WEBVTT 00:00:00.705 --> 00:00:03.355 So imagine, you're in the supermarket, 00:00:03.355 --> 00:00:04.936 you're buying some groceries, 00:00:04.936 --> 00:00:06.561 and you get given the option 00:00:06.561 --> 00:00:10.196 for a plastic or a paper shopping bag. 00:00:10.196 --> 00:00:12.386 Which one do you choose if you want to do 00:00:12.386 --> 00:00:14.802 the right thing by the environment? NOTE Paragraph 00:00:14.802 --> 00:00:16.683 Most people do pick the paper. 00:00:16.683 --> 00:00:17.911 Okay, let's think of why. 00:00:17.911 --> 00:00:19.604 It's brown to start with. 00:00:19.604 --> 00:00:21.080 Therefore, it must be good for the environment. 00:00:21.080 --> 00:00:23.598 It's biodegradable. It's reusable. 00:00:23.598 --> 00:00:25.548 In some cases, it's recyclable. 00:00:25.548 --> 00:00:28.342 So when people are looking at the plastic bag, 00:00:28.342 --> 00:00:31.272 it's likely they're thinking of something like this, 00:00:31.272 --> 00:00:33.655 which we all know is absolutely terrible, 00:00:33.655 --> 00:00:35.871 and we should be avoiding at all expenses 00:00:35.871 --> 00:00:38.226 these kinds of environmental damages. 00:00:38.226 --> 00:00:40.439 But people are often not thinking 00:00:40.439 --> 00:00:42.457 of something like this, 00:00:42.457 --> 00:00:45.035 which is the other end of the spectrum. 00:00:45.035 --> 00:00:47.802 When we produce materials, 00:00:47.802 --> 00:00:49.432 we need to extract them from the environment, 00:00:49.432 --> 00:00:53.336 and we need a whole bunch of environmental impacts. NOTE Paragraph 00:00:53.336 --> 00:00:55.512 You see, what happens is, when we need 00:00:55.512 --> 00:00:57.489 to make complex choices, 00:00:57.489 --> 00:00:59.910 us humans like really simple solutions, 00:00:59.910 --> 00:01:02.526 and so we often ask for simple solutions. 00:01:02.526 --> 00:01:03.999 And I work in design. 00:01:03.999 --> 00:01:05.510 I advise designers 00:01:05.510 --> 00:01:07.775 and innovators around sustainability, 00:01:07.775 --> 00:01:09.329 and everyone always says to me, "Oh Leyla, 00:01:09.329 --> 00:01:11.251 I just want the eco-materials." NOTE Paragraph 00:01:11.251 --> 00:01:13.535 And I say, "Well, that's very complex, 00:01:13.535 --> 00:01:15.364 and we'll have to spend four hours talking about 00:01:15.364 --> 00:01:17.279 what exactly an eco-material means, 00:01:17.279 --> 00:01:19.199 because everything at some point 00:01:19.199 --> 00:01:21.144 comes from nature, 00:01:21.144 --> 00:01:23.239 and it's how you use the material 00:01:23.239 --> 00:01:26.280 that dictates the environmental impact. 00:01:26.280 --> 00:01:28.069 So what happens is, we have to rely 00:01:28.069 --> 00:01:30.127 on some sort of intuitive framework 00:01:30.127 --> 00:01:31.702 when we make decisions. 00:01:31.702 --> 00:01:34.032 So I like to call that intuitive framework 00:01:34.032 --> 00:01:36.627 our environmental folklore. 00:01:36.627 --> 00:01:39.384 It's either the little voice at the back of your head, 00:01:39.384 --> 00:01:41.656 or it's that gut feeling you get 00:01:41.656 --> 00:01:43.236 when you've done the right thing, 00:01:43.236 --> 00:01:44.784 so when you've picked the paper bag 00:01:44.784 --> 00:01:47.899 or when you've bought a fuel-efficient car. 00:01:47.899 --> 00:01:50.858 And environmental folklore is a really important thing 00:01:50.858 --> 00:01:53.306 because we're trying to do the right thing. 00:01:53.306 --> 00:01:55.650 But how do we know if we're actually 00:01:55.650 --> 00:01:57.973 reducing the net environmental impacts 00:01:57.973 --> 00:02:01.314 that our actions as individuals and as professionals 00:02:01.314 --> 00:02:03.482 and as a society are actually having 00:02:03.482 --> 00:02:06.187 on the natural environment? NOTE Paragraph 00:02:06.187 --> 00:02:08.030 So the thing about environmental folklore is 00:02:08.030 --> 00:02:10.085 it tends to be based on our experiences, 00:02:10.085 --> 00:02:11.816 the things we've heard from other people. 