Part of the TreeHugger mantra is “design makes a difference.” By changing the way we make things, we can effectively nip the problem in the bud, so to speak; by designing out the need for waste and designing in smarter materials and better production methods, the world can not only cut back on the extraneous waste caused by poor design, but use smart design to benefit both those in the developing world and here in the land of designed obsolescence and iPod worship. Here’s what we’re talking about here.

1) Good design can make something as simple as riding public transport more popular and more effective, as this graphic design promoting London’s Underground [www.treehugger.com] shows.
2) Design is about more than changing your perception; this study [www.treehugger.com] proves that good design is good for your health too. Conducted by Queens University researcher Karen Parent, the study of a new, well-designed hospital wing found that, among other examples, floors made of rubber or sheet vinyl reduce noise for patients. As a result, elderly patients, in particular, are less likely to need sleeping pills, less likely to suffer confusion because of the medications, therefore less likely to fall and, Parent concludes, more likely to have better outcomes.
3) This concept is well summarized by this discussion [www.treehugger.com] about “ethical design,” which makes asking the question “Is a green McMansion really green?” (for example) part of every design decision, architecture and otherwise.

4) “Design Like You Give a Damn” is a seminal work by Cameron Sinclair (the guy behind Architecture for Humanity), clearly summarizing the need to include “why?” in addition to “what” we design. The projects demonstrate ingenuity and cleverness about doing more with less, and efficiently living with less, and should be looked at as models for us all, for we keep thinking that “It can’t happen here” but as we have learned from San Francisco and New Orleans, it can and it will. Read our review [www.treehugger.com] for more.
5) As an example, check out how Architecture for Humanity’s work in Biloxi, Mississippi has exemplified how design can step up [www.treehugger.com] in the wake of a big disaster.

6) The Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum in New York recently hosted “Design for the Other 90%,” an exhibition that helps tackle a huge problem: Of the world’s total population of 6.5 billion, 5.8 billion people, or 90%, have little or no access to most of the products and services many of us take for granted; in fact, nearly half do not have regular access to food, clean water, or shelter. Read our review [www.treehugger.com] for more details, and take a closer look at one of the features, the Lifestraw [www.treehugger.com].

How can design make a difference in your life? Stay tuned for some more mainstream examples that you can incorporate into your life, later this week.

The notion of “ethical” living [www.sundancechannel.com] and embracing “ethical” design [www.sundancechannel.com] is not always easy; though in some ways more specific than “green,” everybody has a slightly different idea of ethics or what it means to be ethical. As a natural extension, then, we want to talk about a very concrete strategy for following some or the ideas we laid out. The first of these: less is more.

It all starts with the basic assumption that we all use too much of everything: too much space; too much land; too much food; too much fuel…the list goes on, and it’s not entirely pleasant to hear, unfortunately. Nor does the solution, at first glance: use less stuff. Our existence is predicated upon the idea that our goals are to do better, which has, in many cases, become synonymous with more; think about it in terms of a typical career cycle: the idea is to get a better job, a bigger office, more money, a bigger house, more stuff to fill the house, etc., etc. Nobody wants to go backwards on that scale, right? So it’s against our nature, in some ways, to scale your life back.

That said, it sounds simple enough — this “use less stuff” ideal — but isn’t always so quick and painless as it might sound. For some of us, it’s a matter of culling a few articles of clothing and spending an afternoon cleaning out the garage; for others, it’s a major lifestyle change (we prefer to think “upgrade”) that requires re-thinking the way you look at the world. Ask yourself: is my (fill in the blank) house, home layout, collection of stuff, etc., as space and energy-efficient as it could be? Am I using things to their full potential? How could my stuff not only be used more efficiently, but function in a way that would please me better?

We think the key to the “less is more” lifestyle is to just have high standards. Don’t just settle for quasi-functional stuff, or just-okay use of space. Don’t let your stuff tie you down. We think you’ll find the idea quite freeing. Stay tuned for some specific examples of how to do more with less.

As we mentioned yesterday [www.sundancechannel.com], “ethical” goes beyond green to encompass things like animal welfare, labor practices and waste, but how does that translate to real life? Sticking with more traditional concepts of what it means to be “green” can be difficult enough, but ethical doesn’t have to be much different, really. We’ll start by looking at some of the goals of going ethical.

TreeHugger Lloyd, our resident architect and green building expert, used architecture as an example, and summed it up nicely [www.treehugger.com]: “Ethical design means that I can ooh and ahh over Leo Marmol’s house near Palm Springs [www.treehugger.com], and he can even call it green if he wants to, but ultimately he has to drive to it from Los Angeles, and its footprint, albeit smaller than it would have been in the hands of a less talented and concerned architect, is not small. Ethical Design means we have to weigh all of its footprints; the materials, the manufacturing, the land use, the water supply, the transportation, the size.
Ethical design means that a development like Vauban [www.treehugger.com], where people cooperate to develop a car-free, socially mixed community that looks at every aspect of how we live and what we consume, is the model. Splendid isolation in our new green energy-efficient home in the country is no longer good enough.”

Food choices, since we make them several times every day, have one of the biggest potential positive impacts on the world; in an ironic twist, because we do have to eat several times a day, it can be really hard to have all the necessary information to make an informed decision about all three meals, every day. For those who don’t want to have to do all the legwork (and let’s face it, who does?), here’s a cool concept [www.treehugger.com]: a new shopping cart, being floated by Electronic Data Systems Corp, has a bar code scanner and screen that will give information about calories, nutrition, ethical sourcing and food miles, and keep a running total for you. Easy as (local, organic, ethically-sourced) pie.

Fashion, another high consumable, has also made huge strides in the ethical realm; there’s now even an entire fashion show in Paris [www.treehugger.com] dedicated to ethical fashion and nothing but. The “eco-fashion doesn’t have to look like a burlap sack” cliché is old and tired, but still applies to the burgeoning ethical fashion industry, where sheep have free range to roam in open pastures before being shorn, and organic cotton is harvested by workers paid a living wage. Getting the idea? Good. Here are some other handy tips you can use for learning about and/or sourcing ethical goods:

Weddings[/url}
[url=http://www.treehugger.com/files/2007/10/ingle_rhode_eth.php]Jewelry [www.treehugger.com]
Bottled water [www.treehugger.com]
The Observer’s Ethical Awards 2007 [www.treehugger.com]
“The World’s Most Ethical Companies” [www.treehugger.com]
Building an ethical home [www.treehugger.com]