Sustainability Flashcards
What is sustainability?
The ability of a process to be continued indefinitely without damaging and/or degrading the environment.
Which countries are the largest polluters?
In 2019 China was the world’s top polluter emitting 10,357 metric tons of carbon dioxide, followed by the United States, India, Russia and Japan.
How are humans unsustainable
Humans exploit and use up the earth’s non-renewable resources simply by using so much stuff. We pollute the water and air and produce large quantities of waste.
How can a product be made more sustainable?
- Using materials that are the most sustainable and causes least negative impact on the environment.
- Makeing products that last as long as they can. Design them so they can be repaired. This will result in less materials used and less landfill.
- Design products so they are 100% recyclable.
- Make the product reusable
What are the 6R’s?
- Reduce
- Reuse
- Recycle
- Repair
- Refuse
- Rethink
What does ‘reduce’ mean?
Cut down the amount of material and energy you use as much as you can. E.g minimising the distance the product is transported.
What does ‘reuse’ mean?
Use a product to make something else with all or parts of it, insted of wasting it. E.g reusable supermarket bags.
What does ‘recycle’ mean?
Reprocess a material or product and make something else. E.g melt products made out metal and create something else with the metal.
What does ‘repair’ mean?
When a product breaks down or doesn’t work properly, fix it insted of throwing it away into landfill. E.g fixing a bike.
What does ‘refuse’ mean?
Don’t use a material or buy a product if you don’t need it or
if it’s bad for people or the environment. E.g don’t buy a product with wasteful packaging or a large carbon footprint.
What does ‘rethink’ mean?
Do we make too many products? Design in a way that considers people and the environment. E.g Can the design be remade using a different material?
