes sense from a business and economic standpoint. Change will come about when designers really think about the effectiveness of their efforts and consider new ways of communicating. Learning what is effective, from a marketing standpoint, and carefully considering your audience, lead to design decisions that minimize waste and communicate well.

This big-picture thinking leads to design being used more as a process or a system than a tangible object. Graphic designers face the challenge of having to expand past visual, tangible design to "designing" ideas and solutions. We agreed that visual design will always be relevant, but it may be just one tool in a designer's toolbox. Design is, after all, mostly about ideas, but it seems that many designers are more focused on just making things pretty. Green design is deeper design - focused on solving problems and creating meaning.

In my next post I will finish summarizing our first Green Design Dialogue, covering our discussion of challenges facing the design industry and how we might address them, and some ideas for stimulating thought and action on sustainable design.

The design industry has come a long way. There are now many sustainable options for printing and paper, and even web hosting. With more sustainable materials and tools at hand, designers are able to explore greener options and lower the environmental impact of their work. And since graphic designers work hand in hand with the paper industry, which is the largest industrial consumer of water and the third greatest industrial greenhouse gas emitter, it's about time that sustainability became a bigger part of the industry. There is much room for improvement in design, and many changes are on the horizon.

When I was studying design in college, I became interested in socially and environmentally conscious design (it was even the subject of my thesis). It seemed that this consciousness was just beginning to take hold in an industry that had been mostly focused on commercial interests since the dawn of the advertising age. The fresh ideas coming from the industry excited me, and I predicted a future in which the role of the designer was that of a problem solver, applying the design process to more than just visual media, but to solutions that would have a positive impact on the world. I imagined that designers would begin going deeper, thinking more critically about each thing we create, and learning from the ultimate designer: nature. Slowly but surely, my dreams of a green design industry are becoming a reality.

Fast forward a few years, and I'm seeing even more exciting ideas propelling the design industry forward. I'm hoping it won't be long before green design is synonymous with good design, and designers are as concerned about the sustainability of their projects as the aesthetics. Design firms focused on environmentally conscious design are becoming quite common, and independent designers are beginning to realize that having knowledge of green design solutions is an asset to their businesses as well as to their clients. There is a hopeful air in the industry today and a call for change from designers themselves.

Visual design is one of the most powerful forms of communication. Designers have the ability to open minds to new ideas, explain complex issues, educate the public, persuade people to take action, and give ideas wings. As an image-driven culture, the ability to create and manipulate the images people are exposed to is an immense power. As designers realize this power and harness it, I am hoping that change on a massive scale will occur. I dream of a day when every step of the design process is accompanied by critical thought about environmental impact, when there is no trash because everything has been designed to be reused or recycled, when there's no such thing as virgin paper. I dream of all design taking a cradle to cradle approach, analyzing the consequences of every part of a product's life cycle. I dream of a redesign of our world to mimic the resourceful, beautiful, wasteless designs of nature. And I believe the design industry plays a big role in making these dreams come true.

We have a long way to go before design becomes a sustainable industry. But progress is being made, and minds are shifting in the right direction. As more and more designers realize the power they have to not only produce sustainable designs, but to change the world through their work, a greener future will be realized.

Links: Design Will Change on Business of Design Online, Cradle to Cradle, Design Can Change, my paper on The Future of Design