Spreadthe Word 2009 Sustainability Un Book

INTRODUCTION:
AN OPEN CALL TO
PARTICIPATE
TO GET STARTED WE ASK QUESTIONS, IF YOU CAN ANSWER THEM, PLEASE DO.
SOMETIMES FACTUAL, SOMETIMES AN OPINION.

WELCOME TO A BOOK
PRODUCED BY YOU:
This is a work written by a thousand authors, edited by ten-thousand
editors, promoted by a hundred-thousand promoters, read by millions,
in the hopes we might leave a better place for the billions who are
poised to inherit our footprint. This work in progress is created by
a community of people, truly superheros. We have many questions,
if you can answer them please do. We need more questions than that,
so please ask them. The more questions, the more conversations,
the more possibilities for betterment of the future, and the more
Spread the Word is able to deliver on its mandate: To involve more
designers in a dialogue on sustainability and social change.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR INTEREST, THANK YOU FOR YOUR WORDS,
THANK YOU FOR ACTION-ING YOUR INTENT BY
JOINING THE CONVERSATION.

THOUGHTS ARE FOR SHARING Please add yours to our project: book.spreadtheword.org

TABLE OF CONTENTS
1
WITHOUT LANGUAGE WE CAN’T TALK

9
THE GOOD AND THE BETTERMENT

15
THE BAD AND THE UGLY

19
THE DESIGN PROCESS

27
GOOD DESIGN

CHAPTER ONE:
WITHOUT LANGUAGE WE CAN’T TALK 2

2.
WITHOUT LANGUAGE CHAIN OF CUSTODY
WE CAN'T TALK
Chain of Custody is a term re-appropriated from the legal eld to
refer to the documentation of the life-cycle of a product through
extraction, manufacturing, packaging, shipping, point-of-purchase,
use and disposal.

1. IN GRAPHIC DESIGN, CHAIN OF CUSTODY AUDITS WOULD ADDRESS
CARBON OFFSETS THE FOLLOWING LIFE-CYCLE STAGES:
off et i
A carbon offset is a in trument repre enting
nancial instrument representing a reduction in
greenhou e ga emi ion purcha e
greenhouse gas emissions. For example, an individual might purchase
carbon offsets to compensate for the greenhouse gas emissions caused
by personal air travel. Offsets are typically generated from emissions-
reducing projects such as renewable energy, energy ef ciency projects
and forestry projects.

JOIN THE DEBATE ON CARBON OFFSETTING:

PROS:

CONS:

IN THIS PHOTO: IN THIS PHOTO:
ARTIST’S RENDERING OF “CARBON OFFSETTING” ARTIST’S RENDERING OF “CHAIN OF CUSTODY”

THOUGHTS ARE FOR SHARING. Please add yours to our project: book.spreadtheword.org THOUGHTS ARE FOR SHARING. Please add yours to our project: book.spreadtheword.org

3 WITHOUT LANGUAGE WE CAN’T TALK WITHOUT LANGUAGE WE CAN’T TALK 4

3. 4.
CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
/ CORPORATE CITIZENSHIP / RESPONSIBLE BUSINESS
CRADLE TO CRADLE
Cradle to Cradle Design is a holistic economic, industrial and social
Corporate social responsibility is a concept whereby organizations framework that seeks to create systems that are not just ef cient but
consider the interests of society by taking responsibility for the impact essentially waste free.* *Lovins L Hun er (2008) Re hinking production in S ate of he World 2008 pp 38 40

of their activities on customers, suppliers, employees, shareholders,
communities and other stakeholders, as well as the environment.
A CRADLE TO CRADLE DESIGN WOULD TAKE INTO ACCOUNT:

JOIN THE DEBATE ON CSR:

PROS:

EXAMPLES OF CRADLE TO CRADLE DESIGN:

IN THIS PHOTO:
ARTIST’S RENDERING OF “PROS OF CSR”

CONS:

IN THIS PHOTO:
ARTIST’S RENDERING OF “CONS OF CSR”

ARTIST’S RENDERING OF “CRADLE TO CRADLE DESIGN” ARTIST’S RENDERING OF “CRADLE TO CRADLE DESIGN”



