Weasel: Sustain this, hippy!

Sustainability and eco-mindedness is something that I have been interested in for many years. I was one of the people who believed that by making small but significant changes to our lives, such as the 3 R’s: Reduce; Reuse; Recycle, we can make things a bit easier for our planet.

Over the past few years of studying a BA in 3D Design For Sustainability, I have heard a million and one arguments for and against environmentalism. I have studied ways in which we can appeal to the sceptics and bring everyone together in one big mutually beneficial society, but then I have also conducted research which suggests that due to years of mass consumption indoctrination we are pretty much fucked no matter what we do.

However, I found that as my awareness of things such as peak oil and ever depleting raw materials grew, I became aware that sustainable design isn’t just about saving the planet, it is about letting us continue to live in the way we want.

We are all neophiles who like to have nice new things, this is not a problem. Our consumer economy is driven by products, and this is not necessarily a bad thing either. When we design products to have minimal environmental impact throughout their whole lifecycle and also design them to be long lived, easily dismantled and the materials easily recycled (not down-cycled), we allow ourselves to continue to live as we want.

Consumer culture need not be wasteful and detrimental to future generations. Sustainable design is not a hippy idea, it is what lets you continue to have new products.

Push for a capitalist consumer culture, re-use old things and plant a tree!

- James Howlett

Enjoy a great big screenful of Weasel's superb design work, including some far-out furniture, here: www.jameshowlett.co.uk