It’s tempting to point out the many examples beyond my Timberlands, which are sustainable without the sacrifice or the bloated price tag. Sure, they exist but they are the minority–a miniscule struggling minority. If we all start to question why, we can shift every product manufactured towards a more sustainable approach. Every product.

To turn the giant sloppy behemoth of mass consumerism and adjust the focus on proliferation of variation which has swallowed over every category, we have to do things differently than the niche green crowd. Specifically, we have to embrace consumer demand and submit to the retail reality that desire is what drives purchases—not fear and intimidation of repercussions. We also have to take off the hemp robe and cornstarch g&l lapel pin batch and commit to the belief that sustainable products don’t make you unique. Just like the planet, they are for everyone. Lastly we have got to stop allowing and making excuses. The technology is here, the information is available and there is no reason to have to give up anything to be more sustainable. The fact is that good design and teamwork can create products that do it all and still make money. Forget all the talk about compromise because they are excuses for laziness or greed.

So I ask the question why? Why can’t we make this shift—in our lives, in our workplace, in everything that we do. Why can’t every product be sustainable?

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Re-Usable greeting cards?

When I first heard about the idea, I mistakenly thought it involved erasable ink and a new envelope. Wrong. I’m not as stupid as I sound, but this was not an easy concept to grasp initially, but now that I’ve seen the cards and read a little more about the process (if you’re anything like me, reading directions isn’t always the first thing I do), I’m pretty excited about the whole thing.

The cards in the pic here were designed by singer/songwriter John Mayer for ReProduct! So, not only is he hot, he’s talented in more ways than just the tunes AND he clearly cares about creating a more sustainable way of being.

Back to the cards and how it works . . . it’s a little like Netflix, and if you love movies and haven’t tried it yet - DO IT!!! The idea of mailing movies back and forth seems cumbersome and awkward or something, but they make it so easy, that once you try it, you are sold.

ReProduct has taken the idea of making re-mailing very simple and easy and applied it to the all-American custom of sending greeting cards. By the way, the cards are beautiful. First of all, the cards are made from healthy, non-toxic materials that minimize chemical waste in the manufacturing process and if folks follow this new concept, they don’t end up in landfills - or at least not for a VERY long time.

Here’s how it works:

1. You buy these cool cards that come with special envelopes from ReProduct.com
2. Send the card out!
3. The receiver gets the card, presumably enjoys the message you have sent, then hopefully (here’s the potential wrinkle) is additionally jazzed by the idea of NOT simply recycling it or throwing it away and finds the instructions clear on the back of the card and on the envelope, that they send it along to the next stop, which is NOT a landfill!
4. ReProduct has an arrangement with Shaw Carpets who receives the cards and uses 100% of them to make new sustainable, non-toxic carpets.

There is a little demo of how it works on their website.

I have two concerns about changing the habits of card receivers everywhere – one is that there is no guarantee the person receiving the card will know or understand what they are supposed to do or worse, not take the time to follow through; and the other is what if you are a packrat like me and like to save these things for some unknown or vague reason?

I suspect that while there is some retraining involved, most folks want to participate in being more ‘green’ for various reasons and will give it a try – or at least I’m saying that if you wanted to send me one, I’d do it.

One of the jurors from the panel that selected this year’s COTE Top Ten wrote about her experience and some of the things that she saw in the jury. And the question of great architecture versus green architecture was also raised in the AIA weekly newsletter this past week as well. The COTE Top Ten showcases some very attractive buildings with some serious green building credentials (LEED Gold and Platinum buildings and a building that claims “carbon neutral opearations”, to name a few). But the larger question seems to be how much green building and good building design are, or can be, connected.

Architect Rebecca Henn is a PhD candidate at the University of Michigan and was also the “student” member of this year’s jury. She shared some of her thoughts about the COTE jury process at BuildingGreen. My lament that the winners were all too much of the same type seemed to be echoed in her comments, as well:

“Which was a larger accomplishment: a big federal agency who regularly produces dim bland boxes now getting a more sustainable and beautiful building, or yet another LEED Platinum-rated environmental center (yawn…)?

