0:00:00.813,0:00:03.402
So imagine, you're in the supermarket,

0:00:03.402,0:00:05.198
you're buying some groceries,

0:00:05.198,0:00:06.654
and you get given the option

0:00:06.654,0:00:10.258
for a plastic or a paper shopping bag.

0:00:10.258,0:00:12.280
Which one do you choose if you want to do

0:00:12.280,0:00:15.110
the right thing by the environment?

0:00:15.110,0:00:16.837
Most people do pick the paper.

0:00:16.837,0:00:18.235
Okay, let's think of why.

0:00:18.235,0:00:19.806
It's brown to start with.

0:00:19.806,0:00:21.358
Therefore, it must be good for the environment.

0:00:21.358,0:00:23.675
It's biodegradable. It's reusable.

0:00:23.675,0:00:25.748
In some cases, it's recyclable.

0:00:25.748,0:00:28.559
So when people are looking at the plastic bag,

0:00:28.559,0:00:31.349
it's likely they're thinking of something like this,

0:00:31.349,0:00:33.611
which we all know is absolutely terrible

0:00:33.611,0:00:36.078
and we should be avoiding at all expenses,

0:00:36.078,0:00:38.380
these kinds of environmental damages.

0:00:38.380,0:00:40.671
But people are often not thinking

0:00:40.671,0:00:42.734
of something like this,

0:00:42.734,0:00:45.159
which is the other end of the spectrum.

0:00:45.159,0:00:47.956
When we produce materials,

0:00:47.956,0:00:49.710
we need to extract them from the environment,

0:00:49.710,0:00:53.706
and we need a whole bunch[br]of environmental impacts.

0:00:53.706,0:00:55.513
You see, what happens is, when we need

0:00:55.513,0:00:57.489
to make complex choices,

0:00:57.489,0:00:59.987
us humans like really simple solutions,

0:00:59.987,0:01:02.634
and so we often ask for simple solutions.

0:01:02.634,0:01:04.215
And I work in design.

0:01:04.215,0:01:05.664
I advise designers

0:01:05.664,0:01:07.775
and innovators around sustainability,

0:01:07.775,0:01:09.623
and everyone always says to me, "Oh Leyla,

0:01:09.623,0:01:11.575
I just want the eco-materials."

0:01:11.575,0:01:13.535
And I say, "Well, that's very complex,

0:01:13.535,0:01:15.488
and we'll have to spend four hours talking about

0:01:15.488,0:01:17.495
what exactly an eco-material means,

0:01:17.495,0:01:19.647
because everything at some point

0:01:19.647,0:01:21.376
comes from nature,

0:01:21.376,0:01:23.425
and it's how you use the material

0:01:23.425,0:01:26.511
that dictates the environmental impact.

0:01:26.511,0:01:28.146
So what happens is, we have to rely

0:01:28.146,0:01:30.127
on some sort of intuitive framework

0:01:30.127,0:01:31.795
when we make decisions.

0:01:31.795,0:01:34.031
So I like to call that intuitive framework

0:01:34.031,0:01:36.751
our environmental folklore.

0:01:36.751,0:01:39.200
Okay, it's either the little voice[br]at the back of your head,

0:01:39.200,0:01:41.580
or it's that gut feeling you get

0:01:41.580,0:01:43.360
when you've done the right thing,

0:01:43.360,0:01:45.170
so when you've picked the paper bag

0:01:45.170,0:01:47.899
or when you've bought a fuel-efficient car.

0:01:47.899,0:01:50.858
And environmental folklore is a really important thing

0:01:50.858,0:01:53.306
because we're trying to do the right thing.

0:01:53.306,0:01:55.650
But how do we know if we're actually

0:01:55.650,0:01:58.042
reducing the net environmental impacts

0:01:58.042,0:02:01.314
that our actions as individuals and as professionals

0:02:01.314,0:02:03.482
and as a society are actually having

0:02:03.482,0:02:06.234
on the natural environment?

0:02:06.234,0:02:08.154
So the thing about environmental folklore is

0:02:08.154,0:02:09.916
it tends to be based on our experiences,

0:02:09.916,0:02:11.924
the things we've heard from other people.