5. 7.
DEPLETIST SOCIAL CHANGE
1. An individual or group showing apparent, negligent or reckless 1. The result of large-scale change in behaviour patterns.
disregard for the environmental consequences of their actions. 2. Deviance from established system, causing change in social order.
2. An individual or group that exhausts non-renewable resources
and rejects positive environmental strategies.
INDICATORS OF SOCIAL CHANGE:
http://tankofthinkers.wordpress.com/about/

6.
GREENWASHING
Greenwash (a portmanteau of green and whitewash) is a term used to Social change is a general term which refers to: change in social
structure: the nature, the social institutions, the social behaviour
The term can encompass concepts as broad as revolution and
paradigm shift, to narrow changes such as a particular cause
or the social relations of a society, community of people, and so on. within small town government.
describe the practice of companies spinning their product lines as being When behaviour pattern changes, in large numbers and is visible The concept of social change imply measurement of some
and sustained it results in a social change. Once there is a devi- characteristics of this group of individuals.
environmentally friendly as a means to appeal to consumers. ance from culturally inherited values, it may result in a rebellion While the term is usually applied to changes that are bene cial
against the established system, causing a change in the social to society, it may result in negative side-effects or consequences
order. any event or action that affects a group of individuals that that undermine or eliminate existing ways of life that are con-
have shared values or characteristics. acts of advocacy for the sidered positive. Social change is a topic in sociology and social
cause of changing society in a normative way (subjective). work, but also involves political science, economics, history,
The term is used in the study of history, economies, and politics, anthropology, and many other social sciences.
WAYS TO RECOGNIZE A GREENWASH: and includes topics such as the success or failure of different
political systems, globalization, democratization, development
and economic growth.

IN THIS PHOTO: IN THIS PHOTO: IN THIS PHOTO: IN THIS PHOTO:
ARTIST’S RENDERING OF “DEPLETIST” ARTIST’S RENDERING OF “GREENWASHING” ARTIST’S RENDERING OF “SOCIAL CHANGE” ARTIST’S RENDERING OF “SOCIAL CHANGE”



8. 10.
SOCIAL ENTREPRENEUR TRIPLE BOTTOM LINE
A social entrepreneur is someone who recognizes a social problem The triple bottom line captures an expanded spectrum of values and
and uses entrepreneurial principles to organize, create, and manage criteria for measuring organizational (and societal) success: economic,
a venture to make social change. Whereas a business entrepreneur ecological and social.
typically measures performance in pro t and return, a social
entrepreneur assesses success in terms of the impact they have
on society. WHAT DOES A TRIPLE BOTTOM LINE MODEL LOOK LIKE IN
GRAPHIC DESIGN?
WHAT ARE THE MARKERS OF A SOCIAL ENTREPRENEUR? IN THIS PHOTO:
DIAGRAMS AND ILLUSTRATIONS OF “TRIPLE BOTTOM LINE”

9.
SUSTAINABILITY
Sustainability is: “…improving the quality of human life while living
within the carrying capacity of supporting eco-systems.”*
*IUCN/UNEP/WWF (1991). Caring for the Earth: A Strategy for Sustainable Living. Gland, Switzerland.|IUCN - The World Conservation Union,
*IUCN/UNEP/WWF (1991). Caring for the Earth: A Strategy for Sustainable Living. Gland, Switzerland.|IUCN - The World Conservation Union,
UNEP - United Nations Environment Programme, WWF - World Wide Fund for Nature.
UNEP - United Nations Environment Programme, WWF - World Wide Fund for Nature.

ECOLOGICAL SUSTAINABILITY IS:

ECONOMIC SUSTAINABILITY IS:

SOCIAL SUSTAINABILITY IS:


CHAPTER TWO:
THE GOOD AND THE BETTERMENT 10

THE GOOD AND THE 2. “OWNERSHIP” IS A MONOPOLY ON
BETTERMENT THE RIGHTS OVER PROPERTY.
Remove “ownership” and replace it with “citizenship”. As an owner
we make improvements that will increase the monetary value of our
“BETTERMENT” IS A TERM RELATED TO PROPERTY; THE ACT OF IMPROVING A PROPERTY THAT YOU DON’T HAVE OWNERSHIP OF.
IN THE SCENARIO OF BETTERMENT, THE FOLLOWING TWO WIDELY ACCEPTED CONSTRUCTS ARE SUBVERTED: property, for example: new plumbing systems, appliances or window
replacements. What would a citizen invest into a building?

