Sustainability

It stems from two things: survival and respect.
We have one earth: finite resources. The only thing continually entering our system is energy from the sun, and even that will run out someday (fortunately not on human timescale). Quite clearly, we, as a species, desire to continue to exist. In fact, life in general has an overall tendency to continue to be, an inclination towards survival, a habit of keeping the earth's surface humming with the vibrations of organic existence.
Humans have, unknowingly at least to the majority of the population, overused resources contained by the earth, or we're at least on path to overuse them. And perhaps more significantly, this overuse has dramatic effects on the environment, which threaten all life. Undoubtedly, humans will find great challenges to their survival with a severe climate change. At this point, many people are ready to announce a future of great suffering, but I hesitate: perhaps I am too young to be so pessimistic.
So sustainability is about shifting to a way of like which will sustain humans for another 10,000 years. It's about survival. In this way, no-one can have any legitimate argument against sustainability. It's in their best interest and the best interest of their children. But many people perceive sustainable development as something which will interfere with their level of living. They'll have to give up something. Well, first of all, maybe they should be giving it up anyway, but for the most part this simply isn't the case.
Sustainability isn't simply about survival though, for it was, it could be rather brutal. It integrates concern over the well-being and happiness of all living beings. It's about respect. And while it emphasizes (admittedly anthropocentric) human interests, it recognizes that human health and well-being is directly connected to that of the eco-system we live in. And in understanding today's society, and the role of the economy, it recognizes that any effort to integrate sustainability must fit, at least in some ways, with the economic system. Hopefully, it will gradually change the value system inherent in the economy (i.e. away from the idea that money is god), but at this point, it will work with the system to accomplish its goals.
The sources: survival and respect.
The results: environmental protection, social equality, and economic efficiency.

"Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs."
Brundtland Commission - 1987

Conclusions of my Thoughts - Table of Contents

When I started the project, I figured by the end of the summer, I would have a good sense of sustainable design. I had a number of questions that I set out to answer about sustainable. My plan was pretty basic: talk to people in the field, figure out what they were doing, see if it was something I would like to do, and just get some general acquaintance with sustainable design. Since my main form of interaction was via e-mail, I had to explain what I was doing. I presented the following goals in my letter:

- to better understand the design process
(I'm a physics major, sculpture minor - so I haven't actually done much design yet)
- explore the ability of the designer to extend sustainable practices to the consumer
- investigate how the sustainable design field is growing/developing
- see where designers place themselves in the global movement towards ecological awareness (i.e. the drivers of it perhaps?)
More personal goals were simply investigating career opportunities and required training for designers and understanding what I should do next if I would like to go into the field.

Were these questions answered? Absolutely.
Did I discover some more interesting questions along the way? Same answer.
Here’s a list of the following posts addressing these and more questions:

Understanding Sustainability

Understanding Design

Extending Sustainable Practices to the Consumer

Designing Outside a Vacuum – Social Implications

Materials – A Big Decision

Designer Power

Growth?

Personal Development

An Introduction to the Project

This blog is the collection of notes, interviews, experiences from June 9th until the end of August, regarding a study of Sustainable Design.

Given financial support from the Charles Center at the College of William and Mary (Virginia, USA), in the form of a Monroe Scholarship, I had the opportunity to develop my own summer research project. Having interests in science, art, and eco-consciousness (among many other interests really), I felt the project was a perfect chance to investigate a field which could unite them together: sustainable design.

Allow me to expand:
I am a Physics major. This entails a great amount of time solving math problems and generally being confused (though when I do finally start to get it, it is rather enjoyable). But I realized that my personality desires tangible results - which are fulfilled by artistic endeavors.

I am a Studio Art minor, in particular sculpture. [I've included an image of some sea turtles I've sculpted - they are bronze, and not really very green in their production]. I realized that the process of creating something was incredibly important to me, so I feel that after university, I will likely go into something closer to engineering and design.

I have always had eco-friendliness in the back of my mind, growing up as a big tree climber and out-doorsy person. As I develop my sense of personhood and identity, I realized that I need to integrate that appreciation and respect for nature actively into my life. And so I focused my project onto designers interested in issues of sustainable living and eco-conscious practices.

So that's the beginning of the shaping of the project. I wasn't too sure how to investigate 'eco-design' or 'sustainable design.' I was going to be abroad Spring semester (this past spring that is), studying at the University of St. Andrews. With this in mind, I figured: I'll be over there. Europe is reputedly more eco-conscious than the U.S. Maybe I can find a design school with short courses. That was found at Central St. Martins (London University of the Arts). In the end, these classes didn't end up being taken (mainly because the ones in product design were too late, and I would be returning to the U.S. before they started, but also because of the oh-so-glorious exchange rate from dollar to pound). But London was the destination, and as it turns out, a good choice, as there is plenty going on in the sustainable design field there (well, really here - I am in London as I write this introduction).

So with this blog, I hope to compile a major portion of the work I do during the project.
What work am I doing you ask:
Meeting with designers and people involved with sustainable industries.
So I'll post some interviews from those.
Hanging out with a couple, helping with project (fingers crossed there)
Reflections on my experiences.
Reading books on sustainability, design, etc.
Book reviews perhaps.

The major questions I'm looking to answer are:
What work are the designers doing?
How is design integrated into sustainability? How is sustainability integrated into design?
What role will/can designers play in the (potential) movement towards a popular eco-consciousness?
What are the most important skills for designers?
How popular is eco-consciousness is among designers? Is it becoming more popular?
In what areas is the most interesting work in sustainable design occurring?

As the final project, I've decided to create this blog. Blog has become a very popular means of information transfer, especially in the sustainable design field (i.e. Inhabitat and Treehugger), and so I felt it would be appropriate to echo this format for my own research.

I hope you enjoy the results.