00:02:11.816 --> 00:02:14.456 It doesn't tend to be based on any scientific framework. 00:02:14.456 --> 00:02:16.123 And this is really hard, because we live 00:02:16.123 --> 00:02:18.143 in incredibly complex systems. 00:02:18.143 --> 00:02:19.863 We have the human systems 00:02:19.863 --> 00:02:21.629 of how we communicate and interrelate 00:02:21.629 --> 00:02:24.144 and have our whole constructed society, 00:02:24.144 --> 00:02:28.037 We have the industrial systems, which is essentially the entire economy, 00:02:28.037 --> 00:02:29.890 and then all of that has to operate 00:02:29.890 --> 00:02:31.415 within the biggest system, 00:02:31.415 --> 00:02:33.507 and, I would argue, the most important, 00:02:33.507 --> 00:02:35.163 the ecosystem. 00:02:35.163 --> 00:02:37.025 And you see, the choices that we make 00:02:37.025 --> 00:02:38.458 as an individual, 00:02:38.458 --> 00:02:39.769 but the choices that we make 00:02:39.769 --> 00:02:41.928 in every single job that we have, 00:02:41.928 --> 00:02:44.548 no matter how high or low you are in the pecking order, 00:02:44.548 --> 00:02:47.599 has an impact on all of these systems. 00:02:47.599 --> 00:02:49.934 And the thing is that we have to find ways 00:02:49.934 --> 00:02:51.873 if we're actually going to address sustainability 00:02:51.873 --> 00:02:55.021 of interlocking those complex systems 00:02:55.021 --> 00:02:57.965 and making better choices that result 00:02:57.965 --> 00:03:00.549 in net environmental gains. 00:03:00.549 --> 00:03:02.197 What we need to do is we need to learn 00:03:02.197 --> 00:03:04.273 to do more with less. 00:03:04.273 --> 00:03:06.164 We have an increasing population, 00:03:06.164 --> 00:03:07.998 and everybody likes their mobile phones, 00:03:07.998 --> 00:03:10.113 especially in this situation here. 00:03:10.113 --> 00:03:14.168 So we need to find innovative ways of solving some of these problems that we face. NOTE Paragraph 00:03:14.168 --> 00:03:17.363 And that's where this process called life cycle thinking comes in. 00:03:17.366 --> 00:03:20.053 So essentially, everything that is created 00:03:20.053 --> 00:03:22.564 goes through a series of life cycle stages, 00:03:22.564 --> 00:03:24.426 and we use this scientific process 00:03:24.426 --> 00:03:26.150 called life cycle assessment, 00:03:26.150 --> 00:03:28.891 or in America, you guys say life cycle analysis, 00:03:28.891 --> 00:03:32.438 in order to have a clearer picture of how 00:03:32.438 --> 00:03:36.244 everything that we do in the technical part of those systems 00:03:36.244 --> 00:03:38.025 affects the natural environment. 00:03:38.025 --> 00:03:39.995 So we go all the way back 00:03:39.995 --> 00:03:42.198 to the extraction of raw materials, 00:03:42.198 --> 00:03:44.015 and then we look at manufacturing, 00:03:44.015 --> 00:03:45.874 we look at packaging and transportation, 00:03:45.874 --> 00:03:47.524 use, and end of life, 00:03:47.524 --> 00:03:50.441 and at every single one of these stages, 00:03:50.441 --> 00:03:51.960 the things that we do 00:03:51.960 --> 00:03:53.791 have an interaction with the natural environment, 00:03:53.791 --> 00:03:56.279 and we can monitor how that interaction 00:03:56.279 --> 00:04:00.009 is actually affecting the systems and services 00:04:00.009 --> 00:04:01.924 that make life on Earth possible. 00:04:01.924 --> 00:04:03.560 And through doing this, 00:04:03.560 --> 00:04:07.850 we've learned some absolutely fascinating things. 00:04:07.850 --> 00:04:09.563 And we've busted a bunch of myths. NOTE Paragraph 00:04:09.563 --> 00:04:14.551 So to start with, there's a word that's used a lot. 00:04:14.551 --> 00:04:16.284 It's used a lot in marketing, 00:04:16.284 --> 00:04:18.284 and it's used a lot, I think, in our conversation 00:04:18.284 --> 00:04:20.217 when we're talking about sustainability, 00:04:20.217 --> 00:04:22.663 and that's the word biodegradability. 