1. PEOPLE WILL ONLY INVEST A composter? A basketball hoop in a driveway?

WITH THE EXPECTATION OF MONEY IN WHAT SPIRIT DO WE PURSUE BETTERMENT?
OR STATUS
Too long we’ve been talking about return on investment assuming
wrongly that money and status are the strongest incentives to action.
Imagine the world we would live in if in fact they were! Shame on us if
we ignore curiosity, the thrill of inventiveness, empathy and of course
the desire to contribute to and be part of a thriving community.

IN THE PURSUIT OF BETTERMENT, HOW DO WE BEHAVE AS CITIZENS?

IN THIS PHOTO: IN THIS PHOTO: IN THIS PHOTO: IN THIS PHOTO:
ARTIST’S RENDERING OF “BETTERMENT” ARTIST’S RENDERING OF “BETTERMENT” ARTIST’S RENDERING OF “PURSUIT” ARTIST’S RENDERING OF “CITIZENSHIP”


11 THE GOOD AND THE BETTERMENT THE GOOD AND THE BETTERMENT 12

WHAT MAKES SOMETHING GOOD? SOME QUESTIONS TO ASK YOURSELF:
WHAT MAKES SOMETHING BETTER?

GOOD: BETTER:

HOW DO WE MOVE FROM GOOD TO BETTER?
{ STEPS THAT MUST BE TAKEN }

GOOD BETTER

ARTIST’S RENDERING OF “GOOD” ARTIST’S RENDERING OF “BETTER”


13 THE GOOD AND THE BETTERMENT THE GOOD AND THE BETTERMENT 14

BETTERMENT INDICATORS: CHALLENGES THAT CAN BE SOLVED BY BETTERMENT:

HOW CAN BETTERMENT MANIFEST ITSELF?


CHAPTER THREE:
THE BAD AND THE UGLY 16

• 166,000 packing peanuts is the number used for overnight packages
shipped by air in the U.S. every hour.

THE BAD AND – Source: Chris Jordan
• One million plastic cups, are used on airline flights in the US every

THE UGLY
six hours.
– Source: Chris Jordan

• 426,000 cell phones are retired in the US every day.
– Source: Chris Jordan

SOUNDBITES • To avoid the most catastrophic effects of climate change, world carbon
emissions will have to drop to near zero by 2050 and “go negative”
This section is for statistics and quotes -- not to be formatted into essay after that.
format. By keeping it in ‘soundbite’ format, we hope it will increase the – Source: Routers
resonance and relevancy rates along with recall when talking about the
• The average American consumes 700 lbs of paper every year, of that
cause. When customers or colleges ask what you think about sustain-
only 51.5% is recycled. Source: The story of stuff 2000 trees a minute
ability and the ‘betterment movement’, hopefully the quote or statistic
are cut down in the Amazon alone. That is 7 football fields a minute!
that you choose to repeat from here resonates deeply with them as well.
– Source: The story of stuff
If you are adding quotes or stats, please include the source. If you are
quoting a quote, please indicate both cited source and your source as • In the past three decades, one-third of the planet’s natural resources

well. This will help to create extra credibility overall as well as to pro- base have been consumed.

vide positive exposure to others who are ‘Spreading the Word’. – Source: Paul Hawken, Amory Lovins and L. Hunter Lovins, Natural Capitalism,
Little Brown and Company.

• Half of the forests that originally covered 48% of the earths • In 2003m humanity’s footprint exceeded the Earths biological

land surface are gone! capacity by over 25%”
– Source: Global Footprint Network
– Source: Masterfile

• In 2002 the Irish government passed a tax on plastic bags- the use • In 2008 worldwide the human population used 140% of the resources

of the bags dropped by 94% within weeks. the earth can generate in a year.
– Source: EPA
– Source: Thedailygreen.org

• Every ton of recycled paper saves 17 trees, 7,000 gallons of water, •

and 4,100 kilowatts of electricity.
– Source: Thedailygreen.org
•
• Rainforests once covered 14% of the earth’s land surface; now they
cover a mere 6% and experts estimate that the last remaining
rainforests could be consumed in less than 40 years •

