Main Project: Plastic v. Glass

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/apr/26/waste.pollution
http://www.recap.co.uk/recycling-at-home/materials/glass
http://earth911.com/recycling/glass/brown-glass/
http://brokensecrets.com/2010/03/23/why-beer-bottles-are-green-brown-or-clear/

Although Lea & Perrins wish to retain their iconic bottle shape and colour scheme, they are open to a change in the materials used. Currently they use a clear glass bottle, but is there a more sustainable alternative?

Plastic is widely recycled but not all forms can be reused, and when it is not disposed of correctly and ends up in landfill it can be very damaging to the environment as most forms do not bio-degrade and contain toxins. Bio-plastics exist and are becoming more widely used, which are constructed from wheat, maize and other crops, but there are concerns over whether they are more or less damaging to the environment than regular plastics. They can increase emissions of greenhouse gases on landfill sites and need higher temperatures to decompose, while some can't be recycled in Britain and take up land that is needed to produce food crops.

On the other hand, glass is produced from cheap and abundant raw materials and can be recycled again and again without losing quality. However, a lot of energy is required to create glass from the raw materials of sand, soda ash and limestone, although recycling glass reduces the amount of raw materials mined by 80%. For me, it seems that retaining a glass bottle and encouraging recycling is more environmentally friendly than switching to recycled plastics or bio-plastics. Is there a difference in the recyclability and carbon footprint of different-coloured glasses?

Green glass is more abundant in the UK from imported wine and beer bottles, and UK companies demand more brown and clear glass, but would green glass suit the aesthetic of Lea & Perrins? Clear and brown glass are worth more and would be better attached to the branding of Lea & Perrins; clear glass is already used and brown would blend in well with the orange and black colour scheme and brown sauce colour, although it would be difficult to see how full the sauce bottle is.

The difference between clear and brown glass are the addition of nickel, sulfur and carbon during manufacture to colour it. Carbon dioxide is one of the most damaging gases in our environment and a pollutant, but if the carbon is contained within the glass and the bottle recycled then it could potentially be a more sustainable option. Reading about beer bottles, it was stated that coloured glass protects the ingredients from light which can spoil the contents, although that may not be applicable to this product.

Main Project: Lea & Perrins

Brief
Create a sustainable re-design of the Lea & Perrins Worcester sauce bottles.

Required brief deliverables
Attract a new generation of Lea & Perrins users (without alienating the current, older market) through educating them of exciting ways to use Lea & Perrins in everyday dishes. You must use innovative sustainable packaging designs, materials and considerations in your final solutions.

Design objectives

• Create a packaging design that is attractive to the 20-35 year old age group
• Inspire people to use the product in their everyday cooking
• Made as sustainable as possible, adhering to the Heinz Corporate social responsibility guidelines

Design mandatories

• Retain the proud orange and black branding
• Retain the iconic bottle design
• Keep the original and genuine feel of the product

Design considerations

• Great 'shelf stand-out'
• Attach elements to the bottle such as recipe cards
• Alternate bottle materials to be explored
• Themes of refill, recyclability and bio-materials should be considered

Strategic target

Cooks who are relatively confident in the kitchen but are looking for new, easy ways to jazz up their repertoire of recipes

Primary target

New consumers to the Lea & Perrins brand

What do we want them to think and do?

'I couldn't do without my bottle of Lea & Perrins in the kitchen. It's such a versatile ingredient and a great way of transforming the everyday food I cook.'

The Product:

Lea & Perrins produce Worcestershire Sauce, which was first created by chemists John Wheeley Lea and William Henry Perrins of Worcester. They have created the sauce to a similar closely guarded recipe ever since, in the same factory that Lea and Perrins built in 1897. In 1906 the High Court declared that only Lea & Perrins Worcestershire sauce may be called 'Original and Genuine'. Over the years the company has been aligned with HP Sauce, the Danone Group and is now owned by Heinz. Currently the sales of Worcestershire sauce are in decline, with Heinz losing 8.3% a year and 55% of sales coming from households with no children, inspiring Lea & Perrins to reach out to a younger audience.

They must now comply to the Heinz Corporate Social Responsibility Guidelines which are reducing waste across the board, such as reducing greenhouse gas emissions, solid waste, energy consumption and water consumption.

Historical advertising:

 

Lea & Perrins advert, 1900

This advertisement shows the traditions of the company, with their product dating back over a century and able to describe itself as 'Original and Genuine', possibly their main selling point. To this day the company retain a traditional and upmarket style with their packaging and advertising, but this may be a factor in losing the younger market.

