ABSTRACT
Products of design are often turned into waste long before the end of their expected life span. This is the result of complex cultural forces which create a desire for new design products and thereby cause the obsolescence of existing design products. The waste created by ‘the desire for the new’ has significant environmental costs. This chapter examines how designers are implicated in the generation and maintenance of the desire for new design products, and asks: if designers are central in creating ‘cultural’ waste, is it possible for them to contribute to its solution?
