Sustainable Materials Power Point PGCE D T 02 02

Sustainable Materials Power. Point PGCE D&T 02 02 07 David Henwood

Sustainability Meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. (World Commission on Environment and Development, 1987)

Consumption By 2050 at current consumption rate we will need: • • 8. 5 planets to absorb our carbon dioxide emissions 6 planets worth of steel 3. 5 planets to sustain cement supply 3. 5 planets to meet current timber demand ‘Spaceship Earth’ Design for the challenge of sustainability in the 21 st Century

Consumption

Ecological debt day/Overshoot day

Global annual production of plastics 1973 2003 1 million tonnes 150 million tonnes

93% of production materials are never used in the final product 80% of products are discarded after a single use (http: //www. envirowise. gov. uk/envirowisev 3. nsf/key/cleanerdesign)

What do we throw away? (wasteonline. org. uk)

What do we throw away? Annually, in the UK: • We produce more than 434 million tonnes of waste • Each person throws away about 500 kg of rubbish • The average family consumes around 330 glass bottles/jars • The average household throws away 675 cans • The average household throws away 208 kg of waste paper • Each person consumes 1 tonne of wood (wasteonline. org. uk)

What do we throw away?

What do we throw away? Glass The average glass bottle contains over 25% recycled glass 80 million fluorescent lighting tubes go to landfill each year Plastic Every year, an estimated 17 billion plastic bags are given away by supermarkets This is equivalent to over 290 bags for every person in the UK. Oil 1 litre of oil can pollute 1 million litres of fresh drinking water (Scottish Oil Care Campaign).

What do we throw away? Wood The UK consumes about 3% of global wood consumption with only about 1% of the worlds population. Batteries 20, 000 batteries are landfilled every year in the UK. It can take up to 50 times more energy to produce a battery than it actually delivers. Textiles 25% of textiles are currently recovered. Of these 43% become secondhand clothing, 12% wiping clothes, 22% filling materials, 7% fiber reclamation, 9% are shoes which are reused 7% is rejected as waste Britain only recycles 2 -4% of its clothing

Recycling - problem solved?

Recycling 1 kg of aluminium saves: up to 6 kg of bauxite 4 kg of chemical products 14 k. Wh of electricity. Recycling aluminium requires only 5% of the energy produces only 5% of the CO 2 emissions compared with primary production In 1989 2% of all aluminium cans in the UK were recycled In 1998 36% of all aluminium cans were recycled

Recycling 1 tonne of steel saves: 1. 5 tonnes of iron ore 0. 5 tonnes of coal 40% of the water required in production 75% of the energy 1. 28 tonnes of solid waste Reduction of air emissions by 86% Reduction of water pollution by 76%

Recycling 1 tonne of paper saves: at least 30000 litres of water 3000 - 4000 KWh electricity ( a 3 bed house for 1 year) 95% of air pollution.

Materials search sites www. materialconnexion. com/goldsmiths%0 D%0 Dwww. 100 percentmaterials. co. uk%0 D %0 D%0 Dwww. constructionresources. com %0 D%0 Dwww. kingston. ac. uk/~kx 19789/re materialise/html_and_flash/searchwelcome. htm%0 D%0 Dwww. greenspec. co. uk www. materialconnexion. com/goldsmiths%0 D%0 Dwww. 100 pe Sustainable Materials search sites www. modulor. info/www. iom 3. org/ www. materialconnexion. com/goldsmiths%0 D%0 Dwww. 100 pe html_and_flash/searchwelcome. htm www. materialconnexion. com/goldsmiths%0 D%0 Dwww. 100 pe Provides choice, not a way of making comparisons of sustainability

What is ‘material’?

Material life cycle So… materials have a story materials have a journey materials have a lifecycle What can we learn by uncovering this lifecycle?

