I found both the reading and the TED talk we were assigned this week to be very inspiring. It is reassuring to know that the wisdom of nature is being incorporated into design philosophy. A couple of things that stand out in William McDonough’s TED talk were: abundance, strategy of hope and there is no end game there is an infinite game. I prefer to look on the bright side of things, or that’s what I need to do to survive and thrive.
I am especially drawn to the concept presented in the reading of making things out of materials that can be nutritious for ecosystems. I am incorporating similar concepts into my work now. I am embedding my biodegradable work with seeds, some of which improve soil conditions. More and more I will be using plants to make it that are invasive and need to be removed. I’d like to find out which dyes Rhoner incorporates into their production process, dyes that add to the fertility of the soil, I’m assuming though that most plant-based dyes would contribute nutrients to the soil in some way and plan to look into this further.
In addition to cradle to cradle, I think our ultimate goals, as designers should be to eliminate petroleum-based materials from the waste stream entirely. These products, though can be recycled, are toxic and destructive on many, many levels. I was very shocked and disappointed by the presentation given by the material’s specialist at Ziba design last week. Though the slides she showed us were interesting and thought provoking, it seemed like she was indulging in an exercise of wishful ideation.
When questioned about Ziba’s actual practices, it seemed like ecological considerations took a back seat to the functionality of the material. The materials specialist reported that eco-friendly options aren’t even considered unless a client requests it. I think that even if your company isn’t marketed or missioned to be green, it is the personal ethical responsibility of designers and the owners of companies to make that happen. You need to do this by educating yourself and you’re your client. Through my personal experience as designer I have learned that if you care about doing the right thing and want to convince your client or company to do the same you have to work on gathering the right knowledge to do that.
I understand that everyone needs to put food on the table, but with all of the options in vegetable based plastics and recycled materials etc. out there today, to not design in a low or zero impact way is just lazy.
It’s about responsibility. We, I mean everyone on the planet, needs to stop thinking of “green” as an “add-on.” Or green as a marketing tactic to sell more junk to baby boomers or some other target audience. As members of the web of life, we need to adopt eco-friendly as the normal mode of operation. Nature is a perfect closed loop system that is inherently cradle to cradle. We are nature. How can our inherent connection with nature be fostered and remembered so that we can make for good?
So I asked if the Ziba materials specialist knew about hemp plastic, she said she did but wasn’t very convincing. I’ve worked for a company that was part of the Hemp Industries Association. This company, Living Tree Paper Co., made commercial printing paper from post-consumer waste and agricultural fiber like hemp and flax. Having worked at this company has educated me on the tremendous potential for the hemp plant as fiber. It also showed me that an inspired person has the ability to work within the system to make better, more responsible materials, ultimately making a difference in the world we live in.
Here are a couple of links:
Material Innovations 
I agree with both of you in regards to Ziba, but I wonder if that presentation was targeted just to us. If so maybe that isn’t exactly what she would show to the designers at Ziba. I didn’t really think of it till we left that she could have been showing us just some basic research she did for the sake of the presentation.
And yes Billy it is definitely up to us to keep raising the standards and providing more options for people out there.
I wholeheartedly agree with your assessment of Ziba, however you said material choice took a back seat to functionality and I felt it was cost of production which was their main consideration. Unfortunately with the nature of the clients they work with that will always reign supreme. I noticed that most of the examples of alternatives to plastic were products that were not scalable to large corporate manufactured goods. A large cross section of the work she showed was experimental student work or specialty small production goods not really alternatives to Ziba’s market at all. That is why I think it is our responsibility (literally us, you, me and the rest of our classmates) to maintain our standards of ethical material choices and to appeal a smaller market share to keep these ideals as part of our practices.