0:00:00.705,0:00:03.355
So imagine, you're in the supermarket,

0:00:03.355,0:00:04.936
you're buying some groceries,

0:00:04.936,0:00:06.561
and you get given the option

0:00:06.561,0:00:10.196
for a plastic or a paper shopping bag.

0:00:10.196,0:00:12.386
Which one do you choose if you want to do

0:00:12.386,0:00:14.802
the right thing by the environment?

0:00:14.802,0:00:16.683
Most people do pick the paper.

0:00:16.683,0:00:17.911
Okay, let's think of why.

0:00:17.911,0:00:19.604
It's brown to start with.

0:00:19.604,0:00:21.080
Therefore, it must be good for the environment.

0:00:21.080,0:00:23.598
It's biodegradable. It's reusable.

0:00:23.598,0:00:25.548
In some cases, it's recyclable.

0:00:25.548,0:00:28.342
So when people are looking at the plastic bag,

0:00:28.342,0:00:31.272
it's likely they're thinking of something like this,

0:00:31.272,0:00:33.655
which we all know is absolutely terrible,

0:00:33.655,0:00:35.871
and we should be avoiding at all expenses

0:00:35.871,0:00:38.226
these kinds of environmental damages.

0:00:38.226,0:00:40.439
But people are often not thinking

0:00:40.439,0:00:42.457
of something like this,

0:00:42.457,0:00:45.035
which is the other end of the spectrum.

0:00:45.035,0:00:47.802
When we produce materials,

0:00:47.802,0:00:49.432
we need to extract them from the environment,

0:00:49.432,0:00:53.336
and we need a whole bunch[br]of environmental impacts.

0:00:53.336,0:00:55.512
You see, what happens is, when we need

0:00:55.512,0:00:57.489
to make complex choices,

0:00:57.489,0:00:59.910
us humans like really simple solutions,

0:00:59.910,0:01:02.526
and so we often ask for simple solutions.

0:01:02.526,0:01:03.999
And I work in design.

0:01:03.999,0:01:05.510
I advise designers

0:01:05.510,0:01:07.775
and innovators around sustainability,

0:01:07.775,0:01:09.329
and everyone always says to me, "Oh Leyla,

0:01:09.329,0:01:11.251
I just want the eco-materials."

0:01:11.251,0:01:13.535
And I say, "Well, that's very complex,

0:01:13.535,0:01:15.364
and we'll have to spend four hours talking about

0:01:15.364,0:01:17.279
what exactly an eco-material means,

0:01:17.279,0:01:19.199
because everything at some point

0:01:19.199,0:01:21.144
comes from nature,

0:01:21.144,0:01:23.239
and it's how you use the material

0:01:23.239,0:01:26.280
that dictates the environmental impact.

0:01:26.280,0:01:28.069
So what happens is, we have to rely

0:01:28.069,0:01:30.127
on some sort of intuitive framework

0:01:30.127,0:01:31.702
when we make decisions.

0:01:31.702,0:01:34.032
So I like to call that intuitive framework

0:01:34.032,0:01:36.627
our environmental folklore.

0:01:36.627,0:01:39.384
It's either the little voice[br]at the back of your head,

0:01:39.384,0:01:41.656
or it's that gut feeling you get

0:01:41.656,0:01:43.236
when you've done the right thing,

0:01:43.236,0:01:44.784
so when you've picked the paper bag

0:01:44.784,0:01:47.899
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

0:01:55.650,0:01:57.973
reducing the net environmental impacts

0:01:57.973,0:02:01.314
that our actions as individuals and as professionals

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

0:02:03.482,0:02:06.187
on the natural environment?

0:02:06.187,0:02:08.030
So the thing about environmental folklore is

0:02:08.030,0:02:10.085
it tends to be based on our experiences,

0:02:10.085,0:02:11.816
the things we've heard from other people.

