Sunglasses get the modular recycled treatment
Plastic bottles, while an absolute pain for mother earth can, with a little creative thinking and application of circular economy design principles, be remade into another product with the intention of having a longer use-by-period than a water bottle. Enter the Good Citizens sunglasses made in Sydney from post-consumer recycled PET, taking the plastic of one 600ml bottle to make each frame, including the hinges.
………………………………………………………………
Life cycle assessment in product design
Technology & Sustainability Combined In One Device
When developing our high-quality products we always focus on the complete solution. Our inverter is at its heart and is the key to our vision of 24 hours of sun. When using inverters, such as the Fronius GEN24Plus inverter no energy is lost unnecessarily due to simultaneous, parallel energy flows.
The devices are equipped with comprehensive functions so that no additional equipment and components are required. Due to energy sector integration (power2heat, power2emobility, etc.), the use of fossil fuels, such as oil or gas, is significantly reduced.
Clever product design also ensures cost savings and less wear, as the use of digital tools is prioritised. (Reference: Fronius International)
………………………………………………………………………….
WHAT IS THE UPCYCLE?
Cradle to Cradle is a foundation, a fulcrum against which we can lever desirable change. This book, The Upcycle, is an update and a collection of observations and stories of continuous improvement. To us, upcycling is the most exciting project of all. It’s going to take all of us. It’s going to take forever. And that’s the point.
PUT “OUT OF SIGHT” OUT OF MIND
The next time you want to use the word “waste,” bite your tongue. Worms consume food and, through the system of their bodies, produce richer nutrients. You, through the system of your intelligence, can create richer nutrients too.
ALWAYS ASK WHAT’S NEXT
We want you to think of every component of your design as being borrowed. It will be returned one day to the biosphere or technosphere. It is your role to return it in as good a condition as you found it, as a good neighbour would.
YOU ARE ALIVE. (YOUR TOASTER IS NOT.)
We have been in this work for decades, and still . . . still we stop every time a company mentions a technical product as having a product life or life cycle. Technical products don’t die and vanish. This is the problem and the opportunity.
MMM … Issue 32, August 2022
