Appropriate technology. Keywords: Alternative technology; Decentralised; People-centred; Small-scale. A term coined by E. F. Schumacher to describe ...
Appropriate technology Keywords: Alternative technology; Decentralised; People-centred; Small-scale A term coined by E. F. Schumacher to describe alternative technologies, which can replace capitalintensive technology with sustainable development. Its characteristics are people-centred, small-scale, localised, decentralised, labour-intensive, energy-efficient, and environmentally friendly. Its movement started initially in developing countries to help rural low-income communities, but it is now found in both developing and developed countries to address general sustainability issues. See Also: Design for Sustainability; Environmental Design; Slow Design
Renewable resource Keywords: Consumption; Natural resource; Renewal Any natural resource which can be replenished over time by naturally recurring processes and used again perpetually unless consumption rate is higher than renewal rate. See Also: Design for Sustainability; Materials; Slow Design; Waste
Source reduction Keywords: Waste minimisation; Waste prevention; Waste reduction; Pollution reduction; Pollution prevention Source Reduction is the only preventive practice in waste management to avoid solid waste generation in terms of quantity and/or toxicity, and comprising various activities at different stages of product lifetimes from design to manufacture. The benefits of source reduction include: the prevention of waste and pollution; reduction of materials and energy consumption; saving of landfill space; reduction in waste management costs; and reduction in costs for new materials and products. It is often interchangeably used with waste or pollution reduction/minimisation/prevention, and is considered as the first priority in waste management, followed by recycling, energy recovery and landfilling. Actors or participants include households, companies and governments. Activity examples include green and responsible purchasing, leasing, reusing, repairing, and donating materials at the domestic scale; reducing materials and toxic content in design and manufacturing, product and packaging redesign for durability, reusability and reparability at the industry scale; and using economic (dis)incentives through regulations and policies, and investing in source reduction research, education, technical assistance, promotions, programs and businesses at the governmental scale. See Also: Design for Disassembly; Design for Sustainability; Environmental Design; Lifecycle Analysis References and further reading: Tchobanoglous, George, and Frank Kreith. Handbook of solid waste management. New York: McGrawHill, 2002.
Waste Keywords: Materials; Consumption; Waste management Waste refers to materials no longer wanted or desired for further use in terms of production, transformation or consumption, and discarded at any stage of the life cycle of stuff – from materials extraction to manufacturing, distribution, usage through to end-of-life management. Although what is waste to one person can be a valuable resource to another, the determining criteria are subjective. Types of waste include special waste, liquid waste, hazardous waste, restricted solid waste, and general solid waste. Significant amounts of all such types of wastes are the inevitable consequences of design-related activities in industry and the consumption of design outputs by consumers. When inappropriately managed, waste can have environmental costs (e.g. greenhouse gas emission from waste treatment); social costs (e.g. heavier environmental burdens to marginalised groups); as well as economic costs (e.g. waste treatment facilities’ negative impact on property values). When addressed correctly, however, it provides society with a number of benefits including improved resource efficiency through reuse and recycle, sustainable production and consumption from recovered or upcycled materials, as well as the potential for new businesses and jobs, a cleaner environment, better-quality air and water, and reduced greenhouse emissions. Recognising such costs and potential benefits, various organizations and institutions have suggested and practiced manifold interventions for effective waste management. Designers also increasingly engage with waste prevention (e.g. longer-lasting product design), waste minimisation (e.g. package redesign with less materials), reuse (e.g. design for disassembly for easy remanufacturing), and upcycling (e.g. upcycling design for clothing, furniture, lighting, etc.). See Also: Design for Sustainability; Environmental Design; Materials; LEED; Lifecycle Analysis; Resource Reduction; Slow Design References and further reading: Pichtel, John. Waste management practices: municipal, hazardous, and industrial. CRC Press, 2010. McDougall, Forbes R., et al. Integrated solid waste management: a life cycle inventory. John Wiley & Sons, 2008.
