Plastic. Fantastic?
Is using plastic in a design always bad?
It’s fairly difficult to have missed the perceived scourge of plastic on our planet- whole islands formed of discarded bottles, distressing images of seals with their noses stuck in plastic bags and all the damage done from oil extraction in the first place.
Trouble is, for a designer, plastic is so flipping useful! When plastics as we know today came in to being in the 1950’s, they were heralded as the wonder material of the day, here to solve all of the worlds issues. To some extent, plastic has done a lot of good for the planet- it keeps food fresh, it can be used to substitute unrecyclable mica materials and it takes comparatively little energy to manufacture something out of plastic compared to traditional metals or unsustainable hardwoods.
So how can we balance having the use of plastics with all of their eco benefits while minimising impact on the environment? Here’s 5 pointers:
- Design to last, not disposable
If your product can have a long working livespan, and can be robustly built, then the end consumer is more likely to hang onto it for a long time and not discard it and buy a new one every year. This of course can be difficult to play out commercially, but with the rising disquiet about plastic use now is your time as a designer to capitalise on it and build something to last
2. Allow the consumer to service the item
Allowing the end consumer near the inner workings of complex products can leave designers and engineers running for the hills, however there really is nothing to fear. Something as simple as providing a basic repair manual with the product helps enormously, as does providing spares that are likely to fail as a service. This can also provide an additional revenue stream for your business, so shouldn’t be sniffed at!
3. Use recyclable materials
Most plastics are easily recyclable when disposed of correctly. Some sadly aren’t due to their chemical composition. As a designer, think really long and hard about whether an unrecyclable thermoset plastic is really necessary, or whether a modified thermoplastic may work just fine, or even renewable natural rubber or cork.
Tying in to point 2. it will often be necessary to dismantle a product before recycling, wherever possible make this as easy as possible so that the end user can have some hope of seperating the product into pieces before they chuck it in the bin.
4. Oil based isn’t the only way
With the advent of home 3D printing, more biologically friendly plastics have really taken off. PLA (Poly Lactic Acid) is the most common plastic used in home 3D printing, it’s dead easy to work with and even smells like pancakes when you print it! Being made from corn starch it’s completely renewable and also entirely biodegradable, and even safe for consumption (although I wouldn’t recommend it, it doesn’t taste like pancakes…)
5. Consider going open source
This may seem a tad bizarre, but open source products can seriously act as a force for environmental good. Not only are users more aware of exactly what they are consuming as they will often have to assemble the product themselves, but due to spares being widely available they will be able to repair the product and it will live on!
Any more tips you may think of, please share them in the comments below.
