Sustainable Product Design

Right, sustainable design.

It’s everywhere, isn’t it? But sometimes it feels like wading through treacle of buzzwords and headline-grabbing claims that don’t really tell you anything useful. You see these lovely marketing bits, all designed to make us feel good, but you’re left thinking, “Yeah, but what is it that actually makes something sustainable?” At Mouse, we love unpacking what make a product sustainable, as it is a great design challenge to solve and ultimately the process creates a better product.  This isn’t about ticking a green box; it’s about properly understanding how our designs affect the planet and doing our best to minimise the impact, while we blend this with creating market leading products.

Cutting Through the Noise: What Sustainable Design Really Looks Like

So, what’s is sustainable design? For us, it’s about taking a step back and looking at the whole picture. If we’re talking about a physical product, there’s this core idea called Life Cycle Analysis (LCA). Basically, it’s about following a product from its very beginning – those first sketches – right through to when it’s is no longer needed at the end of its life.  LCA’s have been used in product design for many years and the tools today are getting better and better to help us understand the competing impacts of product design decisions.

But the LCA isn’t the only tool to consider:

Circular Product Design.

This is where you’re thinking about what happens at the end of a product’s life – Which can be split into 4 key areas.

1. Design for Reuse
2. Design for Refurbishment,
3. Design for Remanufacture
4. Design for Recyclability.

Check out this PDF for more information on how to create a circular product design framework circular product design framework

Resource Efficiency.

How can we use less stuff and less energy to make the product in the first place? And how can we design the product so it is as efficient as possible?

Durability and Longevity.

In this world of “buy it now, bin it tomorrow,” the idea of things lasting a good long time can feel a bit old-fashioned. But honestly, durability and longevity are probably some of the biggest wins for sustainability. Think about it: if something lasts ages, you don’t need to replace it as often. Take a simple t-shirt, for example. If you invest in one that’s really well-made, uses decent materials, and is designed to last ten years, it might take a bit more energy to make initially. But if that one shirt stops you buying ten cheap and cheerful ones that fall apart after a few washes, the overall environmental impact of that single, long-lasting tee is likely to be way lower. It’s about us, as consumers and designers, making more thoughtful choices for the long haul – the opposite of fast fashion, really.

Ethical Sourcing.

Where our materials come from has a massive impact, both socially and environmentally. If you’re designing something complex, you’ll have loads of different materials from all over the place, and you’ve got to consider the journey of each one.

Right, Enough Theory – Let’s Get Practical About Low-Impact Design

So, how do we actually do this? Here are a few things we keep in mind at Mouse:

1. ‘The Why’, Why is this product being designed? The first question has to be: why does this product need to exist? What problem are weactually solving? If you can nail that down and design something that truly meets a core need efficiently and with minimal impact, you’re in a strong starting position.
2. Materials Matter. Making Smart Choices.Where the raw materials come from is an important consideration, it affects both the planet and people. But also, how a material is made can have a big impact on its carbon footprint.  There are some helpful calculators online to help look into lower impact materials.  One great project that looked at changing the raw materials used in manufacturing is seen in the PPECO Face Visor, which we designed to be plastic free and fully recyclable through current paper recycling infrastructure. We also got Lancaster University to complete an independent LCA of the face visor and found we had achieved an reduction of 86% Carbon footprint (CO2e) compared to competitive products made from plastic.  PPECO
3. Designing for Longevity and Repair.This is really important and requires a step change in the way we think about product and how we interact with them.  Making it once and making it last is often a sustainable choice.  One great example of how we applied this thinking into our client work too, is the design of the ProMatch Wheelchair Flight Case. Pro Match We designed and manufactured the flight case to be modular. It had to be tough to protect the wheelchairs during travel, but we also knew bits might get damaged over time in airport baggage handling.  We designed it so each individual panel could be replaced. We even brought this repair service inhouse to ensure that we could deliver the ongoing repair needed to keep these product performing.
4. Don’t Be Wasteful: Minimising Waste and Thinking Circular.If you’re designing something with fabric, try to cut the patterns in a way that leaves as little scrap as possible. Could those scraps become something else? We’re always looking for ways to create closed loops. A great example of this is the work we completed for Resolve Equipment, where all the product created aimed to use as much waste material from the construction industry as possible  (up to 75% repurposed waste in some product lines); Resolve Equipment
5. Power Down: Energy-Conscious Design.If your product needs electricity, make it efficient, and design it to use as little energy as possible to do its job. And if it makes sense, can you even think about incorporating renewable energy.  We work with several great electrical engineers who guide our clients on all aspects of electrical design including efficiency.
6. Think About People Too: Social Impact.This is crucial. Where is your product being made? Are the people making it being treated fairly and working in safe conditions? Are your materials sourced ethically? And then there’s the product itself – is it designed so everyone can use it?

Spotting the Greenwash:

There’s a lot of noise around sustainability right now, and some of it is pure greenwashing.  The UK are implementing marketing rules around greenwashing, which is great but its important to develop a critical eye and learn to smell when marketing claims don’t stack up to the actual sustainability of a product. As designers, we need to be the ones asking the tough questions at every stage, making sure that the decisions we make early on are well considered.  Around 80% of a products environmental impact is locked in during the design stage.  Thats a huge responsibility to get right and also a huge opportunity to make a positive change.

Sustainability isn’t usually about one magic metric like a carbon footprint or being totally plastic-free. It’s about making informed decisions along the design and development journey. Everything we create will have some kind of impact. It’s about understanding that impact, how it ripples out into the world, and how we can make it as small as possible while still designing great product that solve real world problems and stand the test of time.

It’s a Journey, Not a Finish Line:

Getting to grips with sustainability isn’t a one-time job; it’s a constant learning curve. We’ve got to stay open-minded, embrace the challenge, and just start thinking about how we can do things better. If you’re ever unsure, reach out! Undertaking a sustainable design journey will only benefit you, your designs, and ultimately, your business.