The Story of Stuff movie with Anne Leonard taught me many things I
did not know about consumer goods.
For example, it
was shocking to hear, that because of products we use every day, such as
electronics and cosmetics, the breast milk of mothers may be contaminated and
contain toxic chemicals.
This was a real
eye opener, and is useful information to be aware of in my future
career as an industrial designer.
TOXINS IN-TOXINS
OUT.
This is the first
"take-home message" from watching the 'Story of...' movies. Toxic
chemicals used in manufacturing materials for products will almost always come
back to hinder our health on some way. It is extremely irresponsible of
companies to use chemicals that are carcinogens, neurotoxins or reproductive toxins.
This has changed
the way I think about personal care products I buy at the super market, and in
fact, all products that market themselves as "herbal",
"organic" or "natural".
There is also
great danger for non-users of the products that we buy containing traces of
toxins. As discussed in the movies, much of our waste is shipped to other
countries (like India) and incinerated leading to the release of Dioxin in
these third world communities. As a designer it is important to be aware of the
life of a product once it is disposed of by the user.
DESIGN TO LAST
This is the second important take home message.
The film claims that only a staggering 1% of products are still in
use 6 months after purchase, in the USA.
This is something that I find really pathetic; a large majority of
goods the USA do not serve a purpose to the user for longer than 6 months.
As an industrial designer, staying away from planned obsolescence
is an absolute must. This can ensure that the 25 million tons of e-waste that
we produce globally will be reduced over time.
STOP THE WORK, WATCH, SPEND PATTERN.
Over Consumerism, elitist mentalities and spending money we don’t have
on things we don’t need to impress people we don’t really like; these are trends
in society that must be reversed. Australians spend an average of 2.5 hours a
day watching television (according to Better Magazine), and spend millions of
dollars annually of meaningless products.
The role the media plays is perceived obsolescence of fashion
trends and design styles must be more closely monitored and policed. Strengthening
legislation and take back laws for companies is one way to reduce the amount of
meaningless products we produce, however, consumer mind sets must also be
re-evaluated and customers need to educated and therefore become more aware of
the choices they are making when they purchase new products.
No comments:
Post a Comment