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| Network, B. A. (Producer). (2009). E-Waste Dumping in Ghana. Retrieved from http://www.electronicstakeback.com/global-e-waste-dumping/ |
For my subject of Industrial Design, I
decided to focus on the ethics and responsibilities an Industrial Designer has
in relation to the environmental impact of the products they design.
As the focus of Industrial Design is
effectively geared toward mass production, attention must be paid to what
happens to the product once it has lived out it's useful lifespan - "If one’s really honest with
oneself, most of what you design ends up in a landfill somewhere." (Tim Brown,
2009)
The question is then, how can we reduce the waste that mass produced
products cause? It is a problem that both the consumer and designer often bury
and forget - for example in Australia, a country of culture similar to New
Zealand, the E-Waste for computers alone is projected to be 11.1 million per
annum in comparison to the 500,000 recycled per annum, with similar trends on
all other electronic equipment. (Waste,
2009-10-13)
These trends are also accelerating at an rate in the current years. (Callie W. Babbitt*†, 2009) There are many elements that affect a
products longevity; aesthetics, time between technological improvements,
durability, and consumer trends to name a few.
Many of these aspects have been addressed by both designer and consumer,
for which we have recycling programs, technological improvements into
biodegradability, and many campaigns to "enjoy what you have" , but
all run on the assumption that what is designed will inevitably be thrown away.
The standpoint I choose to take is that this assumption need not be true. The
question I ask is, how can we design products so that we can continue designing
them? For example, could we design a cellphone that could be upgraded instead
of thrown away and replaced by a newer model?
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