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August 8, 2008 Hot News, Cool Trends in Design for Sustainability SLM Home | Design News & Ideas | Connections | Events | About

Think Big...But Take Small Steps, Too Another takeaway from last month's Digging Deeper event put on by IDSA-SF: Travis Lee of LUNAR Design shared LUNAR's new Designer's Fieldbook to Sustainability [download it here (PDF)], offering pragmatic suggestions for incorporatin sustainable thinking in to every day design. His message to participants? Big ideas can change the world - but they can also be paralyzing. So while we're thinking up the Next Great Paradigm Shift, we must also take action now to create a culture where sustainability simply becomes part of the everyday equation. In doing so, we may wake up one day and find ourselves much further down the path than we knew we'd come. Some of the fieldbook's simple but powerful ideas: Make it less complex. Reduce material variety, and make sure there's a market for the materials you choose. Design packaging in parallel with product. Design for "life after death." Don't use paint - it makes plastics much harder to recycle. Another bonus? LUNAR's Fieldbook includes a nifty wall poster to help you keep these and other sustainable design rules in front of you at all times. ~KoAnn Vikoren Skrzyniarz, SLM Founder and President Also This Week... Kohl's Earns Energy Star Label for 50 U.S. Stores Kohl's has earned U.S. EPA's Energy Star rating for 50 of its U.S. locations - the largest multi-site certification ever awarded to a retail chain. Read more... Peet's Snags First LEED Nod for Coffee Roastery The plant in Alameda, Calif., boasts a redesigned heating system that recovers enough heat from the roasting process to cut overall gas consumption by 85%. Read more... Dell Unveils Greenest PC to Date Dell has launched what the company is calling its "most environmentally responsible consumer PC" yet - a desktop whose CPU takes up 80% less space and uses 70% less energy than comparable models. Read more... First Food Packaging Earns Cradle to Cradle Certification A line of food packaging made from the bulrush plant has become the first in its category to earn Cradle to Cradle certification for its sustainable design. Read more... Microsoft Ups Ante on Energy-Efficient LCDs Microsoft researchers have developed a new liquid crystal display (LCD) technology that's three times more energy efficient than current designs. Read more... Strap-On Hybrid Kit Coming This Fall Soon you may be able to turn your non-electric vehicle into a hybrid simply by attaching an electric motor to your car's back wheels. Read more... More Greener Design News & Tools... We want to hear from you! Post your comments or questions below any SLM news story and we'll feature the best of them here. (Note: You must be a registered SLM user to post. Not yet signed up? Click here!) Forward to a Friend! Terry Swack on the Green-Design Information Gap Earlier this week, green-product design software and information company Sustainable Minds launched a suite of information services aimed at providing designers with some much-needed advice on sustainability issues. In this SLM interview, CEO Terry Swack walks us through the new offerings - and explains why they're needed now more than ever. Read more... Solution Providers Register Today for... Join Andrew Winston, co-author of the critically acclaimed "Green to Gold," for a summit of leading innovators who are leveraging sustainability to drive new operating efficiencies, reduce risks and costs, and build stronger ties to shareholders, employees and the communities in which they work. Click here for more! Find Peers and Partners If you haven’t already joined the fastest growing online sustainable business community, create a profile now and start connecting.

Sustainable Life Media is home for business professionals looking to build new value and competitive advantage by innovating more sustainable processes, practices and products. We bring you top stories related to the what, who and how of environmental and social innovation, and help you connect with thought leaders, peers, partners and solutions providers that can help you quickly reach your goals. This work is licensed under a CreativeCommons License. Copyright Sustainable Life Media Inc. 2008

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