“What about the inspirational design done for a project that faced budget cuts (twice) and a hurricane, but still stuck to its sustainable goals? The house we wanted oh-so-badly to give an award to had 4,000 square feet for two people. The big box store that could have been an exemplar of sustainability was, frankly, really ugly. The history of environmental design has enough poor aesthetic examples for people to use in repudiation of environmental goals. We refused to feed that fire.”

Good architecture is not easy, but the balance of design and sustainability needs to take both into consideration. This was the direction of another relevant article. While not directly addressing the issue of this year’s COTE Top Ten, Michael Crosbie writes about The Duty to Beauty in the AIArchitect weekly newsletter. In his article, he quotes James Wines, from a recent visit to the University of Hartford architecture program:

“An aesthetically inferior work of architecture,” says Wines, “no matter how environmentally correct in terms of green technology, cannot justify the investment, enhance a client’s public image, or qualify as sustainable design, simply because people will never want to keep a boring building around.” Great architecture and green architecture are one and the same—you cannot have one without the other.

With the current bandwagon of green building rolling along, everyone is looking to get on board. In trade publications now, page after page of ads for every imaginable product in the construction realm are all trying to wrap themselves in the green mantle. Too often, green is being used as the determining factor in a project in place of good design, rather than melding the two and achieving something that surpasses the easy trade-offs and creates something truly worthy.

As Rebecca Henn writes: “Sustainability needs to be seen in our profession less as a technological fix reserved for the spec writers and engineers. Instead, it should be seen as our responsibility to society in exchange for the state-licensed monopoly we enjoy. If we don’t hold both beauty and sustainability as equal cultural commitments, then we might as well hand over our licenses and call ourselves aesthetic consultants.”

Image Source: Aldo Leopold Legacy Center via AIA COTE Top Ten

While cleaning my home recently, I realized just how much paper this leads to each month, and my green guilt set in. Unfortunately, I really, really love both magazines and the daily newspaper. It’s something I am reluctant to give up. Fortunately, there may be a solution that seems almost plausible to a printaholic like me. ReadyMade, a design/home solutions magazine for the DIY set with a sustainable sensibility, is now providing readers with a digital version of its print form. You can see every page, just as it appears in print, in its entirety, starting with the current issue #34, their green design issue.

ReadyMade is no stranger to all things green. It’s been part of their focus since its inception in 2001, and although they’ve been doing “green” issues since before it was trendy, almost all of their issues make mention of green practices or sustainable design. Their print issue is done on 50% post-consumer recycled paper that’s FSC certified. It honestly doesn’t surprise me that their the first of the mags I read to go digital; as champions of efficient design with a built-in eco-audience, it’s a pragmatic approach.

The digital edition is fairly user-friendly. Readers can customize how they view the pages, and can easily jump around using the page index or table of contents. Zooming in and out was a breeze, and graphics and photos are high-res. There’s also a handy option to view any links that appear in the text, either by page or throughout the entire issue. I like this because I’m always dog-earing links I want to look at after I read a magazine. I got really excited when I saw a little bookmark icon, hoping it would be a way to digitally tag or annotate things I wanted to revisit. Disappointingly, it was only a way to bookmark a particular page using your browser’s bookmark function. That’s only a minor quibble, though. I can honestly see myself able to make the switch from print to digital if magazines looked and operated like ReadyMade. For me, that’s a very big deal.

Best of all, you can check out the inaugural digital issue, in its entirety, for free. And, the more people that read the digital issue, the more money sustainable clothing company Nau will donate to carbon offset partner Climate Trust. My only complaint is that I’m unsure as to whether or not subscribers will be able to “opt-out” of their print subscription, and if so, can they get a discount on their subscriptions? ReadyMade’s website lacked details about this, but implied that future digital subscriptions would be subscriber-only. Added reason to check out this issue? Longtime GreenOptions writer Victoria Everman is a contributor this month.

But first, let me tell you what else I know, and I invite you to fill in the blanks. There are now several programs out there, such as the esteemed Bainbridge Graduate Institute up in Washington state, which has been around roughly the same amount of time as Presidio. They offer both a full MBA and two certificate programs, in Sustainable Business, Entrepreneurship, and Intrapreneurship. The certificate programs are aimed for those already in business, or who have already gotten an MBA.

