Ecological design
Sim Van der Ryn and Stuart Cowan define it as "any form of design that minimizes environmentally destructive impacts by integrating itself with living processes.
[2] The idea helps connect scattered efforts to address environmental issues in architecture, agriculture, engineering, and ecological restoration, among others.
All consumables, materials and parts used in the life cycle phases are accounted for, and all indirect environmental aspects linked to their production.
The design of a product unrelated to its sociological, psychological, or ecological surroundings is no longer possible or acceptable in modern society.
[5] With respect to these concepts, online platforms dealing in only Ecodesign products are emerging, with the additional sustainable purpose of eliminating all unnecessary distribution steps between the designer and the final customer.
[6] A such example in architecture is that of green roofs, offices, where these are spaces that nature can interact with the man made environment but also where humans benefit from these design technologies.
The architect-designer Victor Papanek (1923–1998) suggested that industrial design has murdered by creating new species of permanent garbage and by choosing materials and processes that pollute the air.
The 1992 conference "The Agenda 21: The Earth Summit Strategy to Save Our Planet” put forward a proposition that the world is on a path of energy production and consumption that cannot be sustained.
The report drew attention to individuals and groups around the world who have a set of principles to develop strategies for change among many aspects of society, including design.
[12] Though Western society has only recently espoused ecological design principles, indigenous peoples have long coexisted with the environment.
Government environmental planning agendas related to green spaces may lead to the displacement and exclusion of unhoused individuals, under a guise of pro-environmental ethics.
For example, LCA might reveal that the fabrication stage of a product's life cycle is particularly harmful for the environment and switching to a different material can drive emissions down.
Waste facilities such as dumps and incinerators are disproportionately placed in areas with low education and income levels, burdening these vulnerable populations with pollution and exposure to hazardous materials.
[19] For example, legislation in the United States, such as the Cerrell Report, has encouraged these types of classist and racist processes for siting incinerators.
[20] Internationally, there has been a global 'race to the bottom' in which polluting industries move to areas with fewer restrictions and regulations on emissions, usually in developing countries, disproportionately exposing vulnerable and impoverished populations to environmental threats.
Reclaimed materials such as timber at a construction site or junkyard can be given a second life by reusing them as support beams in a new building or as furniture.
They are completely separated and disconnected from the conventional electricity grid and receive their power supply by harnessing active or passive energy systems.
Recycling has been used in art since the early part of the 20th century, when cubist artist Pablo Picasso (1881–1973) and Georges Braque (1882–1963) created collages from newsprints, packaging and other found materials.
[24] There are some clothing companies that are using several ecological design methods to change the future of the textile industry into a more environmentally friendly one.
This ideal is also a part of developing countries, although their use of recycled and natural products is often based in necessity and wanting to get maximum use out of materials.
The focus on self-regulation and personal lifestyle changes (including decorating as well as clothing and other consumer choices) has shifted questions of social responsibility away from government and corporations and onto the individual.
Wind turbines can provide up to 30% of the energy consumed by a household but they are subject to regulations and technical specifications, such as the maximum distance at which the facility is located from the place of consumption and the power required and permitted for each property.
Hydropower is an attractive alternative to fossil fuels as it does not directly produce carbon dioxide or other atmospheric pollutants and it provides a relatively consistent source of power.