0:02:11.924,0:02:14.456
It doesn't tend to be based[br]on any scientific framework.

0:02:14.456,0:02:16.123
And this is really hard, because we live

0:02:16.123,0:02:18.143
in incredibly complex systems.

0:02:18.143,0:02:19.863
We have the human systems

0:02:19.863,0:02:21.629
of how we communicate and interrelate

0:02:21.629,0:02:24.168
and have our whole constructed society,

0:02:24.168,0:02:25.978
of the industrial systems,

0:02:25.978,0:02:28.087
which is essentially the entire economy,

0:02:28.087,0:02:29.890
and then all of that has to operate

0:02:29.890,0:02:31.615
within the biggest system,

0:02:31.615,0:02:33.507
and, I would argue, the most important,

0:02:33.507,0:02:35.364
the ecosystem.

0:02:35.364,0:02:37.103
And you see, the choices that we make

0:02:37.103,0:02:38.735
as an individual,

0:02:38.735,0:02:39.954
but the choices that we make

0:02:39.954,0:02:42.128
in every single job that we have,

0:02:42.128,0:02:44.672
no matter how high or low[br]you are in the pecking order,

0:02:44.672,0:02:47.784
has an impact on all of these systems.

0:02:47.784,0:02:49.934
And the thing is that we have to find ways

0:02:49.934,0:02:52.181
if we're actually going to address sustainability

0:02:52.181,0:02:54.822
of interlocking those complex systems

0:02:54.822,0:02:57.750
and making better choices that result

0:02:57.750,0:03:00.873
in net environmental gains.

0:03:00.873,0:03:02.536
What we need to do is we need to learn

0:03:02.536,0:03:04.581
to do more with less.

0:03:04.581,0:03:06.380
We have an increasing population,

0:03:06.380,0:03:07.998
and everybody likes their mobile phones,

0:03:07.998,0:03:10.096
especially in this situation here.

0:03:10.096,0:03:12.646
So we need to find innovative ways of solving

0:03:12.646,0:03:14.354
some of these problems that we face.

0:03:14.354,0:03:15.703
And that's where this process called

0:03:15.703,0:03:17.566
life cycle thinking comes in.

0:03:17.566,0:03:20.030
So essentially, everything that is created

0:03:20.030,0:03:22.888
goes through a series of life cycle stages,

0:03:22.888,0:03:24.734
and we use this scientific process

0:03:24.734,0:03:26.489
called life cycle assessment,

0:03:26.489,0:03:28.891
or in America, you guys say life cycle analysis,

0:03:28.891,0:03:32.269
in order to have a clearer picture of how

0:03:32.269,0:03:36.244
everything that we do in the[br]technical part of those systems

0:03:36.244,0:03:38.287
affects the natural environment.

0:03:38.287,0:03:40.119
So we go all the way back

0:03:40.119,0:03:42.198
to the extraction of raw materials,

0:03:42.198,0:03:44.017
and then we look at manufacturing,

0:03:44.017,0:03:46.105
we look at packaging and transportation,

0:03:46.105,0:03:47.678
use, and end of life,

0:03:47.678,0:03:50.611
and at every single one of these stages,

0:03:50.611,0:03:52.070
the things that we do

0:03:52.070,0:03:54.030
have an interaction with the natural environment,

0:03:54.030,0:03:56.434
and we can monitor how that interaction

0:03:56.434,0:04:00.061
is actually affecting the systems and services

0:04:00.061,0:04:02.125
that make life on earth possible.

0:04:02.125,0:04:03.853
And through doing this,

0:04:03.853,0:04:07.374
we've learned some absolutely fascinating things.

0:04:07.374,0:04:09.718
And we've busted a bunch of myths.

0:04:09.718,0:04:12.568
So to start with,

0:04:12.568,0:04:14.441
there's a word that's used a lot.

0:04:14.441,0:04:16.408
It's used a lot in marketing,

0:04:16.408,0:04:18.392
and it's used a lot, I think, in our conversation

0:04:18.392,0:04:20.234
when we're talking about sustainability,

0:04:20.234,0:04:22.648
and that's the word biodegradability.

0:04:22.648,0:04:27.905
Now biodegradability is a material property.