00:04:22.663 --> 00:04:27.611 Now biodegradability is a material property; 00:04:27.611 --> 00:04:30.859 it is not a definition of environmental benefits. 00:04:30.859 --> 00:04:32.762 Allow me to explain. 00:04:32.762 --> 00:04:34.454 When something natural, 00:04:34.454 --> 00:04:36.415 something that's made from a cellulose fiber 00:04:36.415 --> 00:04:39.943 like a piece of bread, even, or any food waste, 00:04:39.943 --> 00:04:42.231 or even a piece of paper, 00:04:42.231 --> 00:04:44.045 when something natural ends up 00:04:44.045 --> 00:04:46.668 in the natural environment, it degrades normally. 00:04:46.668 --> 00:04:48.532 Its little carbon molecules that it stored up 00:04:48.532 --> 00:04:50.669 as it was growing are naturally released 00:04:50.669 --> 00:04:53.249 back into the atmosphere as carbon dioxide, 00:04:53.249 --> 00:04:55.223 but this is a net situation. 00:04:55.223 --> 00:04:56.588 Most natural things 00:04:56.588 --> 00:04:58.195 don't actually end up in nature. 00:04:58.195 --> 00:05:01.606 Most of the things, the waste that we produce, end up in landfill. 00:05:01.609 --> 00:05:04.008 Landfill is a different environment. 00:05:04.008 --> 00:05:06.451 In landfill, those same carbon molecules 00:05:06.451 --> 00:05:07.969 degrade in a different way, 00:05:07.969 --> 00:05:09.881 because a landfill is anaerobic. 00:05:09.881 --> 00:05:13.299 It's got no oxygen. It's tightly compacted and hot. 00:05:13.299 --> 00:05:15.647 Those same molecules, they become methane, 00:05:15.647 --> 00:05:18.565 and methane is a 25 times more potent 00:05:18.565 --> 00:05:21.418 greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide. 00:05:21.418 --> 00:05:24.171 So our old lettuces and products 00:05:24.171 --> 00:05:25.750 that we have thrown out that are made 00:05:25.750 --> 00:05:27.320 out of biodegradable materials, 00:05:27.320 --> 00:05:29.055 if they end up in landfill, 00:05:29.055 --> 00:05:31.081 contribute to climate change. 00:05:31.081 --> 00:05:32.473 You see, there are facilities now 00:05:32.473 --> 00:05:34.177 that can actually capture that methane 00:05:34.177 --> 00:05:35.615 and generate power, 00:05:35.615 --> 00:05:38.406 displacing the need for fossil fuel power, 00:05:38.406 --> 00:05:39.871 but we need to be smart about this. 00:05:39.871 --> 00:05:43.036 We need to identify how we can start to leverage 00:05:43.036 --> 00:05:45.340 these types of things that are already happening 00:05:45.340 --> 00:05:47.208 and start to design systems and services 00:05:47.208 --> 00:05:49.091 that alleviate these problems. 00:05:49.091 --> 00:05:52.336 Because right now, what people do is they turn around and they say, 00:05:52.336 --> 00:05:54.895 "Let's ban plastic bags. We'll give people paper 00:05:54.895 --> 00:05:56.822 because that is better for the environment." 00:05:56.822 --> 00:05:58.240 But if you're throwing it in the bin, 00:05:58.240 --> 00:05:59.703 and your local landfill facility 00:05:59.703 --> 00:06:02.124 is just a normal one, 00:06:02.124 --> 00:06:07.030 then we're having what's called a double negative. NOTE Paragraph 00:06:07.030 --> 00:06:10.194 I'm a product designer by trade. 00:06:10.194 --> 00:06:11.386 I then did social science. 00:06:11.386 --> 00:06:12.803 And so I'm absolutely fascinated 00:06:12.803 --> 00:06:14.802 by consumer goods and how the consumer goods 00:06:14.802 --> 00:06:16.924 that we have kind of become immune to 00:06:16.924 --> 00:06:18.162 that fill our lives 00:06:18.162 --> 00:06:19.970 have an impact on the natural environment. 00:06:19.970 --> 00:06:22.583 And these guys are, like, serial offenders, 00:06:22.583 --> 00:06:24.446 and I'm pretty sure everyone in this room 00:06:24.446 --> 00:06:26.076 has a refrigerator. 00:06:26.076 --> 00:06:27.708 Now America has this amazing ability 00:06:27.708 --> 00:06:29.717 to keep growing refrigerators. 