0:02:11.816,0:02:14.456
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

0:02:21.629,0:02:24.144
and have our whole constructed society,

0:02:24.144,0:02:28.037
We have the industrial systems,[br]which is essentially the entire economy,

0:02:28.037,0:02:29.890
and then all of that has to operate

0:02:29.890,0:02:31.415
within the biggest system,

0:02:31.415,0:02:33.507
and, I would argue, the most important,

0:02:33.507,0:02:35.163
the ecosystem.

0:02:35.163,0:02:37.025
And you see, the choices that we make

0:02:37.025,0:02:38.458
as an individual,

0:02:38.458,0:02:39.769
but the choices that we make

0:02:39.769,0:02:41.928
in every single job that we have,

0:02:41.928,0:02:44.548
no matter how high or low[br]you are in the pecking order,

0:02:44.548,0:02:47.599
has an impact on all of these systems.

0:02:47.599,0:02:49.934
And the thing is that we have to find ways

0:02:49.934,0:02:51.873
if we're actually going to address sustainability

0:02:51.873,0:02:55.021
of interlocking those complex systems

0:02:55.021,0:02:57.965
and making better choices that result

0:02:57.965,0:03:00.549
in net environmental gains.

0:03:00.549,0:03:02.197
What we need to do is we need to learn

0:03:02.197,0:03:04.273
to do more with less.

0:03:04.273,0:03:06.164
We have an increasing population,

0:03:06.164,0:03:07.998
and everybody likes their mobile phones,

0:03:07.998,0:03:10.113
especially in this situation here.

0:03:10.113,0:03:14.168
So we need to find innovative ways of solving[br]some of these problems that we face.

0:03:14.168,0:03:17.363
And that's where this process called[br]life cycle thinking comes in.

0:03:17.366,0:03:20.053
So essentially, everything that is created

0:03:20.053,0:03:22.564
goes through a series of life cycle stages,

0:03:22.564,0:03:24.426
and we use this scientific process

0:03:24.426,0:03:26.150
called life cycle assessment,

0:03:26.150,0:03:28.891
or in America, you guys say life cycle analysis,

0:03:28.891,0:03:32.438
in order to have a clearer picture of how

0:03:32.438,0:03:36.244
everything that we do in the[br]technical part of those systems

0:03:36.244,0:03:38.025
affects the natural environment.

0:03:38.025,0:03:39.995
So we go all the way back

0:03:39.995,0:03:42.198
to the extraction of raw materials,

0:03:42.198,0:03:44.015
and then we look at manufacturing,

0:03:44.015,0:03:45.874
we look at packaging and transportation,

0:03:45.874,0:03:47.524
use, and end of life,

0:03:47.524,0:03:50.441
and at every single one of these stages,

0:03:50.441,0:03:51.960
the things that we do

0:03:51.960,0:03:53.791
have an interaction with the natural environment,

0:03:53.791,0:03:56.279
and we can monitor how that interaction

0:03:56.279,0:04:00.009
is actually affecting the systems and services

0:04:00.009,0:04:01.924
that make life on Earth possible.

0:04:01.924,0:04:03.560
And through doing this,

0:04:03.560,0:04:07.850
we've learned some absolutely fascinating things.

0:04:07.850,0:04:09.563
And we've busted a bunch of myths.

0:04:09.563,0:04:14.551
So to start with, there's a word that's used a lot.

0:04:14.551,0:04:16.284
It's used a lot in marketing,

0:04:16.284,0:04:18.284
and it's used a lot, I think, in our conversation

0:04:18.284,0:04:20.217
when we're talking about sustainability,

0:04:20.217,0:04:22.663
and that's the word biodegradability.

0:04:22.663,0:04:27.611
Now biodegradability is a material property;

0:04:27.611,0:04:30.859
it is not a definition of environmental benefits.

0:04:30.859,0:04:32.762
Allow me to explain.

