ABSTRACT
This chapter shows how sustainable design recalibrates the parameters of good design in an unsustainable age. It broadens the agenda of the design system – with its established emphasis on economic sustainability and development, at all costs – so that it’s fit for purpose in unravelling the Gordian knots of sustainability, through the design of more sustainable goods and services. Compulsory material over-consumption is motivated when discrepancies are continuously experienced between actual and desired conditions. Global businesses, supported by governments, are also beginning to look at product life extension as a viable route to waste reduction, and value creation. Designing for emotionally durable products and user experiences helps reduce the consumption and waste of resources by building lasting relationships between users and the products they buy. Promoting sustainability by production can be intended as a response to the ecological impact of relentlessly wasteful manufacturing practices.