Material life cycle 1. Acquiring raw material 2. Processing & manufacture 3. Packaging & distribution 4. CONSUMER USAGE 5. End of life disposal

What makes a material ‘not eco’? 1. Acquiring raw material 1. Irreplaceable, hard to extract 2. Processing & manufacture 2. Polluting & generates waste 3. Packaging & distribution 3. 4. CONSUMER USAGE 4. Source far from market, needless marketing led packaging Short product life 5. End of life disposal 5. Landfill

What makes a material ‘eco’? 1. Acquiring raw material 1. Easy access, quickly renewable 2. Processing & manufacture 2. 3. Packaging & distribution 3. Low energy manufacture & no waste or pollution Local, unpackaged 4. CONSUMER USAGE 4. 5. End of life disposal 5. Long life cycle, non toxic, needed in small quantities, not fad Bio degradable, reprocessable, kept from waste stream

What would the most ‘un-eco’ material possible be like? • Limited supply • Large scale permanent social, cultural & environmental damage & instability • Forced low wage labour to produce • From very far away • High embodied energy in extraction & processing • Polluting manufacturing process • Heavily over-packaged un-necessarily • Produced in excess • Toxic in use • Combined with other materials so un-recyclable • Produced to satisfy a stylish/fashionable fad (prematurely replaced) • Decomposes very slowly • Waste & pollution at every stage of life

What would the most ‘eco’ material possible be like? • • • Comes from just beyond your front door Quick growing Low embodied energy No waste produced in converting from raw to useful No need for additional packaging Non polluting & non toxic Useable effectively on its own Available cheaply Available in quantities to fulfill demand Bio degradable

Eco material specification • You must be guided by a lifecycle analysis approach to design • Trade offs are inevitable as there are no easy answers • It is impossible to accurately measure relative ‘eco-ness’ of materials • Learn an informed, intuitive approach to material assessment • Decisions must be based on broad but extensive knowledge • You must be willing to constantly update your materials knowledge as new information & materials arrive Aim for ‘BEST POSSIBLE’ not just ‘BETTER THAN’ Criteria will include…

Eco material specification Question the supplier & gauge their commitment to ‘eco’ issues • • • What environmental information do they provide about their goods? Do they generally provide information gladly or reluctantly? Ask for environmental & health / safety data Are they working towards less harmful alternatives? Can they trace their goods back to origin? Are their goods certified in any way? Do they have an Environmental policy? Do they have a Health & Safety policy? Do they have an Ethical or Social policy?

Red (green? ) herrings • • • Eco friendly Longer lasting Kinder to the environment Natural / as nature / home made Economical Less polluting Recyclable Inspired by nature etc… All the above refer to ‘BETTER THAN’ not ’BEST’

Embodied energy values (relative index) Zinc/Brass/Chrome/Nickel Copper Aluminium Stainless steel Natural Rubber ABS PET PVC Steel HDPE LDPE Paper Glass Recycled Aluminium Recycled Paper Cardboard Recycled Steel Wood 50 -200 85 18 17 15 9. 3 7. 1 4. 2 2. 9 3. 8 3. 3 2. 1 1. 8 1. 5 1. 4 1. 3 0. 74 (Production of materials in millipoints per kg)

Or make your own sustainable material… Identify one of the following: Examples: • • • Jane Atfield Julienne dolphin Wilding Lois Walpole Jeremy Dent Waste from manufacture A by-product of manufacture Off-cuts or trimmings Pre-consumer waste Wasted packaging Post-consumer waste Recycled material Broken objects Discarded items Smile Plastics Remarkable

Web resources www. Smile-plastics. co. uk www. Fsctimber. co. uk www. Ecoimpact. co. uk www. Ecospaints. com www. Auroorganic. co. uk www. Englishoakdirect. co. uk www. Timbmet. com www. fairtrade. org. uk www. Londonremade. com www. Greenchoices. org www. Envocare. co. uk www. Freeform. org. uk www. Greenbuildingstore. co. uk www. Ttura. com www. Constructionresources. com www. Ethicaljunction. org www. Capitalwastefacts. com www. Cat. org. uk www. Corkmasters. com www. Bre. co. uk www. Urbanmines. org. uk www. Authenticbusiness. co. uk www. Aecb. net www. Newbuilder. co. uk www. Beaconpress. co. uk www. Greenconsumerguide. com www. Zuss. com www. Ecoconstruct. com www. Globalhemp. com www. Recyclingbydesign. org. uk