0:04:32.762,0:04:34.454
When something natural,

0:04:34.454,0:04:36.415
something that's made from a cellulose fiber

0:04:36.415,0:04:39.943
like a piece of bread, even, or any food waste,

0:04:39.943,0:04:42.231
or even a piece of paper,

0:04:42.231,0:04:44.045
when something natural ends up

0:04:44.045,0:04:46.668
in the natural environment, it degrades normally.

0:04:46.668,0:04:48.532
Its little carbon molecules that it stored up

0:04:48.532,0:04:50.669
as it was growing are naturally released

0:04:50.669,0:04:53.249
back into the atmosphere as carbon dioxide,

0:04:53.249,0:04:55.223
but this is a net situation.

0:04:55.223,0:04:56.588
Most natural things

0:04:56.588,0:04:58.195
don't actually end up in nature.

0:04:58.195,0:05:01.606
Most of the things, the waste that [br]we produce, end up in landfill.

0:05:01.609,0:05:04.008
Landfill is a different environment.

0:05:04.008,0:05:06.451
In landfill, those same carbon molecules

0:05:06.451,0:05:07.969
degrade in a different way,

0:05:07.969,0:05:09.881
because a landfill is anaerobic.

0:05:09.881,0:05:13.299
It's got no oxygen. It's tightly compacted and hot.

0:05:13.299,0:05:15.647
Those same molecules, they become methane,

0:05:15.647,0:05:18.565
and methane is a 25 times more potent

0:05:18.565,0:05:21.418
greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide.

0:05:21.418,0:05:24.171
So our old lettuces and products

0:05:24.171,0:05:25.750
that we have thrown out that are made

0:05:25.750,0:05:27.320
out of biodegradable materials,

0:05:27.320,0:05:29.055
if they end up in landfill,

0:05:29.055,0:05:31.081
contribute to climate change.

0:05:31.081,0:05:32.473
You see, there are facilities now

0:05:32.473,0:05:34.177
that can actually capture that methane

0:05:34.177,0:05:35.615
and generate power,

0:05:35.615,0:05:38.406
displacing the need for fossil fuel power,

0:05:38.406,0:05:39.871
but we need to be smart about this.

0:05:39.871,0:05:43.036
We need to identify how we can start to leverage

0:05:43.036,0:05:45.340
these types of things that are already happening

0:05:45.340,0:05:47.208
and start to design systems and services

0:05:47.208,0:05:49.091
that alleviate these problems.

0:05:49.091,0:05:52.336
Because right now, what people do[br]is they turn around and they say,

0:05:52.336,0:05:54.895
"Let's ban plastic bags. We'll give people paper

0:05:54.895,0:05:56.822
because that is better for the environment."

0:05:56.822,0:05:58.240
But if you're throwing it in the bin,

0:05:58.240,0:05:59.703
and your local landfill facility

0:05:59.703,0:06:02.124
is just a normal one,

0:06:02.124,0:06:07.030
then we're having what's called a double negative.

0:06:07.030,0:06:10.194
I'm a product designer by trade.

0:06:10.194,0:06:11.386
I then did social science.

0:06:11.386,0:06:12.803
And so I'm absolutely fascinated

0:06:12.803,0:06:14.802
by consumer goods and how the consumer goods

0:06:14.802,0:06:16.924
that we have kind of become immune to

0:06:16.924,0:06:18.162
that fill our lives

0:06:18.162,0:06:19.970
have an impact on the natural environment.

0:06:19.970,0:06:22.583
And these guys are, like, serial offenders,

0:06:22.583,0:06:24.446
and I'm pretty sure everyone in this room

0:06:24.446,0:06:26.076
has a refrigerator.

0:06:26.076,0:06:27.708
Now America has this amazing ability

0:06:27.708,0:06:29.717
to keep growing refrigerators.

0:06:29.717,0:06:31.695
In the last few years, they've grown one cubic foot

0:06:31.695,0:06:33.543
on average, the standard size

0:06:33.543,0:06:35.172
of a refrigerator.

0:06:35.172,0:06:37.631
And the problem is, they're so big now,

0:06:37.631,0:06:39.825
it's easier for us to buy more food

0:06:39.825,0:06:41.816
that we can't eat or find.