A more recent advertisment encouraging people to add the sauce to more recipes

One strategy they used to try and attract new markets was in these poster advertisements encouraging people to use the product in modern and worldwide cuisine, with taglines such as 'LEAsagne', 'ChiLEA Con Carne' and 'BoLEAgnese'. However, they retained the Victorian style within the publications.

A similar advert encouraging people to experiment with Lea & Perrins

Recently in advertising it seems that Lea & Perrins have been trying to reach out to new audiences and broaden peoples' tastes. Younger generations seem to experiment more with cooking and are open to influences from around the world, and these adverts tap into that by giving them a Lea & Perrins twist.

Lea & Perrins today:

The shape of the bottle is seen as iconic, as is the orange and black colour scheme and so they don't want to change those components of the design. However, the label is very traditional-looking which ties into their tagline 'the Original and Genuine', and in order to reach out to younger audiences this is the aspect that they are open to changing, with a view to environmental concerns.

Week 5: CAT visit

We visited the Centre for Alternative Technology, based in Machynlleth, to receive a talk and look around the exhibits on display. The centre was built using sustainable methods in a disused slate quarry and features a water-balanced 'railway' and a low-energy house and buildings created using straw and rammed earth methods.

During the talk, Jo quoted some information from several sources, including the 'Story of Stuff' where he picked out the fact that of all the products that US citizens buy, 99% are thrown away within six months. He also showed us the website 'GapMinderWorld' which compares data on environmental and political issues such as the correlation between energy consumption and GDP, and the fact that although China and India are currently producing a lot of pollution and consuming a lot of resources, Europeans are still one of the worst offenders as we have been causing these issues for centuries.

Another interesting chart we looked at was the depiction of how much of the world each nation is using up. On average, the USA consumes 5 planets worth of resources, we use 3, India uses just 1/2 while Afghanistan uses 0. However, when you compare the resource use to living standards in these countries you can see a huge difference, and Cuba are the closest to getting it right as they use 1 planet while maintaining high life expectancy and literacy rates as they had to learn to be self-sufficient due to political issues.

One piece of information we have had fed to us over the years is that every little helps, that by turning the light off as you leave the room you are doing your bit to 'save the planet', despite 4 lightbulbs using just 0.2kWhrs, compared to heating a house with 40kWhrs.

The WISE (Wales Institute for Sustainable Education) building where we received the talk was built in order to be as eco-friendly as possible. Concrete had to be used for the foundations but was kept to a minimum, while the bricks were created from a mix of sand and lime and baked at a lower temperature to regular house bricks. The structure is timber-framed and uses packed earth and shredded newspaper as insulation, and finished with natural paints.

Reflective Questions

Had you heard of CAT before you came on the module?
I had not heard of CAT

Please give your thoughts on the 3x most notable points raised in the sustainability lecture on site
One point that stands out is that we have always been told that 'every little helps', but in reality only big changes can make a big impact. The website 'GapMinderWorld' was interesting too, which showed the link between economies and CO2 emissions and contained data from a wide period of time. Looking at the process of building the WISE centre showed that a range of surprising materials make effective insulation and structural elements.

Please give your thoughts on the 3x most notable things picked up while at CAT
Initially, the water-powered transportation was interesting, as it was surprising that it could provide such a reliable service at a steep incline. The use of materials like wool and shredded newspaper made effective insulation, and although the building was constructed with sustainability at the forefront of their thinking they were also able to create an attractive house that didn't damage the aesthetics of the local environment

Now you've had time to reflect, what 3x things gained from the CAT visit might you bring forward into your ideas and developments for the sustainable packaging brief?
Although the emphasis was mainly on architecture and not on product design, the idea of second-life is important for any new product. It also showed that products don't have to use the standard materials expected of them, but can break the mould and still be effective and reliable whilst providing more sustainability.

Base Materials: Use and Re-Use

Wood has been used by man since our earliest days as it provides a sustainable and strong material that is also very versatile and widely available. Some of these uses include:

400,000BC: the Schoningen spears are some of the first examples of wooden hunting gear, which were used because they were the best material available for the use as they could be made long and strong and sharpened easily.

600-700AD: the spread of Buddhism through the Far East brings toothbrushes and toothpicks from China.

1604: the first wooden railway was built in Wollaton, England.

1951: wooden currency was issued after the stock market crash until the regular coins became available again.

An unusual use for wood is in footwear, but during history a few cultures favoured wooden shoes. Most famous now are the traditional Dutch clogs which were used in agriculture and to provide stability while fishing by digging the pointed toe into the ground. These shoes had a second use, as when they were worn out they were burnt as firewood.

