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Date
We've combined two stories we've recently encountered to share with you some ideas that we feel work their way back into the realm of project management.
Be patient - we think it's worth it.
The first story- the one which lends us the name of our posting - covered a recent event at Duquesne University at which Cradle-to-Cradle author William McDonough and Green to Gold author Andrew Winston addressed attendees with talks on sustainability.
From the BBC article:
Architect and author William McDonough said that businesses need to shift their focus from just reducing emissions to optimising positive impacts such as material use.
Arguing that eco-designers have an important role to play in stimulating a more ethical business environment, he said companies needed to offer products that pose no risk to society and that become nourishment for something new at the end of their useful life.
Emphasizing that "less bad is still bad", McDonough questioned: "Why don't we start designing things so we understand what's going to happen next?"
There it is. The design is key. Using sustainability principles in the design is important. As project managers, we often only get involved in the design if the project IS the design. We are blogging and writing to promote the changes and a tenedency to think sustainably in both product/service design AND in projects where the design is "thrown over the wall" to a team meant to execute it into a steady-state product or service.
In the case of design, we urge you to read books like Cradle to Cradle and Green to Gold but also to take advantage of software like that produced by Sustainable Minds and others. You can see reviews of such software in this review by LinkCycle.
This takes us to the other story of interest, one about the Namib Desert Beetle. This is the Namib Desert Beetle, by the way, very different than the delicious and tasty Namib Dessert Beetle, best enjoyed with strawberries, cognac reduction, and whipped cream.
In any case, this story - and others like it, discuss how designers are using biomimicry to inspire design of wanter extraction by taking advantage of the way this particular critter survives in the desert.
From the article:
NBD Nano (the company featured in this story) aims to mimic the way a beetle survives in an African desert to create a self-filling water bottle capable of storing up to three litres every hour.
The insect harvests moisture from the air by first getting it to condense on its back and then storing the water.
Using nature as an inspiration for technology, known as biomimicry, is increasingly widespread.
The company using the Namib Desert Beetle, NBD Nano, is using its name in their company identity. Their mission statement:
NBD makes use of a nano-scale surface to enhance water condensation. Mimicking the Namib Desert Beetle, our nanotechnology can be used to collect water in the most arid regions of the world.
You may not be working in a company like this - what we at EarthPM would call a "green by definition" company. But that doesn't mean you can't 'plant the bug' in the ear of your design team(s). That doesn't mean your project cannot seek ideas like these in execution.
Doing this is not without rewards. To return the the first story - the one taking place at the sustainability conference at Duquense University. At that conference, Procter & Gamble (P&G) was recognised with an award for its sustainability achievements.
P&G's associate director of global sustainability Jack McAneny accepted the award and spoke about the company's long-term commitment to using 100% renewable energy and making products and packaging entirely from recycled materials.
This translates into sales.
So we can see that putting effort into sustainable design is not only less bad, it's good!
Posted
by
Richard Maltzman
on: November 24, 2012 01:46 PM |
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