- Adam Aston, Guardian Professional
In an effort to produce goods that are holistically better for individuals, businesses, and the environment, Adam Aston's article on the Challenges Behind Green Materials highlights some prime examples of U.S. companies (Patagonia, Ford, Du Pont, to name a few) who despite having encountered production and manufacturing challenges on many levels, continued to remain driven in their motive of finding a better, more eco-friendly alternative. In doing so they have seen tremendously successful results. Listed below are some key points from Aston that would be beneficial for any industry to know about if considering switching from existing conventional materials and experimenting with new and sustainable ones.
- Sales of Green Materials are Surging - committing to lower-impact practices is resulting in some major positive shifts for big industries such as construction, chemical, and automobile. Design engineers are enabling business revenue to rise.
- Sustained Internal Commitment is Vital - investing the time into R&D resulted in big finds and rewards for US automaker Ford. Key words: investing time. Don't let budgets be a set back. As long as there is a core internal group of dedicated team members all working towards the same passion-filled goal, solutions can become tangible and golden!
- To Cultivate and Scale Production of New Materials, Suppliers Will Need Additional, Outside Help - collaborating with third-tier suppliers may be required to streamline the supply chain process of "recovering, testing, and standardizing the [sustainable] materials."
- Patient, Innovative Collaboration with Vendors Early On - focus on all stages and parts of a product's life cycle at once; alterations in logistics flows may need to be made.
- Resist the Bias Toward Replacing Old with Green - "most clients think that sustainable design is simply a case of switching existing material for a greener option...It's critical to understand that the stuff from which a product is made often accounts for only a tiny fraction of the impact of the use-phase of a product's lifetime...Start with more fundamental product design" (Chris Sherwin, head of sustainability at Seymourpowell).
While the conversion process of sourcing and developing sustainable materials into usable, marketable products is anything but effortless and straightforward, being able to learn from the trials and tribulations of others, who have experienced such challenges, enables the progression of green outcomes to be much more achievable.
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