0:04:27.905,0:04:30.983
It is not a definition of environmental benefits.

0:04:30.983,0:04:32.840
Allow me to explain.

0:04:32.840,0:04:34.578
When something natural,

0:04:34.578,0:04:36.400
something that's made from a cellulose fiber

0:04:36.400,0:04:40.056
like a piece of bread, even, or any food waste,

0:04:40.056,0:04:42.370
or even a piece of paper,

0:04:42.370,0:04:44.276
when something natural ends up

0:04:44.276,0:04:46.915
in the natural environment, it degrades normally.

0:04:46.915,0:04:48.717
Its little carbon molecules that it stored up

0:04:48.717,0:04:50.808
as it was growing are naturally released

0:04:50.808,0:04:53.373
back into the atmosphere as carbon dioxide,

0:04:53.373,0:04:55.377
but this is a net situation.

0:04:55.377,0:04:56.819
Most natural things

0:04:56.819,0:04:58.627
don't actually end up in nature.

0:04:58.627,0:05:00.176
Most of the things, the waste that we produce,

0:05:00.176,0:05:01.856
end up in landfill.

0:05:01.856,0:05:04.193
Landfill is a different environment.

0:05:04.193,0:05:06.729
In landfill, those same carbon molecules

0:05:06.729,0:05:08.354
degrade in a different way,

0:05:08.354,0:05:10.128
because a landfill is anaerobic.

0:05:10.128,0:05:13.393
It's got no oxygen. It's tightly compacted and hot.

0:05:13.393,0:05:15.694
Those same molecules, they become methane,

0:05:15.694,0:05:18.565
and methane is a 25 times more potent

0:05:18.565,0:05:21.726
greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide.

0:05:21.726,0:05:24.111
So our old lettuces and products

0:05:24.111,0:05:25.936
that we have thrown out that are made

0:05:25.936,0:05:27.597
out of biodegradable materials,

0:05:27.597,0:05:29.317
if they end up in landfill,

0:05:29.317,0:05:31.282
contribute to climate change.

0:05:31.282,0:05:32.581
You see, there are facilities now

0:05:32.581,0:05:34.301
that can actually capture that methane

0:05:34.301,0:05:35.908
and generate power,

0:05:35.908,0:05:38.484
displacing the need for fossil fuel power,

0:05:38.484,0:05:40.165
but we need to be smart about this.

0:05:40.165,0:05:43.036
We need to identify how we can start to leverage

0:05:43.036,0:05:45.525
these types of things that are already happening

0:05:45.525,0:05:47.332
and start to design systems and services

0:05:47.332,0:05:49.108
that alleviate these problems.

0:05:49.108,0:05:52.123
Because right now, what people do[br]is they turn around and they say,

0:05:52.123,0:05:54.988
"Let's ban plastic bags. We'll give people paper

0:05:54.988,0:05:56.946
because that is better for the environment."

0:05:56.946,0:05:58.503
But if you're throwing it in the bin,

0:05:58.503,0:05:59.857
and your local landfill facility

0:05:59.857,0:06:01.956
is just a normal one,

0:06:01.956,0:06:07.339
then we're having what's called a double negative.

0:06:07.339,0:06:10.061
Okay, I'm also a product designer by trade.

0:06:10.061,0:06:11.494
I then did social science.

0:06:11.494,0:06:12.942
And so I'm absolutely fascinated

0:06:12.942,0:06:14.879
by consumer goods and how the consumer goods

0:06:14.879,0:06:17.217
that we have kind of become immune to

0:06:17.217,0:06:18.702
that fill our lives

0:06:18.702,0:06:20.356
have an impact on the natural environment.

0:06:20.356,0:06:22.783
And these guys are, like, serial offenders,

0:06:22.783,0:06:24.631
and I'm pretty sure everyone in this room

0:06:24.631,0:06:26.323
has a refrigerator.

0:06:26.323,0:06:28.074
Now America has this amazing ability

0:06:28.074,0:06:29.917
to keep growing refrigerators.

0:06:29.917,0:06:31.865
In the last few years, they've grown one cubic foot

0:06:31.865,0:06:33.713
on average, the standard size

0:06:33.713,0:06:35.357
of a refrigerator,

0:06:35.357,0:06:37.385
and the problem is, they're so big now,

0:06:37.385,0:06:39.825
it's easier for us to buy more food

0:06:39.825,0:06:41.970
that we can't eat or find.