00:06:29.717 --> 00:06:31.695 In the last few years, they've grown one cubic foot 00:06:31.695 --> 00:06:33.543 on average, the standard size 00:06:33.543 --> 00:06:35.172 of a refrigerator. 00:06:35.172 --> 00:06:37.631 And the problem is, they're so big now, 00:06:37.631 --> 00:06:39.825 it's easier for us to buy more food 00:06:39.825 --> 00:06:41.816 that we can't eat or find. 00:06:41.816 --> 00:06:43.442 I mean, I have things at the back of my refrigerator 00:06:43.442 --> 00:06:45.652 that have been there for years, all right? 00:06:45.652 --> 00:06:48.288 And so what happens is, we waste more food. 00:06:48.288 --> 00:06:51.633 And as I was just explaining, food waste is a problem. 00:06:51.633 --> 00:06:54.995 In fact, here in the U.S., 40 percent 00:06:54.995 --> 00:06:57.570 of food purchased for the home is wasted. 00:06:57.570 --> 00:07:01.905 Half of the world's produced food is wasted. 00:07:01.905 --> 00:07:04.558 That's the latest U.N. stats. Up to half of the food. 00:07:04.558 --> 00:07:09.095 It's insane. It's 1.3 billion tons of food per annum. 00:07:09.095 --> 00:07:11.099 And I blame it on the refrigerator, 00:07:11.099 --> 00:07:12.627 well, especially in Western cultures, 00:07:12.627 --> 00:07:14.477 because it makes it easier. 00:07:14.477 --> 00:07:16.869 I mean, there's a lot of complex systems going on here. 00:07:16.869 --> 00:07:18.807 I don't want to make it so simplistic. NOTE Paragraph 00:07:18.807 --> 00:07:21.757 But the refrigerator is a serious contributor to this, 00:07:21.757 --> 00:07:23.615 and one of the features of it 00:07:23.615 --> 00:07:25.577 is the crisper drawer. 00:07:25.577 --> 00:07:27.078 You all got crisper drawers? 00:07:27.078 --> 00:07:29.013 The drawer that you put your lettuces in? 00:07:29.013 --> 00:07:30.933 Lettuces have a habit of going soggy 00:07:30.933 --> 00:07:32.729 in the crisper drawers, don't they? 00:07:32.729 --> 00:07:34.139 Yeah? Soggy lettuces? 00:07:34.139 --> 00:07:36.139 In the U.K., this is such a problem 00:07:36.139 --> 00:07:37.837 that there was a government report a few years ago 00:07:37.837 --> 00:07:40.857 that actually said the second biggest offender 00:07:40.857 --> 00:07:43.274 of wasted food in the U.K. is the soggy lettuce. 00:07:43.274 --> 00:07:45.692 It was called the Soggy Lettuce Report. 00:07:45.692 --> 00:07:47.905 Okay? So this is a problem, people. 00:07:47.905 --> 00:07:50.015 These poor little lettuces are getting thrown out 00:07:50.015 --> 00:07:51.887 left, right and center because the crisper drawers 00:07:51.887 --> 00:07:54.646 are not designed to actually keep things crisp. 00:07:54.646 --> 00:07:56.855 Okay. You need a tight environment. 00:07:56.855 --> 00:07:58.985 You need, like, an airless environment 00:07:58.985 --> 00:08:01.710 to prevent the degrading that would happen naturally. 00:08:01.710 --> 00:08:03.662 But the crisper drawers, they're just a drawer 00:08:03.662 --> 00:08:05.370 with a slightly better seal. 00:08:05.370 --> 00:08:07.457 Anyway, I'm clearly obsessed. 00:08:07.457 --> 00:08:10.182 Don't ever invite me over because I'll just start going through your refrigerator 00:08:10.182 --> 00:08:11.700 and looking at all sorts of things like that. 00:08:11.700 --> 00:08:13.619 But essentially, this is a big problem. 00:08:13.619 --> 00:08:16.578 Because when we lose something like the lettuce from the system, 00:08:16.578 --> 00:08:20.114 not only do we have that impact I just explained at the end of life, 00:08:20.114 --> 00:08:22.770 but we actually have had to grow that lettuce. 00:08:22.770 --> 00:08:26.041 The life cycle impact of that lettuce is astronomical. 00:08:26.041 --> 00:08:27.459 We've had to clear land. 00:08:27.459 --> 00:08:29.616 We've had to plant seeds, phosphorus, 00:08:29.616 --> 00:08:31.740 fertilizers, nutrients, water, sunlight. 00:08:31.740 --> 00:08:33.828 All of the embodied impacts in that lettuce 00:08:33.828 --> 00:08:35.540 get lost from the system, 00:08:35.540 --> 00:08:38.151 which makes it a far bigger environmental impact 00:08:38.151 --> 00:08:41.835 than the loss of the energy from the fridge. 