Another surprising use is within architectural models, where balsa wood is often utilised as it is incredibly light whilst still retaining some strength. It is also easily worked and malleable making it perfect for this application.

Week 4: The Story of Stuff

'The Story of Stuff' is a documentary by Annie Leonard which uses an engaging animation to back up and highlight the points she makes, as well as displaying the information in a clear way.

It attacks the Western consumerist culture and encourages us to think more about where we get our products and how we use them. Her main argument concerns the 'materials economy', from extraction to production to distribution to consumption to disposal, and how it can't be maintained to meet our needs as it is linear, and the raw materials are being used up.

She cites some shocking facts and figures:

• Just 4% of the USA's forests remain and 40% of the waterways are undrinkable. They use 30% of the entire world population's resources but have just 5% of the world's population
• 75% of global fisheries are at capacity
• 2,000 trees are destroyed per minute in the Amazon rainforest

 She blames the consumerist culture in the West for the increase in the use of the world's natural resources, as Americans are subjected to 3,000 adverts per day which helps to contribute to the 4.8lbs of rubbish that they create per person per day.

In another of Annie Leonard's videos she speaks about bottled water, which is less sustainable, 2000x more expensive and not as nice as tap water (according to taste tests). She blames advertising for this too, as we have been misled and scared into avoiding tap water.

I feel that she makes some good points in her videos but she is very opinionated and doesn't present a balanced view of the problems and so comes across fairly badly. However, without using the emotive language and personal feelings I don't believe she would scare people into changing as easily.

Sustainable Shoebox Task

I decided to follow the style of the Foldlife box and modify it slightly to make it more suitable for a shoebox, elongating some of the sides and removing the strip from the bottom of the box as I don't feel it would add to the design and would use unnecessary resources. I wasn't able to create the net for the box as it is created using origami-style folds which aren't obvious, but the basic premise of the packaging is the same.

The box has the same tongue and groove style fastening on the front to keep the box closed. I decided to market the product with its environmental credentials to ensure that the consumers would recycle or reuse the box as intended, as this would be the packaging and the products' main selling point.

Sustainable Shoebox Task (Research)

This is a video showing a cardboard box created by Latvian design company Foldlife, which is created simply using one sheet of cardboard and due to its origami-style construction it does not require glue. This means that the whole box can be recycled without the use of any plastic derived components or adhesives and so is more sustainable and environmentally friendly than these other solutions. It is hard to tell exactly how the cardboard is fitted together and how the net looks prior to construction as the company want to keep their secret, but the lid seems to fit on using notches and grooves in the cardboard to keep it closed.

This is a very ecological design, but as the box is handmade it is not a solution that can be mass produced as yet, which would make the product more expensive than other more polluting solutions.

http://www.foldlife.lv/en/projects

Sustainable Shoebox Task (Research)

This is an example of sustainable packaging design, constructed to deliver energy efficient light bulbs. As would befit the contents, the packaging has also been made more environmentally friendly, and is constructed from 88% recycled materials and bears the recycle logo, below which is a blurb which encourages the user to recycle the box when used.

Despite this, there is no guarantee that the user would do so, and the box could still end up being thrown away and ending up on landfill. The non-recyclable materials would be wasted even if the package is sent to a recycling plant and so more could be done to reduce the materials down to just those environmentally friendly ones.

Sustainable Shoebox Task (Research)

Puma's 'Clever Little Bag'
From: http://www.greenwala.com/channels/green-business/blog/6060-Puma-Unveils-New-Sustainable-Shoe-box-Bag

This 'shoebox' was developed over 21 months by industrial designer Yves Behar in conjunction with German sportswear brand Puma in order to reduce waste. It aims to cut paper usage by 65% and lower manufacturing waste by 60% by using a single sheet of ink-free recycled cardboard encased by a recycled plastic bag. The user is encouraged to recycle the cardboard sheet and use the bag instead of non-degradable plastic shopping bags, and while it doesn't seem so different, Behar believes it is a good first step:

'Eventually, we hope that everyone will be able to use the bag only but we first need to prove it can function in the existing system.'

As all the materials are recycled this starts off as being a very sustainable solution, and the single sheet of cardboard means that there is no need for any fastenings or glue. However, in many cases the bag would just be cast aside and not used, and so wouldn't necessarily reduce the use of less environmentally-friendly carrier bags. Also, shoeboxes are often reused as containers, and can last a long time but this design features one single sheet of cardboard which is less likely to be used again, even if it is more environmentally-friendly.

