Rubbish. Every UK household produces over 1 tonne of it annually. And the stuff in our rubbish bins could power 5,000 hours of television every year. (does Audi TV have that much content?)Ethical consumerism seems to be all the rage at the moment. Blogging ahoy after Channel 4's attack on Global Warming.... Gordon Brown has started getting the tube, and UK political parties square up to a 'green-off'. (I'm sure their intentions are genuine, and not a ruse to reel in the floating voter. Not that I'm cynical or anything...)
Enough about politics, let's talk design!
Enlightened sections of the design industry are considering and incorporating social and environment externalities into sustainable design solutions. They're thinking: 'What is the true 'cost' from cradle to cradle?' (In other words the energy and resources used and the social impact to make something, distribute and sell it, use it - and recycle it to make something new.)
Today I went to the [re]design exhibition at the Bluebird Cafe in London. This exhibition shows work from 17 innovative British designers who are bringing sustainability into contemporary design. Chairs made of old plastic and supermarket cardboard, a bench made from old Euro bins, trainers made from old rubber and clothes, blinds made from old signs (my favourite), lamps made from old bottles. All made using sustainable processes.
A really fascinating piece was a bench made of old supermarket cardboard packaging from a chap called Jason Ifkahar. It seems he actually has an arrangement with Sainsbury's to use their waste in his designs, and they're looking for ways in which production levels could be increased.
Now, I haven't heard Sainsbury's talking about this - but this seems to be really positive CSR from an organisation doing something proactive, innovative and actually quite cool.
(Rather than green-washing a tired loyalty scheme, like some other supermarkets we could mention)