00:08:41.835 --> 00:08:45.100 So we need to design things like this far better 00:08:45.100 --> 00:08:48.281 if we're going to start addressing serious environmental problems. 00:08:48.281 --> 00:08:49.932 We could start with the crisper drawer and the size. 00:08:49.932 --> 00:08:51.684 For those of you in the room who do design fridges, 00:08:51.684 --> 00:08:53.177 that would be great. NOTE Paragraph 00:08:53.177 --> 00:08:56.275 The problem is, imagine if we 00:08:56.275 --> 00:08:58.925 actually started to reconsider how we designed things. 00:08:58.925 --> 00:09:02.532 So I look at the refrigerator as a sign of modernity, 00:09:02.532 --> 00:09:04.630 but we actually haven't really changed the design 00:09:04.630 --> 00:09:07.301 of them that much since the 1950s. 00:09:07.301 --> 00:09:10.526 A little bit, but essentially they're still big boxes, 00:09:10.526 --> 00:09:12.448 cold boxes that we store stuff in. 00:09:12.448 --> 00:09:14.268 So imagine if we actually really started 00:09:14.268 --> 00:09:17.013 to identify these problems and use that 00:09:17.013 --> 00:09:20.950 as the foundation for finding innovative and elegant 00:09:20.950 --> 00:09:24.303 design solutions that will solve those problems. 00:09:24.303 --> 00:09:26.528 This is design-led system change, 00:09:26.528 --> 00:09:30.238 design dictating the way in which the system 00:09:30.238 --> 00:09:33.003 can be far more sustainable. 00:09:33.003 --> 00:09:35.097 Forty percent food waste is a major problem. 00:09:35.097 --> 00:09:39.162 Imagine if we designed fridges that halved that. NOTE Paragraph 00:09:39.162 --> 00:09:41.513 Another item that I find fascinating 00:09:41.513 --> 00:09:42.766 is the electric tea kettle, 00:09:42.766 --> 00:09:44.159 which I found out that 00:09:44.159 --> 00:09:47.410 you don't do tea kettles in this country, really, do you? 00:09:47.410 --> 00:09:49.498 But that's really big in the U.K. 00:09:49.498 --> 00:09:51.731 Ninety-seven percent of households 00:09:51.731 --> 00:09:54.663 in the United Kingdom own an electric tea kettle. 00:09:54.663 --> 00:09:56.270 So they're very popular. 00:09:56.270 --> 00:09:59.070 And, I mean, if I were to work with a design firm 00:09:59.070 --> 00:10:01.322 or a designer, and they were designing one of these, 00:10:01.322 --> 00:10:02.561 and they wanted to do it eco, 00:10:02.561 --> 00:10:04.479 they'd usually ask me two things. 00:10:04.479 --> 00:10:07.523 They'd say, "Leyla, how do I make it technically efficient?" 00:10:07.523 --> 00:10:10.811 Because obviously energy's a problem with this product. 00:10:10.811 --> 00:10:13.876 Or, "How do I make it green materials? 00:10:13.876 --> 00:10:16.786 How do I make the materials green 00:10:16.786 --> 00:10:18.608 in the manufacturing?" 00:10:18.608 --> 00:10:20.411 Would you ask me those questions? 00:10:20.411 --> 00:10:23.210 They seem logical, right? Yeah. 00:10:23.210 --> 00:10:25.769 Well I'd say, "You're looking at the wrong problems." 00:10:25.769 --> 00:10:27.927 Because the problem is with use. 00:10:27.927 --> 00:10:30.602 It's with how people use the product. 00:10:30.602 --> 00:10:32.437 Sixty-five percent of Brits 00:10:32.437 --> 00:10:34.781 admit to over-filling their kettle 00:10:34.781 --> 00:10:37.367 when they only need one cup of tea. 00:10:37.367 --> 00:10:40.110 All of this extra water that's being boiled 00:10:40.110 --> 00:10:44.078 requires energy, and it's been calculated 00:10:44.078 --> 00:10:47.116 that in one day of extra energy use 00:10:47.116 --> 00:10:48.659 from boiling kettles 00:10:48.659 --> 00:10:51.301 is enough to light all of the streetlights 00:10:51.301 --> 00:10:53.924 in England for a night. NOTE Paragraph 00:10:53.924 --> 00:10:56.042 But this is the thing. 00:10:56.042 --> 00:10:57.956 This is what I call a product-person failure. 