Web resources www. rematerialise. org www. corusgroup. com www. ecoconstruct. c om www. oikos. com www. greenbuildingstore. co. uk www. greenbuilder. com www. greendesign. net www. buildfind. com www. british-trees. com www. fscoax. org www. glassonline. com www. bpf. co. uk www. steel-sci. org www. certifiedwood. org www. psd-dk. com www. actin. co. uk www. athenasmi. ca www. bc. bangor. ac. uk www. bre. org. uk www. carbohydrateeconomy. org www. uml. edu/dept/we/centers. htm www. ecodesign. bc. ca/product. htm www. harrisdirectory. com www. materialconnexion. com www. newuses. org www. britglass. co. uk www. britmetfed. org. uk www. iop. co. uk www. corrugated. org. uk www. pdmdf. com

Web resources www. eternally-yours. nl www. product-life. org www. pre. nl www. ecosite. co. uk people. interactionivrea. it/natasha/cookie/week 2. html www. interaction-ivrea. it/index. asp www. ec. gc. ca/ecocycle www. ecomed. de/journals/lca. hm www. cpm. chalmers. se www. nrim. go. jp: 8080/ecomat/lc a/links. htm www. lifecycle. org/academia. htm www. spold. org www. rmi. org www. recyclingconsortium. org. uk www. salvo. co. uk www. rewindrecycling. org www. alga. com. au/waste 4. htm www. biffaward. org www. onyxenvtrust. org www. sitaonline. co. uk www. greenbins. co. nz/why. ht ml www. wasteresearch. co. uk www. bioregional. com www. compost. org. uk www. eco-composting. co. uk www. buy-recycled. co. uk/index 1. html www. letsrecycle. com www. urbanmines. org. uk www. remade. org. uk www. londonremade. com

Web resources www. eco. uk. com/network/index. html www. wrap. org. uk www. wastewatch. org. uk www. alucan. org. uk www. webdirectory. com/rec ycling www. bir. org www. dkr. de www. icer. org. uk www. ethicalconsumer. org www. greenconsumerguide. com www. adbusters. org www. naturalcollection. com www. ecomarket. net www. ecocities. net www. mybackyard. com www. dark-skies. org www. gn. apc. org www. essential. org/links www. cityfarmer. org www. greenmap. com www. buy-recycled. co. uk www. solarenergy. com www. ecomall. com www. greenstat. ebusiness. co. uk www. jademountain. com www. wholeearthmag. com www. realgoods. com www. sustainabilitysource. com www. calstart. org www. ihpva. org

Suggested Reading • • • • Design for the Real World Victor Papanek Ecological Design S. Van Der Ryn / S. Cowan Design+Environmen H. Lewis / J. Gertsakis Stuff - the secret lives J. Ryan / A. Thein Durning The Green Imperative Victor Papanek Cradle to Cradle Mc. Donough / Braungart Biomimicry J. Benyus Total Beauty of Sust Prods E. Datschefski Citizen Designer S. Heller / V. Vienne Design for Society N. Whiteley Natural Capitalism P. Hawker / A & L Lovins Design Outlaws Zelov & Cousineau Rubbish R. Girling • • • • The Eco-Design Handbook Industrial Hemp Don’t throw it all away Grow your own house The good wood guide Droog Design The Whole House book The Green Guide Recycling Eco Green Architecture Cities for a small Planet Dirty Planet Alastair Fuad-Luke Hemptech Fo. E Simon Velez Fo. E Ramakers & Bakker Borer & Harris G Markham Crafts Council E. Wilhide J. Wines R. Rogers C. Clayton