Sustainable Design: Our Friend For the Future

Sustainable design means more than just creating something that will endure over time. It means that the materials used to create that design came from socially and environmentally responsible sources. Instead of building a new table out of freshly cut lumber, for example, sustainable designs would use driftwood that has been cleaned.Instead of throwing items into a landfill when waste is created, sustainable design demands that all efforts to recycle that waste be taken first.The goal is simple: to remove as many negative impacts to the environment by focusing on design elements that are responsible to the global habitat. The implementation of sustainable design, however, is not always as simple as its primary goal.

How Can a Sustainable Design Be Created?

The first step in creating a sustainable design on any scale is to determine what the impact of that design will be on the habitat itself. Every environment must be examined: local, regional, national, and global. This is done to determine what the total carbon footprint of the resources being used for the design will be. A life-cycle assessment also takes place so that an estimation of impact takes on a monetary measurement as well.Once it has been determined that a sustainable design is feasible, the emphasis switches to improving the material elements of the design. Low-impact materials must be part of any sustainable design efforts. The most non-toxic products that have ongoing sustainability must be chosen. The goal is to use as little energy as possible to produce the materials that are needed.When new products must be created, the emphasis of sustainability then shifts to how those goods are produced. Processes that require less energy are utilized before any others so that the least amount of impact is generated.

Where Can We Find Sustainable Design?

Sustainable designs are more common than many may realize in the modern world. There are buildings in every community that have been built according to these practices. Homes are being built with a focus on sustainability. Even the simple conversion from incandescent bulbs to LED bulbs is a way to participate in sustainable design on a small level.Sustainable design doesn’t have to be about buildings or products either. A home that has a lawn which is watered daily might tear up the sod and replace it with hardscaping features. Because water is being conserved, the conversion of that yard also qualifies as sustainability. Even if the grass isn’t removed and instead the water used to keep the lawn green is recycled, it would qualify as a sustainable design.We can even find sustainability in the agricultural industry.

• Limiting the use of pesticides helps to preserve the top soil of fertile lands.
• Antibiotics and hormone boosters are limited or eliminated so that the food chain isn’t negatively affected.
• Rotational farming helps to keep soil nutrients at peak levels on a continuing basis.

The only real problem that we face with this concept is that it takes everyone working together to pull it off on a macro scale. Despite the prevalence of recycling programs, about 3 in 5 households in the United States do not practice any recycling at all. It’s easy to build something from scratch. The right way is to build something that lasts using sustainable methods instead.

Even How We Work Incorporates Sustainable Design

The next time you go to work, take a look around you to see where sustainable design might be being utilized… and where it could be improved. Here are some common ways that sustainability is practiced in the average workplace.

• Printed materials use 100% recycled paper products.
• Volatile organic compounds are used in lower numbers.
• Distribution methods are used to minimize the amount of waste that is generated.

What can we each do today to begin incorporating sustainable designs? The #1 thing that everyone can do is to participate in activities that do not actively pollute the environment. Instead of depleting a natural resource, we obtain what we need through alternative means. That might mean limiting the use of plastics, limiting power use when obtained from coal plants, or switching to biodiesel fuels for a vehicle.There’s something that can be improved right now in your home and where you work. If everyone made small efforts every day to commit to sustainable designs, then the world would quickly change and the global habitat would be preserved. If we each do our part, then together we really might just save the planet.

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