Japanese Traditional Packaging Task: Oranges

After studying traditional Japanese packaging we were set the short timed task of finding a simple and sustainable solution to transport and store oranges. The materials available were a small amount of cardboard and string and we were encouraged to be as minimalist as possible in our designs, without using glue or tape. The final product had to incorporate the simplicity and logic of the Japanese styles, and display the oranges in an attractive way.

This is similar to an original sketch of my idea which the group chose to create. The oranges are stacked with a small square of cardboard between each one and one on top and below to prevent damage to the fruit during transportation. The structure is completed by threading string through the cardboard dividers and pulling them through at the top to create a carrying handle, and the threads are knotted at the other end to maintain the shape. This design was inspired by the traditional Japanese solution to transport five eggs, using string instead of rice straw to wrap.

Several adaptations were made when we realised aspects of the design wouldn't work, which helped to add strength and structure. We found that the cardboard wasn't strong enough to punch holes that close to the corners so they were brought further inside to prevent the board ripping to the edges. The string was plaited to give it more strength and crossed instead of straight to give more support to the oranges and prevent them falling from the sides.

This is the how the product ended up looking, with the improvements to the design. Despite these fixes, the packaging wouldn't function well in transportation as the oranges weren't held in tight enough. However, I feel the style draws well from the traditional Japanese philosophy and looks elegant and natural. If we had more time to develop the product I feel that with a few tweaks we could strengthen the structure, without losing the essence of natural simplicity.

Week 3: Traditional Japanese Packaging

Traditional packaging in Japan evolved over centuries to provide effective packaging solutions using minimalistic designs and all-natural and re-usable materials. This book by Hideyuki Oka details several packaging styles which are separated into two main areas: utilitarian lineage and handicraft.

Utilitarian Lineage
Folk wisdom that evolved through simple solutions to packaging problems, using whichever materials were readily available. Often these were appropriate for storing and transporting, as well as being simple and beautiful.

These eggs are wrapped with rice straw left over from the harvest, and are perfect for wrapping as they are both strong and flexible and won't damage the goods. The straw was free and readily available and could also be re-used if necessary. It is also natural and not a pollutant, and so would not damage the environment when disposed of.

This is a rope wrapping that preserves a dried fish and provides a perfect ventilation situation and keeps the fish for over six months, also allowing the user to unwrap the product a bit at a time and only use what is needed. The main features of utilitarian lineage solutions are the use of naturally occuring materials and the beauty created from the simplest products of nature.

Handicraft
Handicraft packages were created by formal craftsmen who regarded their products as more artistic and included refined aesthetic considerations. Packages became more sophisticated, and were seen as works of art in their own right. Motivations of the designs became less focused on the simplicity of nature, and more towards the designers perfecting their art. There were two considerations that led to the handicraft movement; the philosophy that everything should be made beautiful and that anything big or small has real value. This style was developed in Kyoto which was the cultural centre of Japan for many years, and these packaging styles survived there until after the 1970s.

Sustainable Design - the Eco Design Manifesto

Eco-friendly 'zero carbon' house, situated in Stapleton, Kent.

1. Design to satisfy real needs, as opposed to transient, fashionable or market-driven needs.
This house works as a one-off production to highlight the carbon-saving features that could be part of future housing, and brings together many systems that allow the house to have no carbon emissions but the architecture admits that some of the features may never be adopted into real housing design and will continue to be high-end and avant garde.

2. Design to minimise the ecological footprint of the product/material/service product ie. reduce resource consumption, including energy and water.
3. Design to harness solar income (sun, wind, water or sea power) rather than use non renewable nature capital such as fossil fuels.
The house harnesses energy from solar panels to generate its electricity and uses the heat created as a by-product to heat the house, meaning that the users don't have to use non-renewable energy means at all. As the solar panels create all the energy needed they do not need to look to wind energy but that could be another option.

4. Design to enable the separation of components of the product/material or service product at the end of its life in order to encourage recycling or reuse of materials and/or components.
The stairway uses already recycled material, such as the bannisters utilising timber leftover from a previous job and old scaffold tube and these components could be reused in other projects too.

5. Design to exclude the use of substances toxic or hazardous to human or other forms of life at all stages of the product/material/service product's lifecycle.

6. Design to engender maximum benefits to the intended audience and to educate the client and the user and thereby create a more equable future.

7. Design to use locally available materials and resources wherever possible (thinking globally but acting locally).
Locally sourced materials have been used where possible such as local clay tiles. If not then they are recycled if possible too.

8. Design to exclude innovation lethargy by re-examining original assumptions behind existing concepts and products/materials/service products.

9. Design to dematerialise products into services wherever feasible.
The data loggers provide the service of showing where the energy is being used the most, allowing adaptions to be made to those areas if needed.

