A wise man once said that most problems humanity is facing today were caused by poor design. That wise man was M. Monteiro and in his book Ruined by Design he didn’t write just about poor product design, but about the deadly and problematic design of systems in our world.
One of such issues is waste caused by poor, non-environmentaly friendly, non-sustainable product design. We can see examples of it just about anywhere today. Walk into any supermarket and you will see food wrapped in tonnes of plastic packaging, or walk along the streets of cities and you will see the same caught in the foliage.
But it is not just a global issue, it is personal. Upon opening your own fridge you can see that even for something as small as a snack, at least one plastic container will be left behind, if not more. But I don’t blame you - it’s convenient!
But what is the true cost of that convenience? I used to work at a place where I was encouraged to upsell plastic bags as it would bring profit to the business. Ten pence and ten minutes for something that would bourden the environment for the next five hundered years or so, if not longer. I don’t believe that to be a justifiable price under any circumstances.
Where I come from fruit isn’t sold in plastic wrapping and there are next to no ready meals on the shelves. I grew up eating and cooking food from scratch and seeing anything otherwise is shocking to me to this day. In more developed countries than my own I would exspect the environmental awareness to be more developed too, but I am sad to realise that is not the case.
Unfortunately it all comes back around anyway. Even loose fruit gets carried home in plastic bags, driven in metal machines powdered by fossil fuels. But even those machines are convenient. They save us time and enable us to see loved ones at other ends of the world. After all, a machine like that is what brought me to this country in the first place, so I shouldn’t judge anyone else who does the same.
It is impossible to be perfect, but I think everyone can help in small ways, such as selectively buying products and focusing on ones made from biodegradable materials, as well as not buying excessive amounts which one will not use.
On the other hand, us designers can help in other ways, such as following the circular patterns or design, and designing sustainable systems as a whole.
And I think the basis of all the work we do towards a better future today should be based on compassion. Compassion towards future generations, compassion towards all the wonderful creatures we share this planet with, and compassion towards the future versions of ourselves.
Thank you for reading.
Ida Ramic
Contact: idaramic@outlook
Website: idaramic.com
Instagram: @idaramic
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