The big idea: Sustainable design is decision-making, not a material you can specify.
The three problems the guide names
- Waste
- Pollution
- Energy consumption
- Every one of them is affected far more by how long the product lasts than by what it is made of.
Each problem with strategies ordered by how much difference they make — then the question that decides which strategy is worth anything.
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| Problem | Strategies, biggest lever first |
|---|---|
| Waste | Make it LAST; design it to come apart; use fewer parts and materials; cut process waste by nesting and choosing the stock size |
| Pollution | Avoid harmful coatings, solvents and adhesives; choose processes with no chemical bath; stop it shedding in use; plan what happens if it is burned or buried |
| Energy | Find out whether the energy is spent MAKING it or USING it; then insulate and control, or reduce mass and processes; then cut transport by flat-packing |
The biggest lever is product life: Double how long a product stays in use and you halve its material, its energy and its waste — all three at once.
No material substitution comes close to that, which is why a sustainability answer that only changes the material is a weak answer.
Where is the impact, really?: For a kettle, most of the impact is the electricity it boils with, so a minimum-fill mark and better insulation beat any material choice.
For a garden chair, almost all of it is embodied in making the thing, so lasting twenty years beats everything else. Answering without knowing which is which is guessing.
Three objectives the papers name
Materials
Use less, use fewer different types (easier to recycle), choose renewable or recycled ones, avoid toxic ones. A tethered bottle cap stays with the bottle.
Energy
Less energy to make, move and use the product, and from renewable sources. An electric motorbike has no exhaust emissions in use.
Pollution and waste
Less scrap and emissions in making it, nothing harmful released in use, and a planned end of life. Farm waste turned into food ingredients.
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The statement covers design METHODOLOGIES as well as designs — how the work is done, not only what is made. A process that surfaces the environmental question early is worth more than a good intention late.
Methodology decisions that change the outcome
Put the impact question in the specification
A criterion such as "disassembled to separate materials in under five minutes with standard tools" is testable, and it survives every later trade-off. A hope does not.
Ask it at ideation, not at the end
The principle chosen at ideation decides most of the impact. By the time the design is detailed, only a few per cent remains available to change.
Measure something, however roughly
Mass per year of service, parts count, number of materials, energy per use. Rough numbers beat adjectives and let you compare two ideas.
Test the end of life as a scenario
Actually take the prototype apart with a screwdriver and a timer. Most products fail this and nobody notices until somebody tries.
Write it as a trade-off: "The recycled polymer costs 12% more per part, which is recovered in the first year because the housing no longer needs a coating" is a sustainable design decision.
"We chose a sustainable material" is not — it names no measure, no cost and no alternative.
How this is tested — strategies to achieve sustainability, and decision-making about waste, pollution and energy. It comes up two ways:
Paper 1 — multiple choice
- Identify which problem a stated strategy addresses.
- Pick the strategy with the largest effect for a given product.
Paper 2 — analysing a product
- Explain the sustainability strategies for a named product.
- Evaluate a sustainability decision against its alternatives.
The trap: Reaching for a material substitution. Ask where the impact actually is first — in making it, or in using it — because the answer changes which strategy is worth anything.
A company makes a plastic garden chair and an electric kettle. Explain how the sustainability strategy should differ between them.
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