– Source: www.rain-tree.com/facts.html


17 THE BAD AND THE UGLY THE BAD AND THE UGLY 18

ur
It takes 1000 years 40% of o ys are
for polyethylene bags waterwa ble.
a
to break down. undrink : Americ
an River
s, Americ
as
1998 Rep
ort
– Source ivers of
ngered R
– Source: “Say No To Plastic Bags: The Most Enda
Shocking Facts About Polyethylene Bags”

Do you have some
ugly stats? Server farms:
1 rack = 25 homes, 50
MW = 50,000 homes,
what beast have
we built?
– Source: Server Farms and the
Environment By: Rowan Wolf

Since 1980 the earth
For every one garbage can has experience 19 of
its 20 hottest years.
you put out at the curb, 70 – Source: Masterfile

cans were filled by all the
processes needed in order
to make it.
– Source: The Next Efficiency Revolution: Creating a
Sustainable Materials Economy by John Young and
Aaron Sachs, Worldwatch Institute (1994), p. 13.


CHAPTER FOUR:
THE DESIGN PROCESS 20

THE DESIGN PROCESS
1.
BACKGROUND RESEARCH
What is sustainability? Sustainability is a systemic concept. It relates
to the relationships between economic, social, institutional and environ-
mental aspects of human existence. It calls for current economic needs
to be met while preserving biodiversities and ecosystems to maintain
the same quality of life for future generations.

WHAT OTHER QUESTIONS ARE IMPORTANT TO ASK IN THE RESEARCH STAGE?


21 THE DESIGN PROCESS THE DESIGN PROCESS 22

2. What is a basic framework, you can start with when
approaching a new design problem?

CREATIVE BRIEF


3.
DESIGN EXPLORATIONS
In Design Is More Than Packaging, the New York Times introduces
“design thinking,” citing Jump’s work for Saturn, as well as Stanford’s
d.school, and Half Moon Bay’s C2 Group. The article takes a stab at
actually explaining just what the heck people mean by that term...
They are proponents of “design thinking,” which focuses on people’s
actual needs rather than trying to persuade them to buy into what
businesses are selling. It revolves around field research followed by
freewheeling idea generation that often leads to unexpected results.
Properly used, design thinking can weave together elements of demo-
graphics, research, environmental factors, psychology, anthropology
and sociology to generate novel solutions to some of the most puzzling
problems in business. ...while offering a gently sober reality check for
the bandwagoneers who might be reading. “It would be overreaching to
say that design thinking solves everything. That’s putting it too high on
a pedestal,” Mr. Kembel says. “Business thinking plus design thinking
ends up being far more powerful.”

HOW DO YOU EXPLORE THE DESIGN PROCESS?



What is used to make 1 tonne of paper?

4. 24 trees
7,325
gallons of
5,700 lb.
of green- 22,000 000
water house gas BTU’s
2,200 lb.
of solid
waste

PRODUCE AND MANUFACTURE
To design packaging that is sustainable... 1 tonne of paper of paper, 2200 lb., is the equivalent
Ask why is the packaging necessary? of 220,000 sheets of standard (20# bond) photocopy paper.
Manufactured and transported using renewable energy. That would be 440 packages, 44 cartons or 1 skid.
Design packaging yourself, don’t use “canned” alternatives. (based on 4 metric tonnes of carbon credits per 1 tonne of paper at a cost of $15 per metric tonne thought a VEC broker)

Design for re-use/longevity.
Minimize packaging – more does not equal quality. or, 1 Tonne of paper could make any one of These paper producTs
Biomimicry - use nature as a model.
Use biodegradable materials that nourish the soil when thrown away. 11,000 7,300 1,250 729,000 218,000
Design cyclically not linearly. Movie Posters 24 Page Catalogs 168 Page Books Business Cards Post Cards
(25" x 38" 100# coated) (8.5" x 11", 100# uncoated) (8.5" x 5.5" 80# uncoated) (2" x 3.5" 12 pt coated) (4" x 6", 12 pt. coated)
Avoid Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC).

To offseT The greenhouse gases of 1000 uniTs

WHAT OTHER CONSIDERATIONS MUST WE TAKE AT THIS STAGE? $
5.45 $
8.21 $
48 0.08¢ 0.28¢


CHAPTER FIVE:
GOOD DESIGN 28

Great work does not always come

GOOD DESIGN from a great brief. Sometimes the
answers to the objectives are not
so obvious.

