As a designer of product, how do I know which material is better for the environment?
This is the classic “paper versus plastic” bag question. Just like the age old question the answer remains—it depends. It depends on where you consider to place the boundaries on what lifecycle stage(s) and lens(es) are to be considered. How far up and down the supply chain/lifecycle do you go? How many impact types are you considering… Carbon, Water, Chemicals and Toxics? The other very difficult aspect of this conundrum is that materials often are not interchangeable. We as product designers strive to optimize an important end-user characteristic—like performance, which could be at odds with a sustainability perspective. But replacing the material with the more sustainable option—severely impacting the utility to the end consumer—does not meet anyone’s needs. Every attempt has been made to create indicators that reward the better behavior when developing, choosing, and/or spec’ing materials for products. The fact is that indicators will always be surrogates for actual environmental impacts. Well crafted indicators however can reward behaviors/designs that translate into reduced environmental impact. At the end, the only true way to answer this question is through the use of metrics using full product footprinting.
 
Back to the FAQ List