0:06:41.816,0:06:43.442
I mean, I have things at the back of my refrigerator

0:06:43.442,0:06:45.652
that have been there for years, all right?

0:06:45.652,0:06:48.288
And so what happens is, we waste more food.

0:06:48.288,0:06:51.633
And as I was just explaining,[br]food waste is a problem.

0:06:51.633,0:06:54.995
In fact, here in the U.S., 40 percent

0:06:54.995,0:06:57.570
of food purchased for the home is wasted.

0:06:57.570,0:07:01.905
Half of the world's produced food is wasted.

0:07:01.905,0:07:04.558
That's the latest U.N. stats. Up to half of the food.

0:07:04.558,0:07:09.095
It's insane. It's 1.3 billion tons of food per annum.

0:07:09.095,0:07:11.099
And I blame it on the refrigerator,

0:07:11.099,0:07:12.627
well, especially in Western cultures,

0:07:12.627,0:07:14.477
because it makes it easier.

0:07:14.477,0:07:16.869
I mean, there's a lot of complex[br]systems going on here.

0:07:16.869,0:07:18.807
I don't want to make it so simplistic.

0:07:18.807,0:07:21.757
But the refrigerator is a serious contributor to this,

0:07:21.757,0:07:23.615
and one of the features of it

0:07:23.615,0:07:25.577
is the crisper drawer.

0:07:25.577,0:07:27.078
You all got crisper drawers?

0:07:27.078,0:07:29.013
The drawer that you put your lettuces in?

0:07:29.013,0:07:30.933
Lettuces have a habit of going soggy

0:07:30.933,0:07:32.729
in the crisper drawers, don't they?

0:07:32.729,0:07:34.139
Yeah? Soggy lettuces?

0:07:34.139,0:07:36.139
In the U.K., this is such a problem

0:07:36.139,0:07:37.837
that there was a government report a few years ago

0:07:37.837,0:07:40.857
that actually said the second biggest offender

0:07:40.857,0:07:43.274
of wasted food in the U.K. is the soggy lettuce.

0:07:43.274,0:07:45.692
It was called the Soggy Lettuce Report.

0:07:45.692,0:07:47.905
Okay? So this is a problem, people.

0:07:47.905,0:07:50.015
These poor little lettuces are getting thrown out

0:07:50.015,0:07:51.887
left, right and center because the crisper drawers

0:07:51.887,0:07:54.646
are not designed to actually keep things crisp.

0:07:54.646,0:07:56.855
Okay. You need a tight environment.

0:07:56.855,0:07:58.985
You need, like, an airless environment

0:07:58.985,0:08:01.710
to prevent the degrading that[br]would happen naturally.

0:08:01.710,0:08:03.662
But the crisper drawers, they're just a drawer

0:08:03.662,0:08:05.370
with a slightly better seal.

0:08:05.370,0:08:07.457
Anyway, I'm clearly obsessed.

0:08:07.457,0:08:10.182
Don't ever invite me over because I'll just[br]start going through your refrigerator

0:08:10.182,0:08:11.700
and looking at all sorts of things like that.

0:08:11.700,0:08:13.619
But essentially, this is a big problem.

0:08:13.619,0:08:16.578
Because when we lose something[br]like the lettuce from the system,

0:08:16.578,0:08:20.114
not only do we have that impact [br]I just explained at the end of life,

0:08:20.114,0:08:22.770
but we actually have had to grow that lettuce.

0:08:22.770,0:08:26.041
The life cycle impact of that lettuce is astronomical.

0:08:26.041,0:08:27.459
We've had to clear land.

0:08:27.459,0:08:29.616
We've had to plant seeds, phosphorus,

0:08:29.616,0:08:31.740
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,

0:08:35.540,0:08:38.151
which makes it a far bigger environmental impact

0:08:38.151,0:08:41.835
than the loss of the energy from the fridge.

