Sustainability, the environment and ethics
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Notas de aula
Sustainable design
- Sustainable design considers present needs and future capacity, including environmental, social and economic effects. Reduce unnecessary resources, energy, waste and harm while maintaining required function and safety. No material or label proves that a product has no impact.
- Assess the intended service and context. Less material can be helpful, but an item that fails early may require replacement. A smaller carbon footprint is one climate measure, not a complete judgement about water, biodiversity, worker conditions or affordability.
The 6Rs
- This lesson uses rethink, refuse, reduce, reuse, repair and recycle. Rethink the need or service; refuse unnecessary additions; reduce resource use; use suitable products again; restore useful function; and recover suitable materials through actual processing routes.
- These strategies are decision prompts, not proof of impact reduction. Reuse needs enough actual uses and suitable cleaning; repair needs appropriate parts and safe function; recycling depends on collection, sorting and processing. Other course lists may vary, so explain the applied reasoning.
Apply the strategy to a real decision
Life cycle assessment (LCA)
- LCA takes a life-cycle perspective across relevant raw materials, manufacture, transport, use and end-of-life stages, within a stated study scope. Transport may occur between several stages. Define function, comparable service, assumptions, data and boundaries before comparing options.
- A study can reveal where impacts occur or move between stages, but data quality and assumptions create uncertainty. Do not present a limited carbon comparison as an assessment of every environmental issue. A local material, recycled input or biodegradable label does not automatically make a whole product lower impact.
Consider the relevant life-cycle stages
Carbon footprint
- A carbon footprint estimates greenhouse-gas emissions within a defined boundary, usually expressed in carbon-dioxide equivalent (CO₂e). State the functional unit or period, such as per use over a given life, and compare equivalent service on the same basis.
- Worked invented model: reusable-container production is 8 kg CO₂e and cleaning 0.04 kg CO₂e per use. At 20 uses total stated emissions are 8 + 20 × 0.04 = 8.8 kg, or 0.44 kg per use; at 100 uses they are 12 kg total, or 0.12 kg per use. These are synthetic arithmetic inputs, not measured bottle data or a complete footprint.
- Transport depends on mode, distance, load and fuel. Local sourcing can change some transport, but material production, energy, washing and actual lifetime can alter the overall result. A renewable electricity source can reduce some emissions but does not erase all supply-chain impacts.
Invented reuse changes the average
Ethical design
- Ethical sourcing requires evidence about labour, communities and environmental conditions in the supply chain. Conflict-related sourcing can involve financing armed groups or serious abuses, but a mineral name or region alone is insufficient evidence about a particular supplier.
- Fairtrade uses defined standards and trading arrangements to support farmers and workers. Minimum Price and Premium arrangements vary by product; not all products have a fixed Minimum Price. Certification does not guarantee every possible social or environmental outcome.
- Environmental claims should state what is compared, the relevant conditions and the evidence. Broad unqualified terms such as green can obscure trade-offs. The CMA Green Claims Code stresses accurate, substantiated comparisons and consideration of the life cycle.
Check the evidence behind a claim
Planned and perceived obsolescence
- Planned obsolescence involves deliberately limited useful or supported life. Perceived obsolescence occurs when a functioning product seems outdated, for example through changing preferences. Finite life or a single broken part does not by itself prove deliberate intent.
- Durability, available parts, repair information and replaceable components can support longer use. Evaluate actual safety, function, repair resources and future use-phase impacts before deciding that repair or replacement is always the better choice.
Disposal
- WEEE means waste electrical and electronic equipment; suitable separate collection and treatment can recover resources and manage hazardous components. Relevant responsibilities depend on product and role; this conceptual lesson is not a current compliance procedure.
- Plastic resin identification codes state material type, not a guarantee of local acceptance or successful recycling. Item format, contamination and available facilities matter. Biodegradable or compostable claims need conditions and timescales; industrial compostability does not mean an item harmlessly disappears in litter or ordinary landfill.
- Landfill requires management of land use, leachate and relevant gas production. Incineration produces emissions and residues, and some processes recover energy. Neither option is equivalent to reusing an intact product or recycling its material; compare the waste stream, controls and feasible alternatives.
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Slides
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Questões de prática
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1.What does sustainable mean?
Easy- Ameeting present needs without compromising future generations’ ability to meet theirs
- Bvery cheap
- Cvery fast
- Dvery big
2.What does 'reuse' mean?
Easy- Athrow it away
- Bburn it
- Cbuy a new one
- Duse an item again
3.What does 'reduce' mean?
Easy- Awaste more
- Bbuy more
- Cuse fewer resources
- Duse more
4.What does 'recycle' mean?
Easy- Aignore
- Bprocess materials into new products
- Cthrow away
- Dburn
5.What does 'refuse' mean?
Easy- Adecline unnecessary products or packaging
- Baccept everything
- Cbuy more
- Dwaste
6.What is a carbon footprint?
Easy- Ashoe size
- Ba type of plastic
- Ca material
- Dan estimate of greenhouse-gas emissions within a stated boundary, usually in CO₂e
7.What is Fairtrade?
Easy- Aa tax
- Ban app
- Ca standards and trading system intended to support farmers and workers
- Da type of metal
8.What is planned obsolescence?
Easy- Adesigning it to be recycled
- Bdesigning a product to have a limited life
- Cdesigning it to last forever
- Ddesigning it to be repaired
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