0:06:41.970,0:06:43.689
I mean, I have things at the back of my refrigerator

0:06:43.689,0:06:45.915
that have been there for years, all right?

0:06:45.915,0:06:48.412
And so what happens is, we waste more food.

0:06:48.412,0:06:51.833
And as I was just explaining,[br]food waste is a problem.

0:06:51.833,0:06:55.149
In fact, here in the U.S., 40 percent

0:06:55.149,0:06:57.097
of food purchased for the home is wasted.

0:06:57.097,0:07:02.121
Half of the world's produced food is wasted.

0:07:02.121,0:07:04.897
That's the latest U.N. stats. Up to half of the food.

0:07:04.897,0:07:08.957
It's insane. It's 1.3 billion tons of food per annum.

0:07:08.957,0:07:11.346
And I blame it on the refrigerator,

0:07:11.346,0:07:12.905
well, especially in Western cultures,

0:07:12.905,0:07:14.708
because it makes it easier.

0:07:14.708,0:07:16.793
I mean, there's a lot of complex[br]systems going on here.

0:07:16.793,0:07:18.977
I don't want to make it so simplistic.

0:07:18.977,0:07:21.865
But the refrigerator is a serious contributor to this,

0:07:21.865,0:07:23.601
and one of the features of it

0:07:23.601,0:07:26.347
is the crisper drawer.

0:07:26.347,0:07:27.713
You all got crisper drawers?

0:07:27.713,0:07:29.337
You know, the draw that you put your lettuces in?

0:07:29.337,0:07:31.078
Lettuces have a habit of going soggy

0:07:31.078,0:07:32.837
in the crisper drawer, don't they.

0:07:32.837,0:07:34.401
Yeah? Soggy lettuces?

0:07:34.401,0:07:36.371
In the U.K., this is such a problem

0:07:36.371,0:07:38.100
that there was a government report a few years ago

0:07:38.100,0:07:40.857
that actually said the second-biggest offender

0:07:40.857,0:07:43.475
of wasted food in the U.K. is the soggy lettuce.

0:07:43.475,0:07:45.985
It was called "the soggy lettuce report."

0:07:45.985,0:07:47.905
Okay? So this is a problem, people.

0:07:47.905,0:07:50.200
These poor little lettuces are getting thrown out

0:07:50.200,0:07:51.920
left, right, and center, because the crisper drawers

0:07:51.920,0:07:54.770
are not designed to actually keep things crisp.

0:07:54.770,0:07:57.024
Okay. You need a tight environment.

0:07:57.024,0:07:58.848
You need, like, an airless environment

0:07:58.848,0:08:02.088
to prevent the degrading that[br]would happen naturally.

0:08:02.088,0:08:03.816
But the crisper drawers, they're just a drawer

0:08:03.816,0:08:05.509
with, like, a slightly better seal.

0:08:05.509,0:08:07.673
Anyway, I'm clearly obsessed. All right?

0:08:07.673,0:08:08.984
Don't ever invite me over because I'll just

0:08:08.984,0:08:10.794
start going through your refrigerator

0:08:10.794,0:08:12.240
and looking at all sorts of things like that.

0:08:12.240,0:08:13.896
But essentially, this is a big problem.

0:08:13.896,0:08:16.578
Because when we lose something[br]like the lettuce from the system,

0:08:16.578,0:08:18.453
not only do we have that impact I just explained

0:08:18.453,0:08:20.376
at the end of life,

0:08:20.376,0:08:22.817
but we actually have had to grow that lettuce.

0:08:22.817,0:08:26.078
The life cycle impact of that lettuce is astronomical.

0:08:26.078,0:08:27.659
We've had to clear land.

0:08:27.659,0:08:29.340
We've had to plant seeds, phosphorus,

0:08:29.340,0:08:31.740
fertilizers, nutrients, water, sunlight.

0:08:31.740,0:08:33.828
All of the embodied impacts in that lettuce

0:08:33.828,0:08:35.540
get lost from the system,

0:08:35.540,0:08:37.890
which makes it a far bigger environmental impact

0:08:37.890,0:08:41.989
than the loss of the energy from the fridge.

