Disposable Products, They Are Just Trash In Transition. Zero Waste Product Design is here to help

Our resources are too precious for disposable junk, stuff that is just thrash in transition.

Sadly, many products are designed to be disposable or break down to keep us buying products over and over again. Planned or built in obsolescence isn’t good for you or the planet. Luckily designers have been coming up with designs that support a zero waste lifestyle no matter where you are in the journey. Let’s call it Zero Waste Product Design.

Maybe you aspire to a zero waste lifestyle, we all should. Maybe your reusing products, or buying products that are recyclable and eco-friendly, or even trying to remove single use plastic from your life. We can all start by taking a few steps.

So many consumer products are designed to fail and very little consideration goes into where it will end up. In the end, this keeps you going back to the store to buy more.

The low price tricks you into the constant replacement cycle. The price does not account for the true cost of the product. The pollution and damage it causes to the environment and communities from start to finish, throughout all of it’s life cycle.

The cheaper the product, the more likely it was made with low quality toxic materials by people working in terrible conditions. People being paid meagre wages.

Throw away, think about it

Think about the words throw away for a second. It’s something most of us never really think about, something that is totally normalized.

Thinking about it and talking to my kids the other day, I asked them if there is such a thing as away in throw away? Does it really disappear? Does it magically vanish? Is it really going away? Or is it just going somewhere else?

The reality is that there is no such thing as away in throw away. It ends up in the landfill, the incinerator, waterways and the ocean. No mater were it ends up it has an major impact on our environment.

“Disposable is a marketing stroke of evil genius, coined convince us that we are able to dispose of single use plastic – as if when it’s out of our sight, it has magically disappeared, which we all knows the most dastardly kind of magical thinking. Out of sight may be out of mind, but it’s not out of play”

ZERO WASTE CHEF Anne-Marie Bonneau

Where should we start? What can we do?

First

We need to acknowledge and be aware that disposable products are just trash in transition. Designed to be trash from the get go. These cheap throwaway products come at a huge cost to all populations, animals, waterways, oceans, environment and planet.

They might be inexpensive to buy or even free, but in the long run they are costing us what is truly important: our health and the health of our planet. Our resources are too precious for disposable junk.

Next

Being aware, we need to acknowledge that most of the environmental impact of products is determined at the beginning.

So many of the so called revolutionary products from the last hundred years were designed to barely be used, break, be thrown away and replaced without much care or consideration. Consideration of the true cost to people, resources and the long term affect on the environment. What happened to well crafted repairable products? Not that long ago, there was quality and care in daily products. Luckily, we are starting to see a resurgence in quality.

In the end, Zero Waste Product Design is the solution

The design and concept phase of any product is an opportunity for change, for a better future. A future that considers the environmental impact of a product every step of the way from conception to end of life cycle.

We need stuff, everyone needs stuff. These should be things that we need, that we value. A goal of simple, timeless products that last. Reusable products that provide a lifetime of enjoyment. If you don’t want something that lasts, then why do you really want it?

Sustainable design is the opposite of built in or planned obsolescence.

Break Free

Old habits are hard to break. Many of us are used to our current throwaway system. A system of buying cheap and only considering price; constantly tossing things out and replacing them with more. It’s a linear system where things end up in the trash. Many of us are hard wired for overconsumption and buying solely on price. By being mindful and intentional, you can kick old habits.

Final Thoughts

We need to face the facts- at all levels. Now is the time for change.

We have the power to change things with our choices by consuming less but better. Quality over quantity. Long-lasting timeless products might cost you more in the short term, but it will help us all in the long term. If you are truly buying less but better, you will be making a difference and even saving money.

Designers have to opportunity to design more sustainable products. Products that consider the environment and their impact every step of the way. Design that considers resources and the true long term costs of a product. It’s time for Zero Waste Product Design.

And last but not least, industry leaders and companies need to include the true cost of products in their balance sheets. Making huge profits while ruining the planet isn’t good for the long game and future generations.

We all have the potential to make a change. Don’t be trashy, avoid trash in transition.

Let’s consume less, but better.

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Pat