CAUSE BASED DESIGN Here is an award winning example
of design that makes you ask why
The Cause Based Design Road Show will display some of the best design would something be acceptable simply
work that has been created for charitable organizations. We will send because it’s on the other side of the
the 40-piece show to design school administrators in an attempt to world. In this campaign was created
integrate charitable design projects into their curriculum. for War Child Canada.

HAVE A PIECE TO CONTRIBUTE? SEND IT IN WITH YOUR CREATIVE BRIEF, The creative brief for this campaign
AND/OR METHODOLOGY. will be in the next edition for
this book.

Art Direction:
Stuart Campbell, john street adverting


APPENDIX OF FORMS:
Do you have any forms or checklists for keeping your projects
sustainable? Add them to our appendix.


GLOSSARY: LIFE CYCLE ASSESSMENT:
Language is necessary to form laws and policies. terms like
sustainability and corporate social responsibility have taken on new
meaning and new words like Civic Footprint, timeraiser and depletist
are helping to contextualize the changing attitudes of today. Designers
can assist in adopting these words and making them part of popular
CIVIC FOOTPRINT:
culture while making their own contribution. Your civic footprint is the contribution of time and money to causes that
are important to you. The earlier the start, the bigger you can make
your civic footprint. The bigger the footprint, the bigger the impact.
BETTERMENT:
As a pursuit, Betterment is a collaborative venture to the benefit
of people not limited to those performing the activity. Referring to
POST CONSUMER WASTE:
property, Betterment is the improvement of a property by parties
other than the owner of the property, such as a tenant or a the public.

DE-INKING:
ENVIRONMENTAL ORGANIzATIONS:

UPCYCLING:
ECO-LABELS:

DESIGN THINKING:
A creative process that focuses on encouraging maximum input and
participiation by eliminating judgement. This fosters the development
MEME:
of more creative ideas, as eccentric ideas are welcomed rather than A meme comprises a unit or element of cultural ideas, symbols or
criticized. practices; such units or elements transmit from one mind to another
through speech, gestures, rituals, or other imitable phenomena and
evolve by natural selection.
CARBON CREDITS:
What other words should we be spreading?
Add them online at book.spreadtheword.org


THOUGHTS ARE FOR SHARING. Please add yours to our project: book.spreadtheword.org

CAUSE BASED DESIGN ONLINE STUDENT “GOOD WORK” BURSARY.
GALLERY AND ROAD SHOW CAUSE BASED PSA DESIGN
Empty hallway display boxes are no way to inspire design students at To recognize and encourage young people to do good work, especially
the start of a year. Spread the Word hopes schools will display this work work that is for a ‘cause’ - a charity or work for the greater good.
for the month of September, inspiring young designers to think about
themselves as superheros in training.
Spread the Word sponsors an annual $1000 bursary co-ordinated
through the Registered Graphic Design Association (RGD). It is hoped
The Cause Based Design Roadshow will display some of the best design that this bursary will create additional exposure opportunities such as
work that has been created for charitable organizations, and this work will the ‘design at work’ show.
be accompanied by the Creative Brief that inspired it, and in some cases
additional linears or methodology notes. We hope these examples will help
More ‘good work’ in more places, inspiring our design community.
educators integrate charitable design projects into their curriculum.

We need volunteers for
this project.

A CALL TO ARMS LIVING AND ACTIONING THE MISSION:
(OR PIXELS AND PENCILS) MORE THAN A MANIFESTO
Designers can no longer ignore the effect we have on our environment. Spread the Word has inspired much conversation and, as a group, has a
From the paper used to print our creations, to the power consumed to growing number of “Big Ideas” that it will drive forward to collectively
host the websites we design, designers have a substantial environmental create. Spread the Word is more than a collective of like-minded
footprint. Spread the Word is a special interest group that celebrates individuals. We are a collective of like-minded ‘action-ists’ included
those who are working to promote sustainability and corporate social design students, design educators and design managers creating change
responsibility in the design community. with our actions.

We are designers, design managers and design educators who want
to take a leading role in educating our industry on these issues.

THE MISSION
Spread the Word’s mission is to help others action their intent to make
the world a better place.

By ‘spreading the word’ of cause-based design initiatives that designers
can become involved with or inspired by.

JOIN OUR COMMUNITY!
SUPERPOWER.NING.COM

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