0:08:41.989,0:08:45.100
So we need to design things like this far better

0:08:45.100,0:08:48.281
if we're going to start addressing[br]serious environmental problems.

0:08:48.281,0:08:50.148
We could start with the crisper drawer and the size.

0:08:50.148,0:08:51.931
For those of you in the room who do design fridges,

0:08:51.931,0:08:53.547
that would be great.

0:08:53.547,0:08:56.066
Okay, so the problem is, so imagine if we

0:08:56.066,0:08:59.203
actually started to reconsider how we design things.

0:08:59.203,0:09:02.748
So I look at the refrigerator as a sign of modernity,

0:09:02.748,0:09:04.723
but we actually haven't really changed the design

0:09:04.723,0:09:07.517
of them that much since the 1950s.

0:09:07.517,0:09:10.450
A little bit, but essentially they're still big boxes,

0:09:10.450,0:09:12.602
cold boxes that we store stuff in.

0:09:12.602,0:09:14.407
So imagine if we actually really started

0:09:14.407,0:09:17.137
to identify these problems and use that

0:09:17.137,0:09:21.181
as the foundation for finding innovative and elegant

0:09:21.181,0:09:24.058
design solutions that will solve those problems.

0:09:24.058,0:09:26.698
This is design-led system change,

0:09:26.698,0:09:30.454
design dictating the way in which the system

0:09:30.454,0:09:33.234
can be far more sustainable.

0:09:33.234,0:09:35.282
Forty percent food waste is a major problem.

0:09:35.282,0:09:39.378
Imagine if we designed fridges that halved that.

0:09:39.378,0:09:41.560
Another item that I find fascinating

0:09:41.560,0:09:42.828
is the electric tea kettle,

0:09:42.828,0:09:44.730
which I found out that you guys don't really,

0:09:44.730,0:09:47.610
you don't do tea kettles in[br]this country, really, do you.

0:09:47.610,0:09:49.652
But that's really big in the U.K.

0:09:49.652,0:09:51.579
Ninety-seven percent of households

0:09:51.579,0:09:54.618
in the United Kingdom own an electric tea kettle.

0:09:54.618,0:09:56.363
So they're very popular.

0:09:56.363,0:09:58.779
And, I mean, if I were to work with a design firm

0:09:58.779,0:10:01.353
or a designer, and they were designing one of these,

0:10:01.353,0:10:02.931
and they wanted to do it eco,

0:10:02.931,0:10:04.803
they'd usually ask me two things.

0:10:04.803,0:10:07.770
They'd say, "Leyla, how do I[br]make it technically efficient?"

0:10:07.770,0:10:11.075
Because obviously energy's[br]a problem with this product.

0:10:11.075,0:10:14.080
Or, "How do I make it green materials?

0:10:14.080,0:10:16.603
How do I make the materials green

0:10:16.603,0:10:18.702
in the manufacturing?"

0:10:18.702,0:10:20.596
Would you ask me those questions?

0:10:20.596,0:10:23.021
They seem logical, right? Yeah.

0:10:23.021,0:10:26.017
Well I'd say, "You're looking at the wrong problems."

0:10:26.017,0:10:28.022
Because the problem is with use.

0:10:28.022,0:10:30.818
It's with how people use the product.

0:10:30.818,0:10:32.653
Sixty-five percent of Brits

0:10:32.653,0:10:34.781
admit to over-filling their kettle

0:10:34.781,0:10:37.583
when they only need one cup of tea.

0:10:37.583,0:10:40.387
All of this extra water that's being boiled

0:10:40.387,0:10:44.309
requires energy, and it's been calculated

0:10:44.309,0:10:46.980
that in one day of extra energy use

0:10:46.980,0:10:48.829
from boiling kettles

0:10:48.829,0:10:51.533
is enough to light all of the streetlights

0:10:51.533,0:10:54.633
in England for a night.

0:10:54.633,0:10:56.029
But this is the thing, right?

0:10:56.029,0:10:58.068
This is what I call a product person failure.