0:08:41.835,0:08:45.100
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.

0:08:48.281,0:08:49.932
We could start with the crisper drawer and the size.

0:08:49.932,0:08:51.684
For those of you in the room who do design fridges,

0:08:51.684,0:08:53.177
that would be great.

0:08:53.177,0:08:56.275
The problem is, imagine if we

0:08:56.275,0:08:58.925
actually started to reconsider [br]how we designed things.

0:08:58.925,0:09:02.532
So I look at the refrigerator as a sign of modernity,

0:09:02.532,0:09:04.630
but we actually haven't really changed the design

0:09:04.630,0:09:07.301
of them that much since the 1950s.

0:09:07.301,0:09:10.526
A little bit, but essentially they're still big boxes,

0:09:10.526,0:09:12.448
cold boxes that we store stuff in.

0:09:12.448,0:09:14.268
So imagine if we actually really started

0:09:14.268,0:09:17.013
to identify these problems and use that

0:09:17.013,0:09:20.950
as the foundation for finding innovative and elegant

0:09:20.950,0:09:24.303
design solutions that will solve those problems.

0:09:24.303,0:09:26.528
This is design-led system change,

0:09:26.528,0:09:30.238
design dictating the way in which the system

0:09:30.238,0:09:33.003
can be far more sustainable.

0:09:33.003,0:09:35.097
Forty percent food waste is a major problem.

0:09:35.097,0:09:39.162
Imagine if we designed fridges that halved that.

0:09:39.162,0:09:41.513
Another item that I find fascinating

0:09:41.513,0:09:42.766
is the electric tea kettle,

0:09:42.766,0:09:44.159
which I found out that

0:09:44.159,0:09:47.410
you don't do tea kettles in[br]this country, really, do you?

0:09:47.410,0:09:49.498
But that's really big in the U.K.

0:09:49.498,0:09:51.731
Ninety-seven percent of households

0:09:51.731,0:09:54.663
in the United Kingdom own an electric tea kettle.

0:09:54.663,0:09:56.270
So they're very popular.

0:09:56.270,0:09:59.070
And, I mean, if I were to work with a design firm

0:09:59.070,0:10:01.322
or a designer, and they were designing one of these,

0:10:01.322,0:10:02.561
and they wanted to do it eco,

0:10:02.561,0:10:04.479
they'd usually ask me two things.

0:10:04.479,0:10:07.523
They'd say, "Leyla, how do I[br]make it technically efficient?"

0:10:07.523,0:10:10.811
Because obviously energy's[br]a problem with this product.

0:10:10.811,0:10:13.876
Or, "How do I make it green materials?

0:10:13.876,0:10:16.786
How do I make the materials green

0:10:16.786,0:10:18.608
in the manufacturing?"

0:10:18.608,0:10:20.411
Would you ask me those questions?

0:10:20.411,0:10:23.210
They seem logical, right? Yeah.

0:10:23.210,0:10:25.769
Well I'd say, "You're looking at the wrong problems."

0:10:25.769,0:10:27.927
Because the problem is with use.

0:10:27.927,0:10:30.602
It's with how people use the product.

0:10:30.602,0:10:32.437
Sixty-five percent of Brits

0:10:32.437,0:10:34.781
admit to over-filling their kettle

0:10:34.781,0:10:37.367
when they only need one cup of tea.

0:10:37.367,0:10:40.110
All of this extra water that's being boiled

0:10:40.110,0:10:44.078
requires energy, and it's been calculated

0:10:44.078,0:10:47.116
that in one day of extra energy use

0:10:47.116,0:10:48.659
from boiling kettles

0:10:48.659,0:10:51.301
is enough to light all of the streetlights

0:10:51.301,0:10:53.924
in England for a night.

0:10:53.924,0:10:56.042
But this is the thing.

0:10:56.042,0:10:57.956
This is what I call a product-person failure.

0:10:57.956,0:11:00.702
But we've got a product-system failure[br]going on with these little guys,

0:11:00.702,0:11:03.612
and they're so ubiquitous, you [br]don't even notice they're there.