00:10:57.956 --> 00:11:00.702 But we've got a product-system failure going on with these little guys, 00:11:00.702 --> 00:11:03.612 and they're so ubiquitous, you don't even notice they're there. 00:11:03.612 --> 00:11:06.825 And this guy over here, though, he does. He's named Simon. 00:11:06.825 --> 00:11:10.132 Simon works for the national electricity company in the U.K. 00:11:10.132 --> 00:11:12.274 He has a very important job of monitoring 00:11:12.274 --> 00:11:14.713 all of the electricity coming into the system 00:11:14.713 --> 00:11:16.126 to make sure there is enough 00:11:16.126 --> 00:11:18.054 so it powers everybody's homes. 00:11:18.054 --> 00:11:20.158 He's also watching television. 00:11:20.158 --> 00:11:22.131 The reason is because there's a unique 00:11:22.131 --> 00:11:23.949 phenomenon that happens in the U.K. 00:11:23.949 --> 00:11:27.987 the moment that very popular TV shows end. 00:11:27.987 --> 00:11:30.225 The minute the ad break comes on, 00:11:30.225 --> 00:11:32.062 this man has to rush 00:11:32.062 --> 00:11:35.118 to buy nuclear power from France, 00:11:35.118 --> 00:11:38.007 because everybody turns their kettles on 00:11:38.007 --> 00:11:40.072 at the same time. 00:11:40.072 --> 00:11:42.318 (Laughter) 00:11:42.318 --> 00:11:48.303 1.5 million kettles, seriously problematic. 00:11:48.303 --> 00:11:51.872 So imagine if you designed kettles, 00:11:51.872 --> 00:11:54.612 you actually found a way to solve these system failures, 00:11:54.612 --> 00:11:57.277 because this is a huge amount of pressure 00:11:57.277 --> 00:11:58.668 on the system, 00:11:58.668 --> 00:12:02.104 just because the product hasn't thought about the problem 00:12:02.104 --> 00:12:03.967 that it's going to have when it exists in the world. 00:12:03.967 --> 00:12:06.635 Now, I looked at a number of kettles available on the market, 00:12:06.635 --> 00:12:08.657 and found the minimum fill lines, 00:12:08.657 --> 00:12:10.423 so the little piece of information that tells you 00:12:10.423 --> 00:12:11.980 how much you need to put in there, 00:12:11.980 --> 00:12:14.899 was between two and a five-and-a-half cups of water 00:12:14.899 --> 00:12:18.332 just to make one cup of tea. 00:12:18.332 --> 00:12:20.617 So this kettle here is an example of one where 00:12:20.617 --> 00:12:23.153 it actually has two reservoirs. 00:12:23.155 --> 00:12:25.340 One's a boiling chamber, and one's the water holder. 00:12:25.340 --> 00:12:27.665 The user actually has to push that button 00:12:27.665 --> 00:12:29.233 to get their hot water boiled, 00:12:29.233 --> 00:12:30.999 which means, because we're all lazy, 00:12:30.999 --> 00:12:32.841 you only fill exactly what you need. 00:12:32.841 --> 00:12:35.165 And this is what I call behavior-changing products: 00:12:35.165 --> 00:12:37.277 products, systems or services 00:12:37.277 --> 00:12:41.136 that intervene and solve these problems up front. NOTE Paragraph 00:12:41.136 --> 00:12:43.786 Now, this is a technology arena, 00:12:43.786 --> 00:12:45.847 so obviously these things are quite popular, 00:12:45.847 --> 00:12:47.815 but I think if we're going to keep 00:12:47.815 --> 00:12:50.401 designing, buying and using and throwing out 00:12:50.401 --> 00:12:52.313 these kinds of products at the rate we currently do, 00:12:52.313 --> 00:12:54.562 which is astronomically high, 00:12:54.562 --> 00:12:56.396 there are seven billion people 00:12:56.396 --> 00:12:57.806 who live in the world right now. 00:12:57.806 --> 00:12:59.993 There are six billion mobile phone subscriptions 00:12:59.993 --> 00:13:03.659 as of last year. 00:13:03.659 --> 00:13:07.181 Every single year, 1.5 billion mobile phones 00:13:07.181 --> 00:13:08.434 roll off production lines, 00:13:08.434 --> 00:13:10.505 and some companies report their production rate 00:13:10.505 --> 00:13:12.855 as being greater than the human birth rate. 00:13:12.855 --> 00:13:15.985 One hundred fifty-two million phones were thrown out in the U.S. last year; 00:13:15.985 --> 00:13:17.869 only 11 percent were recycled. 