Planet By Design: Where creativity meets sustainability

We are constantly asking people to make better product choices... less plastic, less carbon, less pollutants. Yes, this is an imperative for the privileged of the developed world, but the majority of the world is poor and hungry, reaching out for whatever will keep them and their family alive, buying whatever they can afford, focusing on their immediate survival.

So, we need to take away or reduce the impact of that choice through better and more planet friendly design in every aspect of a product’s creation, use and disposal.

The ingenuity and reward that created this pollution, is the same ingenuity and reward that can find a way to replace it with something better.

There are so many ways we can make a difference and offer consumers, and survivors, a better option. There are so many ways we can help the people who have already taken on the challenge of building better products.

In 2022 I finished 3 years of designing and implementing environmentally friendly software for some of the world's best-known companies. I hope that software will continue to make some small, positive difference to sustaining and even improving the climate of our precious planet.

Then, I saw video after video of tonnes of plastic waste washing up on what was once pristine coastline. We are not only on our way to poisoning our air with greenhouse gases and other toxic fumes, but we are on our way to overlaying the surface of the earth with all kinds of virtually indestructible garbage.

We are at a critical juncture in history, a time for champions to rise and get us out of the mess we are in. As the old saying goes, "necessity is the mother of invention". Look around, necessity is now. As our ancestors used their creativity and persistence to conjure the magic that we now see as the norms of life, we must use do the same to preserve that life.

"Planet By Design: Where creativity meets sustainability", this set of articles, this set of services, was born out of a passion to try and assist that journey, to offer creators and consumers advice, incentive and challenge. To bring efficiency, security and the best chance of success to those who are already inventing ways to clean up or reduce our impact.

When we are privileged with a choice, we must try to make a difference, mitigate our human impact and slowly and positively enable a better future.

Sustainable product design for a sustainable future.

If you are a system developer, look out for our next article on "Climate by Code" for ideas on how you can help make a difference.

If you are a business owner, consumer or investor... look out!.. We are going to be researching and exploring near and far.

If you've got a special topic you'd like us to cover, leave a comment below or drop us a line at insights@planetbydesign.com

Guy Ballard