Start Your Sustainable Design Journey with These Reads
Fifty-two years ago today, Earth Day was created to draw national attention to a myriad of environmental issues; and it worked. As a result of the diverse voices speaking up for the Earth, the EPA, Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, and more, environmental regulations passed. Since the 1970s, we have made tremendous progress, but we still have a lot to learn if we want to protect our planet and create a brighter and healthier future for all.
Design plays a huge role in continuing this legacy of change for good. Awareness is the key to creating a sustainable present and future. So in celebration of Earth Day and the addition of sustainability as a core company value at Salesforce, we want to empower every designer to integrate sustainability into their practice.
We’re sharing some of our favorite books, tools, and projects to inspire you to begin your sustainability journey or keep growing. We don’t want to overwhelm you, so we’ve only included the classics here. Many of these books were foundational to the sustainable design movement.
Design for the Real World: Human Ecology and Social Change by Victor Papanek
It’s a striking coincidence that this book came out one year after the first Earth Day celebration and rose to an almost cult-like status among designers and non-designers alike. Victor Papanek is hailed as a design prophet from a product design background. He’s best known for his design theory, which he passed on in the six books he wrote and in the classes he taught at universities like Rhode Island School of Design and Purdue University.
Design for the Real World is considered a must-read for anyone interested in design. Where the text can be pessimistic when describing the state of the world, it also provides a blueprint for responsible design. To give you a sense of Papanek’s style and candor, here are the titles of two chapters in the book: “Do-It-Yourself Murder: Social and Moral Responsibilities of Design” and “Our Kleenex Culture: Obsolescence and Value.”
Buckle up for a fun and radical read.
Ecological Design by Sim Van Der Ryn
Today, the topic of sustainable design is vast, but it wasn’t always that way. According to the New York Times, “Long before sustainability became the buzzword du jour, there was Sim Van der Ryn, the intrepid pioneer of the eco-frontier.” He wrote the foundational book Ecological Design in 1996, which sparked dialogue, collaboration, and a new mindset around green design.
The book focuses on ideas around how to create buildings, products, and landscapes that have a decreased environmental impact. It’s full of real-life examples from architecture, industrial ecology, agriculture, and many other fields. It also provides a framework for integrating human design with living systems — lessons to help any designer grow. 🌱
Cradle to Cradle by Bill McDonough and Michael Braungart
To write Cradle to Cradle, architect William McDonough and chemist Michael Braungart got together to create a design framework based on three principles derived from nature:
- Everything is a resource for something else.
- Use clean and renewable energy.
- Celebrate diversity.
Their book offers a way forward that encompasses both human and environmental health. It sets up a meta dynamic where we see ourselves in natural systems. Through this paradigm shift, they showcase opportunities for innovation and ways to improve our designs and collaborate with others to make the world a better place. Beyond the book, products can get Cradle to Cradle Certified® to show they are safe, circular, and responsibly made.
Thinking in Systems by Donella Meadows
Thinking in Systems has been called “a simple book about a complex world.” It is a primer for systems thinking and is praised for being one of the most accessible texts on the subject. It can unlock an approach to breaking down larger systems to get to the minor details that have a significant impact.
As designers, the systems thinking framework is foundational to human-centered design. It can empower you to have a circular approach to your process, which easily lends itself to sustainable design thinking. Meadows uses tangible examples, philosophy, and theory, but what really shines through is her passion for making this complex subject accessible to all.
Tools and projects
Toolkit: The Digital Ethics Compass
This beautifully designed toolkit by The Danish Design Center is a downloadable series of seven PDF documents that take you through how to apply an ethical lens to your work. It includes exercises such as “20 Questions from an Ethics Professor” and “New Perspectives.” Try applying your newfound knowledge about sustainability to an exercise or two.
Curious about how machine learning can help combat climate change? This project is for you. Since it was founded in 2019, volunteers from across disciplines have been working toward goals around community, education, infrastructure, and discourse. Check them out or get involved.
Did you know that NYC is working toward sending zero waste to landfills by 2030? And they’re using design to get there. The guidelines are a 270-page pdf document that outlines case studies, proposed solutions, and theory. It also makes bold statements like, “Waste is a design flaw.”
Books about sustainability that are less design focused
Reimagining Capitalism in a World on Fire by Rebecca Henderson
Henderson’s 2020 book posits a new intellectual foundation for a more sustainable and harmonious future. She reimagines capitalism as a driver of prosperity in financial, environmental, and social spaces. Readers can understand the extraordinary opportunities available for those who choose to reorient their moral and ethical compass toward sustainable practices and social justice.
Ruined by Design by Mike Monteiro
Uncomfortable, angry, and hopeful are a few emotions used to describe this book. Monteiro is an activist who believes that designers hold a tremendous amount of responsibility. He says, “As designers, we need to see ourselves as gatekeepers of what we are bringing into the world and what we choose not to bring into the world.” If you’re curious about “How designers destroyed the world, and what we can do to fix it,” this book is for you.
Thank you, David O’Donnell, for your fantastic recommendations and partnership on this piece. And thanks to my editor Hsiao-Ching Chou for helping to shape this into a delightful read.
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