00:13:17.869 --> 00:13:21.227 I'm from Australia. We have a population of 22 million -- don't laugh -- 00:13:21.227 --> 00:13:24.300 and it's been reported that 22 million phones 00:13:24.300 --> 00:13:26.907 are in people's drawers. 00:13:26.907 --> 00:13:30.628 We need to find ways of solving the problems around this, 00:13:30.628 --> 00:13:33.525 because these things are so complicated. 00:13:33.525 --> 00:13:36.831 They have so much locked up inside them. 00:13:36.831 --> 00:13:40.594 Gold! Did you know that it's actually cheaper now 00:13:40.594 --> 00:13:44.211 to get gold out of a ton of old mobile phones 00:13:44.211 --> 00:13:47.439 than it is out of a ton of gold ore? 00:13:47.439 --> 00:13:49.829 There's a number of highly complex and valuable 00:13:49.829 --> 00:13:51.430 materials embodied inside these things, 00:13:51.430 --> 00:13:53.888 so we need to find ways of encouraging disassembly, 00:13:53.888 --> 00:13:56.052 because this is otherwise what happens. 00:13:56.052 --> 00:13:57.726 This is a community in Ghana, 00:13:57.726 --> 00:13:59.984 and e-waste is reported, or electronic waste 00:13:59.984 --> 00:14:01.960 is reported by the U.N. 00:14:01.960 --> 00:14:04.992 as being up to 50 million tons trafficked. 00:14:04.992 --> 00:14:06.306 This is how they get the gold 00:14:06.306 --> 00:14:07.840 and the other valuable materials out. 00:14:07.840 --> 00:14:09.778 They burn the electronic waste 00:14:09.778 --> 00:14:11.809 in open spaces. 00:14:11.809 --> 00:14:14.944 These are communities, and this is happening all over the world. 00:14:14.944 --> 00:14:17.491 And because we don't see the ramifications 00:14:17.491 --> 00:14:19.320 of the choices that we make as designers, 00:14:19.320 --> 00:14:21.790 as businesspeople, as consumers, 00:14:21.790 --> 00:14:23.403 then these kinds of externalities happen, 00:14:23.403 --> 00:14:25.705 and these are people's lives. 00:14:25.705 --> 00:14:30.153 So we need to find smarter, more systems-based, 00:14:30.153 --> 00:14:33.069 innovative solutions to these problems, 00:14:33.069 --> 00:14:36.845 if we're going to start to live sustainably within this world. NOTE Paragraph 00:14:36.845 --> 00:14:40.818 So imagine if, when you bought your mobile phone, 00:14:40.818 --> 00:14:42.508 your new one because you replaced your old one -- 00:14:42.508 --> 00:14:44.883 after 15 to 18 months is the average time 00:14:44.883 --> 00:14:46.987 that people replace their phones, by the way — 00:14:46.987 --> 00:14:49.972 so if we're going to keep this kind of expedient 00:14:49.972 --> 00:14:52.210 mobile phone replacing, then we should 00:14:52.210 --> 00:14:54.259 be looking at closing the loop on these systems. 00:14:54.259 --> 00:14:56.170 The people who produce these phones, 00:14:56.170 --> 00:14:57.999 and some of which I'm sure are in the room right now, 00:14:57.999 --> 00:15:00.677 could potentially look at doing what we call closed-loop systems, 00:15:00.677 --> 00:15:02.245 or product system services, 00:15:02.245 --> 00:15:04.507 so identifying that there is a market demand 00:15:04.507 --> 00:15:06.324 and that market demand's not going to go anywhere, 00:15:06.324 --> 00:15:09.377 so you design the product to solve the problem. 00:15:09.377 --> 00:15:11.716 Design for disassembly, design for light-weighting. 00:15:11.716 --> 00:15:14.082 We heard some of those kinds of strategies 00:15:14.082 --> 00:15:16.941 being used in the Tesla Motors car today. 00:15:16.941 --> 00:15:19.053 These kinds of approaches are not hard, 00:15:19.053 --> 00:15:20.911 but understanding the system 00:15:20.911 --> 00:15:24.442 and then looking for viable, market-driven 00:15:24.442 --> 00:15:26.425 consumer demand alternatives 00:15:26.425 --> 00:15:28.976 is how we can start radically altering 00:15:28.976 --> 00:15:30.783 the sustainability agenda, 00:15:30.783 --> 00:15:32.654 because I hate to break it to you all: 00:15:32.654 --> 00:15:35.457 Consumption is the biggest problem. 