Sustainability Tools Flashcards
What are the 5 steps in the classic life of a product?
- Resource extraction and refining.
- Manufacturing.
- Packaging and distribution.
- Use.
- End of life.
How can we ensure a sustainable design process?
We need to consider every step of this life cycle.
What 5 things can designs affect?
- The way things are made
- The materials they are made from.
- The processes used to shape these materials.
- The energy required to use a thing.
- What happens to things when they are no longer required..
In 2001 what did 69% of British companies agree?
That designer for sustainability will become more important in the next five years.
What % of a product, service or system’s environmental cost is determined at the design stage?
80%.
What % of the UK consumers carbon emissions are from products and services they consume?
75%.
What does the Ozone layer protect us from?
Harmful UV radiation.
What are the pros and cons of polystyrene cups?
Oil derived, can recycled but isn’t in many places.
What are the pros and cons of paper cups?
Produce more CO2 in production than polystyrene.
Paper is bleached, heavier to transport and costs more to move.
Is wood carbon neutral?
No - you need more petrol to make a paper cup than a plastic cup.
How many times would you have to use a paper cup to break even for energy compared to a plastic cup?
31 times.
Define LCA.
Life cycle assessment.
What is lifecycle assessment?
A technique to assess the environmental impacts of a product’s life from extraction of raw materials through to the end of it’s life.
Give an example of a product of globalisation.
Boeing 787 Dreamliner - components made in at least 8 different countries.
What are the benefits of Life Cycle Assessment?
It is comprehensive and objective, but can be perceived as specialist and very large and hard to understand.
How many more times energy does it take to make a paper bag than a plastic one?
4 x more
What are plastic bags made from?
Waste products of oil refining.
What do paper bags require?
Forests to be cut down.
What are the cons of paper bags?
The manufacturing process of the paper bag produces a higher concentration of toxic chemicals.
Give a pro and con for cotton and polyester.
Polyester is derived from non-renewable carbon reserves (coal, petroleum, natural gas).
Cotton is a cup that requires high levels of herbicides, pesticides, fertilisers and irrigation for profitable yields.
How can we recycle polyester?
- Hand me downs.
- Second hand markets.
- Mending.
- Recycling and repurposing clothes.
What encourages fast fashion?
Low prices of goods from the far East encourages us to repeat buy and throwaway culture in more affluent societies.
What are the 7 components of the LiDs wheel?
- Innovation.
- Low impact materials.
- Optimised manufacturing.
- Efficient distribution.
- Low impact use.
- Optimised lifetime.
- Optimised end of life.
Give 4 new concept developments for eco-friendly design.
- Dematerialisation.
- Shared use.
- Integration of functions.
- Functional Optimisation of Product (Components).