10. Design to maximise a product/material/service product's benefits to communities.
The soiled roof will one day create a meadow of sorts on the property, which will benefit the local flora and fauna and will in a way benefit the community. I don't feel it benefits the community in a direct way, though perhaps serves as an advert for sustainable architecture.


11. Design to encourage modularity in design to permit sequential purchases, as needs require and funds permit, to facilitate repair/reuse and to improve functionality.

12. Design to foster debate and challenge the status quo surrounding existing products/materials/service products.
I feel that this project challenges preconceptions of how an environmentally friendly house would look, and shows that you can live luxuriously nonetheless.

13. Publish eco-pluralistic designs in the public domain for everyone's benefit, especially those designs that commerce will not manufacture.
14. Design to create more sustainable products/materials/service products for a more sustainable future.
Although this building is a one-off, the knowledge and technology will only improve in the future, meaning that many more like this and better could be constructing following this as a blueprint. This will contribute to a more sustainable future as more households switch off from conventional non-renewable energy sources and see the benefits of living sustainably. Although the start up costs for a project like this would be very high, the fact that there are no energy bills mean that every year the house would pay back a little bit and the owners would be impervious to energy price hikes.

Week 2: 'A Crude Awakening: The Oil Crash'

'A Crude Awakening: The Oil Crash' is a documentary that deals with the history of oil and its future as we approach a peak in oil production, showing the dangers of our current way of life and the consequences if we don't change or find a viable renewable energy source. Some points raised in the film include:

• 98% of our current transportation energy is from oil
• Every calorie consumed in USA has taken 10 calories of hydrocarbon to produce
• In 1900, Baku in Azerbaijan produced 95% of the World's oil, but now much of their oil reserves have been exhausted
• Until 1950 the US was the main producer, but their reserves have also mainly run out in previously abundant areas like McCabey, Texas, and oil drilled from Maracaibo, Venezuela
• Oil has been a reason for warfare for many years and Caucasian oil reserves helped give Russia victory over the Germans in World War II, also dubbed 'the War of Engines'
• Statistics for oil reserves haven't decreased despite extensive drilling and some figures seem to increase overnight as countries won't acknowledge the depletion of their oil for fear of losing trade
• China imports 25% of the world's oil, and with its high growth rate and the population's aspirations the levels of car ownership will only increase.

'The Age of Stupid' - Resource Wars

One of the main issues raised in the film 'The Age of Stupid' was our need for resources and the extent that we are willing to go to secure them.

Throughout our history, groups of people have always sought to control the Earth's natural resources in order to gain wealth and power. At many times trade wasn't enough and the more 'advanced' society took what they wanted by force, most notably Colonial Europeans enslaving West Africans for free labour and also mining their resources of gold and diamonds, and using their fertile soils to grow sugar cane.

Many of the world's problems stem from conflict over natural resources, and recently civil wars have ravaged resource rich areas where dictators and military regimes battle over control of their natural wealth, particularly in Africa where divisions created by Europeans still cause troubles. This has been shown in oil-rich Angola and in Sierra Leone where diamonds are mined. In these places the natural resources are a curse where instead of providing an option for the nation to gain wealth and improve the lives of their citizens they have held back the opportunity for growth and ripped the country apart.

Oil is currently the most sought after resource and it follows that the areas that produce it are among the most volatile on Earth. As a material, crude oil is vital for fuel and producing plastics and as it is a finite resource countries will risk war to gain control of the last few drops to generate wealth and power which has led to the Gulf Wars in the Middle East.

War over oil has a large impact on the design industry, mostly due to its use in plastic and therefore packaging. Plastic is currently a widely used material in this field and so is often used by designers and so the industry is having to look to other methods of packaging in order to reduce the use of it, especially as the price of oil continues to rise.

Week 1: 'The Age of Stupid'

'The Age of Stupid' is a drama-documentary film which is set in a post-apocalyptic future and poses the question 'why didn't we stop climate change when we had the chance?'.

Although it includes some dramatised scenes, it mainly features documentary strands that follow people such as the businessman behind low-cost Indian airline 'GoAir', a New Orleans man during Hurricane Katrina who works in the oil industry and a wind-farm developer called Piers who sees his plans for sustainable energy blocked.

Several points of the film stood out, such as:

• the extent of glacial erosion on Mont Blanc, 150m in 50 years(?)
• around 60% of the public have doubts over human effects on climate change, whereas less than 1% of scientists harbour doubts
• Americans, Australians and Canadians consume 3x more resources than Europeans and Japanese
•  to minimise climate change effects the temperature must stabilise at just 2 degrees over pre-industrial levels but a change of 6 degrees would be disastrous