00:15:35.457 --> 00:15:40.719 But design is one of the best solutions. NOTE Paragraph 00:15:40.719 --> 00:15:42.903 These kinds of products are everywhere. 00:15:42.903 --> 00:15:45.571 By identifying alternative ways of doing things, 00:15:45.571 --> 00:15:47.166 we can actually start to innovate, 00:15:47.166 --> 00:15:48.559 and I say actually start to innovate. 00:15:48.559 --> 00:15:51.044 I'm sure everyone in this room is very innovative. 00:15:51.044 --> 00:15:53.398 But in the regards to using sustainability 00:15:53.398 --> 00:15:56.085 as a parameter, as a criteria 00:15:56.085 --> 00:16:00.302 for fueling systems-based solutions, 00:16:00.302 --> 00:16:03.207 because as I've just demonstrated with these simple products, 00:16:03.207 --> 00:16:06.598 they're participating in these major problems. 00:16:06.598 --> 00:16:08.753 So we need to look across the entire life 00:16:08.753 --> 00:16:10.375 of the things that we do. NOTE Paragraph 00:16:10.375 --> 00:16:12.090 If you just had paper or plastic -- 00:16:12.090 --> 00:16:14.854 obviously reusable is far more beneficial -- 00:16:14.854 --> 00:16:18.325 then the paper is worse, 00:16:18.325 --> 00:16:20.371 and the paper is worse because it weighs 00:16:20.371 --> 00:16:22.475 four to 10 times more than the plastic, 00:16:22.475 --> 00:16:24.842 and when we actually compare, from a life cycle perspective, 00:16:24.842 --> 00:16:27.532 a kilo of plastic and a kilo of paper, 00:16:27.532 --> 00:16:29.178 the paper is far better, 00:16:29.178 --> 00:16:31.718 but the functionality of a plastic or a paper bag 00:16:31.718 --> 00:16:35.333 to carry your groceries home is not done with a kilo of each material. 00:16:35.333 --> 00:16:37.302 It's done with a very small amount of plastic 00:16:37.302 --> 00:16:38.995 and quite a lot more paper. 00:16:38.995 --> 00:16:41.953 Because functionality defines environmental impact, 00:16:41.953 --> 00:16:44.786 and I said earlier that the designers always ask me for the eco-materials. 00:16:44.786 --> 00:16:47.810 I say, there's only a few materials that you should completely avoid. 00:16:47.831 --> 00:16:49.730 The rest of them, it's all about application, 00:16:49.730 --> 00:16:52.749 and at the end of the day, everything we design and produce in the economy 00:16:52.749 --> 00:16:55.089 or buy as consumers is done so for function. 00:16:55.089 --> 00:16:57.206 We want something, therefore we buy it. 00:16:57.206 --> 00:17:00.362 So breaking things back down and delivering 00:17:00.362 --> 00:17:04.361 smartly, elegantly, sophisticated solutions 00:17:04.361 --> 00:17:07.158 that take into consideration the entire system 00:17:07.158 --> 00:17:10.253 and the entire life of the thing, everything, 00:17:10.253 --> 00:17:13.089 all the way back to the extraction through to the end of life, 00:17:13.089 --> 00:17:15.891 we can start to actually find really innovative solutions. NOTE Paragraph 00:17:15.891 --> 00:17:17.961 And I'll just leave you with one very quick thing 00:17:17.961 --> 00:17:21.818 that a designer said to me recently who I work with, a senior designer. 00:17:21.818 --> 00:17:24.916 I said, "How come you're not doing sustainability? I know you know this." 00:17:24.916 --> 00:17:28.928 And he said, "Well, recently I pitched a sustainability project to a client, 00:17:28.928 --> 00:17:30.869 and turned and he said to me, 00:17:30.869 --> 00:17:32.634 'I know it's going to cost less, 00:17:32.634 --> 00:17:34.252 I know it's going to sell more, 00:17:34.252 --> 00:17:38.725 but we're not pioneers, because pioneers have arrows in their backs.'" NOTE Paragraph 00:17:38.725 --> 00:17:40.942 I think we've got a roomful of pioneers, 00:17:40.942 --> 00:17:43.996 and I hope there are far more pioneers out there, because we need to solve these problems. NOTE Paragraph 00:17:44.027 --> 00:17:45.434 Thank you. NOTE Paragraph 00:17:45.434 --> 00:17:50.210 (Applause)