0:11:03.612,0:11:06.825
And this guy over here, though, he does.[br]He's named Simon.

0:11:06.825,0:11:10.132
Simon works for the national[br]electricity company in the U.K.

0:11:10.132,0:11:12.274
He has a very important job of monitoring

0:11:12.274,0:11:14.713
all of the electricity coming into the system

0:11:14.713,0:11:16.126
to make sure there is enough

0:11:16.126,0:11:18.054
so it powers everybody's homes.

0:11:18.054,0:11:20.158
He's also watching television.

0:11:20.158,0:11:22.131
The reason is because there's a unique

0:11:22.131,0:11:23.949
phenomenon that happens in the U.K.

0:11:23.949,0:11:27.987
the moment that very popular TV shows end.

0:11:27.987,0:11:30.225
The minute the ad break comes on,

0:11:30.225,0:11:32.062
this man has to rush

0:11:32.062,0:11:35.118
to buy nuclear power from France,

0:11:35.118,0:11:38.007
because everybody turns their kettles on

0:11:38.007,0:11:40.072
at the same time.

0:11:40.072,0:11:42.318
(Laughter)

0:11:42.318,0:11:48.303
1.5 million kettles, seriously problematic.

0:11:48.303,0:11:51.872
So imagine if you designed kettles,

0:11:51.872,0:11:54.612
you actually found a way to[br]solve these system failures,

0:11:54.612,0:11:57.277
because this is a huge amount of pressure

0:11:57.277,0:11:58.668
on the system,

0:11:58.668,0:12:02.104
just because the product hasn't[br]thought about the problem

0:12:02.104,0:12:03.967
that it's going to have when it exists in the world.

0:12:03.967,0:12:06.635
Now, I looked at a number of[br]kettles available on the market,

0:12:06.635,0:12:08.657
and found the minimum fill lines,

0:12:08.657,0:12:10.423
so the little piece of information that tells you

0:12:10.423,0:12:11.980
how much you need to put in there,

0:12:11.980,0:12:14.899
was between two and a five-and-a-half cups of water

0:12:14.899,0:12:18.332
just to make one cup of tea.

0:12:18.332,0:12:20.617
So this kettle here is an example of one where

0:12:20.617,0:12:23.153
it actually has two reservoirs.

0:12:23.155,0:12:25.340
One's a boiling chamber, and one's the water holder.

0:12:25.340,0:12:27.665
The user actually has to push that button

0:12:27.665,0:12:29.233
to get their hot water boiled,

0:12:29.233,0:12:30.999
which means, because we're all lazy,

0:12:30.999,0:12:32.841
you only fill exactly what you need.

0:12:32.841,0:12:35.165
And this is what I call behavior-changing products:

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

0:12:37.277,0:12:41.136
that intervene and solve these problems up front.

0:12:41.136,0:12:43.786
Now, this is a technology arena,

0:12:43.786,0:12:45.847
so obviously these things are quite popular,

0:12:45.847,0:12:47.815
but I think if we're going to keep

0:12:47.815,0:12:50.401
designing, buying and using and throwing out

0:12:50.401,0:12:52.313
these kinds of products at the rate we currently do,

0:12:52.313,0:12:54.562
which is astronomically high,

0:12:54.562,0:12:56.396
there are seven billion people

0:12:56.396,0:12:57.806
who live in the world right now.

0:12:57.806,0:12:59.993
There are six billion mobile phone subscriptions

0:12:59.993,0:13:03.659
as of last year.

0:13:03.659,0:13:07.181
Every single year, 1.5 billion mobile phones

0:13:07.181,0:13:08.434
roll off production lines,

0:13:08.434,0:13:10.505
and some companies report their production rate

0:13:10.505,0:13:12.855
as being greater than the human birth rate.

0:13:12.855,0:13:15.985
One hundred fifty-two million phones [br]were thrown out in the U.S. last year;

0:13:15.985,0:13:17.869
only 11 percent were recycled.