0:10:58.068,0:11:00.734
But we've got a product system failure[br]going on with these little guys,

0:11:00.734,0:11:02.182
and they're so ubiquitous, you know,

0:11:02.182,0:11:03.774
you don't even notice they're there.

0:11:03.774,0:11:05.995
And this guy over here, though, he does.

0:11:05.995,0:11:07.210
He's named Simon.

0:11:07.210,0:11:10.363
Simon works for the national[br]electricity company in the U.K.

0:11:10.363,0:11:12.305
He has a very important job of monitoring

0:11:12.305,0:11:14.438
all of the electricity coming into the system

0:11:14.438,0:11:16.126
to make sure there is enough

0:11:16.126,0:11:18.162
that it powers everybody's homes.

0:11:18.162,0:11:20.266
He's also watching television.

0:11:20.266,0:11:22.224
The reason is is because there's a unique

0:11:22.224,0:11:24.078
phenomenon that happens in the U.K.

0:11:24.078,0:11:27.897
the moment that very popular TV shows end.

0:11:27.897,0:11:30.333
The minute the ad break comes on,

0:11:30.333,0:11:32.140
this man has to rush

0:11:32.140,0:11:35.226
to buy nuclear power from France,

0:11:35.226,0:11:37.684
because everybody turns their kettles on

0:11:37.684,0:11:40.180
at the same time.

0:11:40.180,0:11:42.380
(Laughter)

0:11:42.380,0:11:48.457
1.5 million kettles, seriously problematic.

0:11:48.457,0:11:52.149
So imagine if you designed kettles,

0:11:52.149,0:11:54.890
you actually found a way to[br]solve these system failures,

0:11:54.890,0:11:57.447
because this is a huge amount of pressure

0:11:57.447,0:11:58.792
on the system,

0:11:58.792,0:12:02.092
just because the product hasn't[br]thought about the problem

0:12:02.092,0:12:03.968
that it's going to have when it exists in the world.

0:12:03.968,0:12:06.805
Now, I looked at a number of[br]kettles available on the market,

0:12:06.805,0:12:08.781
and found the minimum fill lines,

0:12:08.781,0:12:10.501
so the little piece of information that tells you

0:12:10.501,0:12:12.165
how much you need to put in there,

0:12:12.165,0:12:14.562
was between two and a five-and-a-half cups of water

0:12:14.562,0:12:18.349
just to make one cup of tea.

0:12:18.349,0:12:20.310
So this kettle here is an example of one where

0:12:20.310,0:12:22.169
it actually has two boiling chambers,

0:12:22.169,0:12:23.325
or, sorry, two reservoirs.

0:12:23.325,0:12:25.540
One's a boiling chamber, and one's the water holder.

0:12:25.540,0:12:27.589
The user actually has to push that button

0:12:27.589,0:12:29.357
to get their hot water boiled,

0:12:29.357,0:12:31.097
which means, because we're all lazy,

0:12:31.097,0:12:33.072
you only fill exactly what you need.

0:12:33.072,0:12:35.165
And this is what I call behavior-changing products:

0:12:35.165,0:12:37.277
products, systems, or services

0:12:37.277,0:12:41.413
that intervene and solve these problems up front.

0:12:41.413,0:12:43.786
Now, this is a technology arena,

0:12:43.786,0:12:45.771
so obviously these things are quite popular,

0:12:45.771,0:12:47.600
but I think if we're going to keep

0:12:47.600,0:12:50.479
designing, buying, and using and throwing out

0:12:50.479,0:12:52.315
these kinds of products at the rate we currently do,

0:12:52.315,0:12:54.179
which is astronomically high,

0:12:54.179,0:12:56.396
there are seven billion people, right,

0:12:56.396,0:12:57.976
who live in the world right now.

0:12:57.976,0:13:00.147
There are six billion mobile phone subscriptions

0:13:00.147,0:13:03.952
as of last year.

0:13:03.952,0:13:07.092
Every single year, 1.5 billion mobile phones

0:13:07.092,0:13:08.604
roll off production lines,

0:13:08.604,0:13:10.675
and some companies report their production rate

0:13:10.675,0:13:13.549
as being greater than the human birthrate.

0:13:13.549,0:13:15.939
152 million phones were thrown[br]out in the U.S. last year.