The Green MBA program is another early entrant into this realm, and recently underwent what seems a helpful transformation, relocating to Dominican College in San Rafael, California. They currently offer an MBA in Sustainable Enterprise. As before, they have a social justice/activist leaning, in addition to their business education. Judging by their website, the future looks promising for this program, with a stronger integration between academic learning and active engagement with the real world.

In Europe, a dynamic, creative, real world oriented business program of a different flavor exists, known as KaosPilots. I had the pleasure of meeting many of them while I was at Presidio, as they were in San Francisco for a semester, tasked with engaging with the local population, and creating their final projects while there. It’s a decidedly Nordic styled program, with a quirkiness throughout, a lot of creativity, and as their name suggests, getting comfortable with navigating the chaos that is our world.

Another strong newcomer is the soon to be launched MBA in Design Strategy at the California College of the Arts in Oakland, California. This program, spearheaded in part by my former Presidio classmate, Nathan Shedroff, a multi-talented Experience Strategist, author, and teacher, looks to be quite impressive, if their introductory description is any indication:

The innovative MBA in Design Strategy, which will enroll its first class of students in fall 2008, unites the studies of design, finance, and organizational management in a unique curriculum aimed at providing students with tools and strategies to address today’s complex and interconnected market. The program’s approach encompasses performance, strategy, innovation, and the encouragement of meaningful, sustainable social change.

Numerous a la carte classes and programs can also be found out there, such as the Sustainable Development offerings at Chico State University.

Next Thursday I will go into some depth about Presidio School of Management, a program that continues to evolve and become an ever stronger offering, from which I myself have benefited, graduating in their third cohort.

What else is out there, in terms of sustainability focused education? Please share!

Green Options: Why did you begin Lone Meadow?

Jeff Lazar: We have a primarily domestic manufacturing base in Southern California and in North Carolina. I had been thinking for a few years about what that means and how to take advantage of that opportunity, and what can be done better in moving forward. We wanted to tie in our manufacturing goals, which was to produce the highest quality product available and align it with my personal sensibilities - what it means to manufacture in a clean, and sustainable kind of environment.

Looking at that opportunity to improve ourselves would ultimately send a message to our industry that we have to do a whole lot better in terms of what we do for our consumers, which are the hotel guests and hotel properties. The hospitality furntiture manufacturing industry - and the hospitality industry in general in the United States - is light years behind the other markets for thinking productively about sustainable living standards.

GO: Do you feel that is changing or is there still resistance within the industry that is keeping it from moving towards more sustainable ways?

JL: There's certainly awareness of the movement. Because of all of the media and publicity around the issue, and more consumer interest and awareness of creating more sustainable environments, there is some progress. However, I would caution that the industry is still very, very far behind. For example, we have now gone to a major trade show for the third year in a row since I first introduced Lone Meadow in 2005, and we're the only seating manufacturer in the industry that is not only talking about sustainable hospitality seating, but actually acting on it. That absolutely boggles my mind. We're the only one in a trade show with thousands of vendors. So there is some movement, but I just think it is very slow to come.

When I was writing my thesis on sustainable and socially-conscious graphic design just a few years ago in college, good resources on the subject were hard to come by. Now it seems that discussion sustainability in design is cropping up everywhere, and design organizations and studios are jumping on the green bandwagon. All I can say is, it's about time!

So, why should designers and communications professionals be concerned about sustainability? First of all, because everyone should. Second, designers are responsible for a hell of a lot of paper and resource use, as many designers create printed materials every day. Third, designers are in a unique position: we are communicators, capable of informing, educating, persuading, enlightening, facilitating, and of course, selling. We have the ability to incite action, change minds, and open eyes. I couldn't think of a better group for leading the green revolution than the design community.

As designers have become more aware of environmental issues and sustainability, some great resources on green design have been developed. Sustainability is not only a popular buzzword, but a marketable selling point in a competitive marketplace. This makes a sustainable mindset even more important for designers to develop. I have gathered a few of my favorite resources on sustainable graphic design and the greening of the design industry. This is just the tip of the iceberg though, so please feel free to add your favorite green design resources!