Is the role of an eco conscious designer solely limited to the products they use and provide for clients?
Eco design begins with the cultural understanding of a product and its context?
Bringing awareness into our business practice of ways of living in respect to others, other environments, businesses, cultures..etc is a key component in operating a sustainable business. Although profit is major, creating a platform of sustainable practice is no longer an option in today's business environment. Wal-Mart once reviled for its business practices involving employee treatment and resource usage, is now leading the industry in implementing energy reduction methods. Scale has a lot to do with Wal-Mart's new position. Simply changing all their lighting to compact fluorescence bulbs has saved them millions and garnered them new respect for leading the way. What brought about this transformation? Public pressure and economic pressures related to rising energy costs.
Eco conscious design is more a question of either choosing a reactionary business strategy or being a leader in the business world by creating a viable business model demonstrating the effectiveness of sustainability and eco consciousness that does not value profit over people.
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