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With mirrors that work as fitness instructors, air purifiers that look like furniture pieces, televisions that are disguised as paintings, we are truly living in an age of technological wonders! Brands and companies are coming out with more and more high-tech hardware products that go into our homes than ever before. Though these products are exciting, we need to be constantly mindful of our consumption as e-waste is becoming more prolific.
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We need to get one thing clear: hardware design as it is currently is not really sustainable despite the greenwashing campaigns on using recycled materials. The truth is, as long as we keep using hardware products like consumables that need to be upgraded every couple of years, it won’t really be “sustainable”.
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To be able to address the environmental impact in the hardware product market, we must recognize the three factors that make a product as sustainable as possible: product longevity, overall material usage and utility.
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1. Design and build products that last
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Hardware companies can contribute towards sustainability efforts through thoughtful design research and implementations. Contrary to the assumption, a product built to last does not necessarily mean the development process needs to be more expensive. Setting up requirements and clear goals in the beginning allows designers to account for the sustainability needs. Through taking a different approach to build the product, designers and engineers can work towards making a long-lasting product cost efficient. One strategy is to think about how the product can be taken apart for fixing and recycling. Allowing users to easily open up a product to replace broken components is a great way to increase product longevity.
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2. Choose your materials wisely
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A product’s materiality also plays an important role in its environmental impact. Hardware products designed to last can take just as long in a landfill to decay, so it is important to think about the material afterlife. Mono-material is the best for sustainable design, but it is nearly impossible in complex hardware because of all the different components. Fortunately, there are some things that we can think about and work on:
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- Do we really need to mold the two materials together?
- Overall, it is best to keep materials as singular as possible. Products that have multiple materials blended together are incredibly difficult to recycle. Being able to easily take products apart makes the recycling process easier. When designing, consider if it is actually a useful product feature, or just an aesthetic driven choice.
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- Do we need the product to be this big?
- As technology gets better, faster, smaller, and more efficient, we can get the same functionality in a much smaller package. A larger product requires more physical materials to manufacture, and more energy to transport, thereby generating more wastes.
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- Can we reduce the number of product components?
- Minimizing product components can reduce potential waste. There are many different ways we can decrease the complexity of a product. These constraints can actually result in very creative solutions from designers. Some questions we might ask ourselves might be: Does the logo / instructions / disclaimers really need to be a separate sticker? Can it be an in mold feature? Can we use additive manufacturing for certain parts?
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3. Build a product that matters
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Along with consciously planning the overall build and creating something that lasts, we need to make sure that whatever hardware we make is going to create significant impact and value for the users. Designers and researchers often work together to figure out how the product will be used, and where they can have the most impact. As the process of product development and manufacturing inherently consumes capital and natural resources, it is important to determine whether the value brought by the proposed product is worth the production and environmental costs. Moreover, the purpose of the product needs to be critically examined to see if it is actively solving a worthy problem. By ensuring that a product effectively fulfills an existing need, we can avoid creating unnecessary wastes and efficiently capture the market.
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Conscious consumption as sustainability activism
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On the consumer side, the most effective way to engage in sustainability is to consciously purchase and support long-lasting, quality products. One well designed blender could cost twice as much as two cheap blenders, but it will most likely outlive both of them, thereby saving money and material consumption in the long run. A great product offers maximum utility out of its lifespan, so that consumers don’t need to discard quickly and buy another. Ideally, we could deconstruct our fast consumption habit, which is perpetuated by the increased accessibility of cost efficient yet quickly obsolete products. Nevertheless, we do live in a capitalist society and are accustomed to the many conveniences brought by the system. What we can do as the average consumer however, is to be conscious of a product’s potential societal and environmental impact and selectively purchase items based on long-term sustainability.
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On the product creator side, with younger generations getting more proactive in contributing to sustainability efforts through adjusting personal lifestyle, there is a great market now for long-lasting, quality products. Creating a product that carefully considers its longevity, material usage and utility will immensely help establish a high-quality brand identity. At the same time, many private equity and venture capital firms are implementing ESG screening as a common practice, which gives product start-ups that invest in sustainable design, engineering and manufacturing a competitive edge in fundraising. Product creators today have everything to gain from building a product that is as sustainable as possible. The greatest incentives are not just brand recognition and capital gain, but also raising the industry sustainability standard and truly paving the way for a greener future.
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If you have any questions about your hard-tech product, please feel free to reach out to our team in our contact sheet, or at contact@spatialdynamics.design. Talk soon!
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