0:13:15.939,0:13:17.809
Only 11 percent were recycled.

0:13:17.809,0:13:21.227
I'm from Australia. We have a[br]population of 22 million. Don't laugh.

0:13:21.227,0:13:24.116
And it's been reported that 22 million phones

0:13:24.116,0:13:27.020
are in people's drawers.

0:13:27.020,0:13:30.782
We need to find ways of solving[br]the problems around this,

0:13:30.782,0:13:33.495
because these things are so complicated.

0:13:33.495,0:13:36.524
They have so much locked up inside them.

0:13:36.524,0:13:40.764
Gold: did you know that it's actually cheaper now

0:13:40.764,0:13:44.211
to get gold out of a ton of old mobile phones

0:13:44.211,0:13:47.532
than it is out of a ton of gold ore?

0:13:47.532,0:13:49.860
There's a number of highly complex and valuable

0:13:49.860,0:13:51.477
materials embodied inside these things,

0:13:51.477,0:13:54.015
so we need to find ways of encouraging disassembly,

0:13:54.015,0:13:56.252
because this is otherwise what happens.

0:13:56.252,0:13:57.988
This is a community in Ghana,

0:13:57.988,0:14:00.020
and e-waste is reported, or electronic waste

0:14:00.020,0:14:01.869
is reported by the U.N.

0:14:01.869,0:14:05.030
as being up to 50 million tons trafficked.

0:14:05.030,0:14:06.537
This is how they get the gold

0:14:06.537,0:14:07.995
and the other valuable materials out.

0:14:07.995,0:14:09.809
They burn the electronic waste

0:14:09.809,0:14:11.948
in open spaces.

0:14:11.948,0:14:14.944
These are communities, and this[br]is happening all over the world.

0:14:14.944,0:14:17.491
And because we don't see the ramifications

0:14:17.491,0:14:19.459
of the choices that we make as designers,

0:14:19.459,0:14:21.945
as businesspeople, as consumers,

0:14:21.945,0:14:23.619
then these kinds of externalities happen,

0:14:23.619,0:14:25.860
and these are people's lives.

0:14:25.860,0:14:30.060
So we need to find smarter, more systems-based,

0:14:30.060,0:14:33.469
innovative solutions to these problems,

0:14:33.469,0:14:37.153
if we're going to start to live[br]sustainably within this world.

0:14:37.153,0:14:40.818
So imagine if, when you bought your mobile phone,

0:14:40.818,0:14:42.710
your new one because you replaced your old one

0:14:42.710,0:14:44.883
— after 15 to 18 months is the average time

0:14:44.883,0:14:46.987
that people replace their phones, by the way —

0:14:46.987,0:14:49.419
so if we're going to keep this kind of expedient

0:14:49.419,0:14:52.075
mobile phone replacing, then we should

0:14:52.075,0:14:54.259
be looking at closing the loop on the systems.

0:14:54.259,0:14:56.094
The people who produce these phones,

0:14:56.094,0:14:57.907
and some of which I'm sure[br]are in the room right now,

0:14:57.907,0:15:00.847
could potentially look at what[br]we call closed-loop systems,

0:15:00.847,0:15:02.507
or product system services,

0:15:02.507,0:15:04.739
so identifying that there is a market demand

0:15:04.739,0:15:06.571
and that market demand's not going to go anywhere,

0:15:06.571,0:15:09.531
so you design the product to solve the problem.

0:15:09.531,0:15:11.716
Design for disassembly, design for light-weighting.

0:15:11.716,0:15:14.005
We heard some of those kinds of strategies

0:15:14.005,0:15:17.028
being used in the Tesla Motors car today.

0:15:17.028,0:15:19.147
These kinds of approaches are not hard,

0:15:19.147,0:15:20.973
but understanding the system

0:15:20.973,0:15:24.075
and then looking for viable, market-driven

0:15:24.075,0:15:26.595
consumer demand alternatives

0:15:26.595,0:15:28.808
is how we can start radically altering

0:15:28.808,0:15:30.969
the sustainability agenda,

0:15:30.969,0:15:32.901
because I hate to break it to you all:

0:15:32.901,0:15:35.627
consumption is the biggest problem.

