What is Green Design?
Everything in our modern world has gone through some
design process -- from our cars, to our furniture, to
our clothes. Every aspect of modern life is effected
by design.
There's a new movement afoot that looks to completely
rethink and rework the very essentials of the design
process. According to William McDonough, one of the
key spokesperson's for this new movement, green
design is not just about being "less bad",
it's about being "more good".
What if our cars, instead of just being
zero-emission, actually contributed fresh air to our
environment. Or, what if our disposable plates and
utensils actually contributed to soil fertility once
they've been put back into the ground?
Why
it's so important...
At this point, there's no doubt that us humans have
been living in a way that has been destroying our
ecosystem. Given most of what we create first goes
through a "design process", it only makes
sense that we should start there.
The impacts of exploring green design are immense,
and can effect just about every field of
human endeavor. By actively teaching green
design in our educational system, there's hope that
the next generation of designers will act in ways
that will not only provide for sustainabililty, but
will proactively move towards regenerating our
ecosystem.