0:13:17.869,0:13:21.227
I'm from Australia. We have a[br]population of 22 million -- don't laugh --

0:13:21.227,0:13:24.300
and it's been reported that 22 million phones

0:13:24.300,0:13:26.907
are in people's drawers.

0:13:26.907,0:13:30.628
We need to find ways of solving[br]the problems around this,

0:13:30.628,0:13:33.525
because these things are so complicated.

0:13:33.525,0:13:36.831
They have so much locked up inside them.

0:13:36.831,0:13:40.594
Gold! Did you know that it's actually cheaper now

0:13:40.594,0:13:44.211
to get gold out of a ton of old mobile phones

0:13:44.211,0:13:47.439
than it is out of a ton of gold ore?

0:13:47.439,0:13:49.829
There's a number of highly complex and valuable

0:13:49.829,0:13:51.430
materials embodied inside these things,

0:13:51.430,0:13:53.888
so we need to find ways of encouraging disassembly,

0:13:53.888,0:13:56.052
because this is otherwise what happens.

0:13:56.052,0:13:57.726
This is a community in Ghana,

0:13:57.726,0:13:59.984
and e-waste is reported, or electronic waste

0:13:59.984,0:14:01.960
is reported by the U.N.

0:14:01.960,0:14:04.992
as being up to 50 million tons trafficked.

0:14:04.992,0:14:06.306
This is how they get the gold

0:14:06.306,0:14:07.840
and the other valuable materials out.

0:14:07.840,0:14:09.778
They burn the electronic waste

0:14:09.778,0:14:11.809
in open spaces.

0:14:11.809,0:14:14.944
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

0:14:17.491,0:14:19.320
of the choices that we make as designers,

0:14:19.320,0:14:21.790
as businesspeople, as consumers,

0:14:21.790,0:14:23.403
then these kinds of externalities happen,

0:14:23.403,0:14:25.705
and these are people's lives.

0:14:25.705,0:14:30.153
So we need to find smarter, more systems-based,

0:14:30.153,0:14:33.069
innovative solutions to these problems,

0:14:33.069,0:14:36.845
if we're going to start to live[br]sustainably within this world.

0:14:36.845,0:14:40.818
So imagine if, when you bought your mobile phone,

0:14:40.818,0:14:42.508
your new one because you replaced your old one --

0:14:42.508,0:14:44.883
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 —

0:14:46.987,0:14:49.972
so if we're going to keep this kind of expedient

0:14:49.972,0:14:52.210
mobile phone replacing, then we should

0:14:52.210,0:14:54.259
be looking at closing the loop on these systems.

0:14:54.259,0:14:56.170
The people who produce these phones,

0:14:56.170,0:14:57.999
and some of which I'm sure[br]are in the room right now,

0:14:57.999,0:15:00.677
could potentially look at doing what[br]we call closed-loop systems,

0:15:00.677,0:15:02.245
or product system services,

0:15:02.245,0:15:04.507
so identifying that there is a market demand

0:15:04.507,0:15:06.324
and that market demand's not going to go anywhere,

0:15:06.324,0:15:09.377
so you design the product to solve the problem.

0:15:09.377,0:15:11.716
Design for disassembly, design for light-weighting.

0:15:11.716,0:15:14.082
We heard some of those kinds of strategies

0:15:14.082,0:15:16.941
being used in the Tesla Motors car today.

0:15:16.941,0:15:19.053
These kinds of approaches are not hard,

0:15:19.053,0:15:20.911
but understanding the system

0:15:20.911,0:15:24.442
and then looking for viable, market-driven

0:15:24.442,0:15:26.425
consumer demand alternatives

0:15:26.425,0:15:28.976
is how we can start radically altering

0:15:28.976,0:15:30.783
the sustainability agenda,

0:15:30.783,0:15:32.654
because I hate to break it to you all:

0:15:32.654,0:15:35.457
Consumption is the biggest problem.