0:15:35.627,0:15:40.859
But design is one of the best solutions.

0:15:40.859,0:15:43.180
These kinds of products are everywhere.

0:15:43.180,0:15:45.571
By identifying alternative ways of doing things,

0:15:45.571,0:15:47.166
we can actually start to innovate,

0:15:47.166,0:15:48.744
and I say actually start to innovate.

0:15:48.744,0:15:50.768
I'm sure everyone in this room is very innovative.

0:15:50.768,0:15:53.491
But in the regards to using sustainability

0:15:53.491,0:15:55.963
as a parameter, as a criteria

0:15:55.963,0:16:00.318
for fueling systems-based solutions,

0:16:00.318,0:16:03.361
because as I've just demonstrated[br]with these simple products,

0:16:03.361,0:16:06.814
they're participating in these major problems.

0:16:06.814,0:16:08.923
So we need to look across the entire life

0:16:08.923,0:16:10.760
of the things that we do.

0:16:10.760,0:16:12.306
If you just had paper or plastic,

0:16:12.306,0:16:14.854
obviously reusable is far more beneficial,

0:16:14.854,0:16:18.556
then the paper is worse,

0:16:18.556,0:16:20.403
and the paper is worse because it weighs

0:16:20.403,0:16:22.475
four to 10 times more than the plastic,

0:16:22.475,0:16:25.015
and when we actually compare,[br]from a life cycle perspective,

0:16:25.015,0:16:27.532
a kilo of plastic and a kilo of paper,

0:16:27.532,0:16:29.363
the paper is far better,

0:16:29.363,0:16:31.718
but the functionality of a plastic or a paper bag

0:16:31.718,0:16:33.151
to carry your groceries home

0:16:33.151,0:16:35.633
is not done with a kilo of each material.

0:16:35.633,0:16:37.441
It's done with a very small amount of plastic

0:16:37.441,0:16:39.505
and quite a lot more paper.

0:16:39.505,0:16:42.060
Because functionality defines environmental impact,

0:16:42.060,0:16:44.786
and I said earlier that the designers[br]always ask me for the eco-materials.

0:16:44.786,0:16:46.995
I say, you know, there's only a few materials

0:16:46.995,0:16:48.217
that you should completely avoid.

0:16:48.217,0:16:49.977
The rest of them, it's all about application,

0:16:49.977,0:16:52.289
and at the end of the day, everything[br]we design and produce in the economy

0:16:52.289,0:16:55.305
or buy as consumers is done so for function.

0:16:55.305,0:16:57.468
We want something, therefore we buy it.

0:16:57.468,0:16:59.596
So breaking things back down and delivering

0:16:59.596,0:17:04.361
smartly, elegantly, sophisticated solutions

0:17:04.361,0:17:07.129
that take into consideration the entire system

0:17:07.129,0:17:09.931
and the entire life of the thing, everything,

0:17:09.931,0:17:12.905
all the way back to the extraction[br]through to the end of life,

0:17:12.905,0:17:16.154
we can start to actually find[br]really innovative solutions.

0:17:16.154,0:17:18.208
And I'll just leave you with one very quick thing

0:17:18.208,0:17:21.129
that a designer said to me recently who I work with,

0:17:21.129,0:17:22.236
a senior designer, I said,

0:17:22.236,0:17:24.064
"How come you're not doing sustainability?

0:17:24.064,0:17:25.271
You know, I know you know this."

0:17:25.271,0:17:28.405
And he said, "Well, recently I pitched[br]a sustainability project to a client,

0:17:28.405,0:17:31.023
and turned and he said to me,

0:17:31.023,0:17:33.127
'I know it's going to cost less,

0:17:33.127,0:17:34.622
I know it's going to sell more,

0:17:34.622,0:17:39.588
but we're not pioneers, because[br]pioneers have arrows in their backs.'"

0:17:39.588,0:17:41.358
I think we've got a roomful of pioneers,

0:17:41.358,0:17:42.935
and I hope there are far more pioneers out there,

0:17:42.935,0:17:44.244
because we need to solve these problems.

0:17:44.244,0:17:47.220
Thank you.

0:17:47.220,0:17:50.021
(Applause)