During my first week back at Uni I was told that my new project was to design functional and sustainable seating for the Heart space; which is located in the CSAD building at Cardiff Metropolitan University. Due to my product design back ground I was very excited to create a product which not only was sustainable but also fit with the aesthetic of the environment it was being placed in. Alongside designing the product I also had to redesign the space it was placed in which was also incredibly exciting.
Sustainability = ‘is the avoidance of the depletion of natural resources in order to maintain an ecological balance’
Before we started to design our products we had a lecture on sustainability, the extensive use of natural resources (e.g. fossil fuels ) is causing devastation to our planet. These resources are all finite which means that they are limited resources and one day will run out, therefore we need to increase the usage of infinite energy sources such as hydroelectric dams, wind turbines and solar energy in order to reduce the damage done to our eco systems and environment. Designers all around the world are trying to reduce their carbon footprint whilst producing products for every day use, the ability for a product to be recycled, reused or repaired is incredibly important. By ensuring that this happens we are eliminating the ‘end of life – landfill’ section of The life cycle analysis.
The product I produced had to come from a sustainable source. I am incredibly interested in reusing recycled HDPE ( High density Polyethylene) this is a thermoplastic material which comes from plastic milk, shampoo and drinks bottles. Due to its flexible intermolecular connections the material can be heated and moulded as many times as it wants, therefore is a perfect material to create new sustainable products with. As the product already exists and can be reused I personally think that it is more suitable to use the reusable plastic to create a new product rather than creating more plastic from the burning of fossil fuels.
Charlotte's blog 