Environmental design

Environmental and social impact

Making products uses resources, including the materials used in the product and the energy needed to make it. Using these resources has an impact on the environment and society.

The designer of electronic products should consider a number of factors in order to reduce environmental impact, including:
the material used to make the product
the life of the product
disposal: what happens to the product at the end of its life?

Materials
Reducing the use of materials

While the choice of electrical components is decided by what the circuit needs to do, the designer can choose the materials for the enclosure.

One way to reduce impact on the environment is to use less material in the enclosure. This might mean asking questions about what materials are needed or whether the enclosure could be made smaller (or thinner) and still do the same job. It could also mean using an alternative material with better properties, so that not as much of the material is required.

Using renewable resources

Some materials have less impact on the environment than others. A renewable resource is one which can be replaced naturally in a relatively short time. Wood from managed softwood forests is renewable, because these trees can be regrown in a few years.

In comparison, most plastics are made from oil. Oil is a non-renewable resource, meaning that there is only a certain amount of oil available and as it is used it cannot be replaced. Using non-renewable resources means that they will eventually run out.

By-products

Most manufacturing processes produce various kinds of waste as a by-product. Sometimes these by-products contain toxic substances harmful to people or the environment.

When choosing the materials to use, the designer should consider how they will be made and any by-products that these processes might produce.

The life of the product

Most products are only expected to last for so long before they stop working, are worn out or are thrown away. How long a product will last is an important design consideration.

The longer the product's life, the fewer new materials will be needed for replacements. However, a longer life also means that the manufacturer will sell fewer replacement products.

The life of a product can be extended by using materials with better properties: eg by using stronger materials or materials that resist corrosion. Another way is through design that allows product life to be extended by maintenance.

Design for maintenance

Maintenance means any activity that allows the product to have a longer life: it can include anything from repairing worn-out parts to replacing batteries.

Designing a product to allow maintenance means including features that allow parts to be easily replaced, such as access panels and standard screws.

Alternatively, the product might be designed to be made from a series of standard modules, meaning that if something went wrong, only the faulty module would have to be repaired or replaced.

From the above research my own code of environmental considerations have been listed, these can be seen below.

My own environmental considerations:

• Is the product recyclable?- it should be 
• Matt stocks are more frequently used as less ink is needed
• When producing mass scale inks should be considered, vegetable ink are a strong solution. 
• Shelf life-make sure if the product is meant to last it will-reducing the amount of times the consumer needs to by the product
• Consider the brands/companies environmental ethos before developing work for them 
• Consider the carbon footprint of each product made
• Any poor design decisions in which result in pollution are my own fault, I am responsive for my own environmental design