Eco Sustainability
Sustainability is essential to stop the continual degradation of the natural environment. Throughout history humans have tried to conquer or master nature, with the result that humans have destroyed much of the earths vast resources. However, to achieve sustainability it is essential to accept that humans are dependent on the natural environment for their own survival and wellbeing. Without a healthy natural environment, it is impossible to have a healthy society or economy.
The poor state of the natural environment as a result of mankinds mistreatment has resulted in a number of serious consequences that are posing immediate threats to society and the economy, and as a result Environmental Sustainability is seen by many as being the primary concern at present. Issues such as global warming, resource depletion and waste disposal are strongly affected by product design, and urgently need addressing.
Edwin Datschefski has defined sustainable products as being those which are:
Cyclic, Solar, Safe and Efficient
This means that all materials exist in closed loop systems (cyclic), all energy comes from renewable sources (solar), no harmful substances are emitted to the environment at any stage in the products life (safe), and throughout the products life it uses no more than 10% of the resources used by an equivalent product in 1990 (efficient). The cyclic and solar systems are illustrated in the below diagram.
Information about environmental issues, environmental product regulations and green labels is provided in the relevant sections of this website.