0:15:35.457,0:15:40.719
But design is one of the best solutions.

0:15:40.719,0:15:42.903
These kinds of products are everywhere.

0:15:42.903,0:15:45.571
By identifying alternative ways of doing things,

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

0:15:47.166,0:15:48.559
and I say actually start to innovate.

0:15:48.559,0:15:51.044
I'm sure everyone in this room is very innovative.

0:15:51.044,0:15:53.398
But in the regards to using sustainability

0:15:53.398,0:15:56.085
as a parameter, as a criteria

0:15:56.085,0:16:00.302
for fueling systems-based solutions,

0:16:00.302,0:16:03.207
because as I've just demonstrated[br]with these simple products,

0:16:03.207,0:16:06.598
they're participating in these major problems.

0:16:06.598,0:16:08.753
So we need to look across the entire life

0:16:08.753,0:16:10.375
of the things that we do.

0:16:10.375,0:16:12.090
If you just had paper or plastic --

0:16:12.090,0:16:14.854
obviously reusable is far more beneficial --

0:16:14.854,0:16:18.325
then the paper is worse,

0:16:18.325,0:16:20.371
and the paper is worse because it weighs

0:16:20.371,0:16:22.475
four to 10 times more than the plastic,

0:16:22.475,0:16:24.842
and when we actually compare,[br]from a life cycle perspective,

0:16:24.842,0:16:27.532
a kilo of plastic and a kilo of paper,

0:16:27.532,0:16:29.178
the paper is far better,

0:16:29.178,0:16:31.718
but the functionality of a plastic or a paper bag

0:16:31.718,0:16:35.333
to carry your groceries home is not [br]done with a kilo of each material.

0:16:35.333,0:16:37.302
It's done with a very small amount of plastic

0:16:37.302,0:16:38.995
and quite a lot more paper.

0:16:38.995,0:16:41.953
Because functionality defines environmental impact,

0:16:41.953,0:16:44.786
and I said earlier that the designers[br]always ask me for the eco-materials.

0:16:44.786,0:16:47.810
I say, there's only a few materials[br]that you should completely avoid.

0:16:47.831,0:16:49.730
The rest of them, it's all about application,

0:16:49.730,0:16:52.749
and at the end of the day, everything[br]we design and produce in the economy

0:16:52.749,0:16:55.089
or buy as consumers is done so for function.

0:16:55.089,0:16:57.206
We want something, therefore we buy it.

0:16:57.206,0:17:00.362
So breaking things back down and delivering

0:17:00.362,0:17:04.361
smartly, elegantly, sophisticated solutions

0:17:04.361,0:17:07.158
that take into consideration the entire system

0:17:07.158,0:17:10.253
and the entire life of the thing, everything,

0:17:10.253,0:17:13.089
all the way back to the extraction[br]through to the end of life,

0:17:13.089,0:17:15.891
we can start to actually find[br]really innovative solutions.

0:17:15.891,0:17:17.961
And I'll just leave you with one very quick thing

0:17:17.961,0:17:21.818
that a designer said to me recently [br]who I work with, a senior designer.

0:17:21.818,0:17:24.916
I said, "How come you're not doing [br]sustainability? I know you know this."

0:17:24.916,0:17:28.928
And he said, "Well, recently I pitched[br]a sustainability project to a client,

0:17:28.928,0:17:30.869
and turned and he said to me,

0:17:30.869,0:17:32.634
'I know it's going to cost less,

0:17:32.634,0:17:34.252
I know it's going to sell more,

0:17:34.252,0:17:38.725
but we're not pioneers, because[br]pioneers have arrows in their backs.'"

0:17:38.725,0:17:40.942
I think we've got a roomful of pioneers,

0:17:40.942,0:17:43.996
and I hope there are far more pioneers out there,[br]because we need to solve these problems.

0:17:44.027,0:17:45.434
Thank you.

0:17:45.434,0:17:50.210
(Applause)