Sustainable design is such a massive interest of mine that I thought I would include some examples of this from one of my favourite books, which is named in the title. It deals with all sorts of stuff, substraits, ink choices etc for all different uses. From huge vinyl banners to wine bottle labels. It was after reading this book that I went and sourced out paper made with seeds for my business cards.

Some examples of my favourite pieces of sustainable design. 'Boxed' water company has switched out using plastic bottles entirely in favour of using tetra pak cartons, which are far easier and more widely recycled and also are shipped flat packed, so they can be shipped in ridiculously larger quantities than water bottles.

Pangea Organics are a cosmetics company that specialises in both organic products and organic packaging. It is made from newspaper with no dyes and no glues and the packaging can be soaked in water before being planted in your garden and will grow into plants.



For me, sustainability is the idea of something having more than one life. This parcel below, for example, contains a t-shirt and is sent out to the buyer, they pack itself then can be transformed into a coat hanger to hang the t-shirt on, ensuring that the packaging doesn't get simply thrown away. Creating a second use for something increases it's lifespan.



Lightbulb packaging that is the lampshade.




I find this to be absolutely brilliant, a re-imagining of McDonald's food packaging. Food packaging is seen as one of the biggest problem in the packaging waste dilema. Instead of everything being wrapped seperately, making more packaging to be discarded, this new pack, made entirely from recyclable materials, includes the whole meal in one handy, easily disposed of package.



Banana leaves had been used in a wide variety of cultures for hundreds of years, but they have started to become more widely used in the western culture in recent years as take away food packaging. They are 100% natural and biodegradable, in abundance, their waxy texture allows them to hold the greasiest of food with no mess, and the natural seams in the leaf allows them to be torn open with utmost ease.



The 60 day bag does exactly what it says on the tin really.

Since the fabric is made out of the industrial waste from flax fibre, it doesn't use any extra natural resources and requires little energy to produce. The technology and materials enable the bags to decompose naturally approximately 60 days after being discarded.

This is a major breakthrough because it means they don't need expensive recycling or disposal in landfills. They are sturdy enough to be used repeatedly, but break down quickly when thrown out. (www.treehugger.com)

Designed by Studio Plastac. This is quite a nice idea of sustainability in the way that the packaging is turned into something else rather than just thrown away. While it doesn't serve another purpose in it's second form, it is kept rather than just thrown away.

Not sure who this is by but found it while stumbling. I thought it was a lovely little poster with a vintage feel.

Found here. I love the ideas shown here of reusing objects for a purpose that they weren't made for. Using the spring of a peg to create practical chop sticks, a paint brush making a doorjam. It's just very clever. There are more examples on the website linked to earlier on.

'Andrew Seunghyun Kim’s new concept for Coke bottles aims to transform the structure of the product to cubic bottled drinks, allowing a significant gain in storage space and efficiency for recycling. The cap is 25% slimmer than the current 20oz bottle, and 27% more efficient because of its drastically reduced footprint. The bottle is made of 100% sugar cane byproducts, and it collapses 66% smaller than its original size.'

I absolutely love this, it's a shame that it's only a concept so far. The benefits listed in the design boards make so much sense and I think the square format bottle is very visually pleasing. I like it a lot. Every aspect of the design has been considered.

name of design : din-ink
design by : andrea cingoli + paolo emilio bellisario + cristian cellini + francesca fontana from italy

designer's own words:
Turn your favourite office tool from your desk in a common cutlery...this is din-ink. A set of pen caps, including a fork-cap, a knife-cap and a spoon-cap, that replaces the normal pen cap during lunch time! All caps are made by annually renewable resources, like natural starch and fibres, to be 100% biodegradable and atoxic, warranting the best alimentary use. Dispensing each set in a compostable packaging the whole set is designed to respect the environment. Now give your office ballpoint pen a good excuse to be gnawed by your teeth: use them for din-ink.

I don't think I need to say anymore, do I? Hurrah sustainability!

This is one of the best pieces of sustainable design that I've come across so far. Honey in a plant pot, you grow a plant in the plant pot when you're done for a flower for the bees to make more honey! Clever, clever.

it's so simple and re-usable and just....smart.