Dive Into Sustainable Design: ANCORD's 3 Guiding Principles
ANCORD Design Co
Sustainable Product Design & 3D Visualization Specialists ? Helping you solve your toughest design problems.
What's your company's proudest sustainability achievement?
When we started plotting out what ANCORD would become, we felt a responsibility to take into consideration more than just what we could do. We wanted to think about what we should do.
The concepts of sustainability, environmental, and social consciousness in industrial design are nothing new. We were learning about them in university almost two decades ago. But despite this ever-wider-spreading awareness, companies keep manufacturing wasteful products. We agreed from the start that ANCORD would do everything in its power not to contribute to this waste. Hence, our three pillars, the criteria against which we weigh every potential project.
How do you plan out your design projects? We’d love to hear about it! If you’re considering bringing ANCORD aboard, these are the three questions we always discuss at the get-go.
1. Does the product itself have a positive impact on the environment?
Obviously, every designer wants to know what the item or concept they’re working on is going to do—its intention, its inner workings—that’s kind of the point! We want to take that consideration further and talk about the larger impact: every step of the process, the total life cycle, and even the eventual disposal of the product.
We want to make products that are going to benefit our environment, something specifically designed to improve the one Earth we’ve got, or at least not damage it further. Have you thought about how to minimize environmental harm, both during production and with the use of the finished product? Hey, if you haven’t, don’t sweat it—we can help with this part of the process! The most important thing is that you care about this stuff, too.
If the item is similar to something already on the market, how is it better? Every creation has some material impact, in manufacturing at least, so we want to make sure that the resources we use up are going toward something better, or stronger, or faster. Because we have the technology! You get it.
Let’s talk about one of our favourite examples: the Nada toothbrush. This product is an excellent example of mindfully producing something that improves not only an essential daily tool but also the health of our planet.?
Nada users make a significant impact on plastic waste thanks to the toothbrush’s recyclable head, which is attached to a sustainable aluminum handle that you don’t toss every three months. Nada is helping reduce the number of toothbrushes we throw away every year—three billion! Add to that some really savvy design specs (we’re only bragging a little bit), and you’ve got yourself an excellent ANCORD-approved product!
2. Does the product allow you to interact with nature? We believe this leads to the desire to protect it.
Improving the sustainability of any product is a win in our books. But ANCORD has a vested interest in taking that environmentalism even further: we want to help design products that actively remind consumers how damn beautiful and important this planet is.?
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Take a pair of sustainably produced snowboarding goggles, for example. Not only does tons of thought go into how to ethically manufacture and dispose of them, but every person who puts them on does so just as they’re about to do a killer frontside spin through pristine powder framed by stunning evergreens. You can’t very well take a ski lift up a crisp, frosty mountainside without appreciating what Mother Nature’s dishing out.
If our products can help people enjoy or stay safe in the great outdoors, we’re doubling down on our duty to the earth.?
As the conservationist Baba Dioum once said, “In the end, we will conserve only what we love.”
3. Does the project or product have a positive impact on the community?
As much as we might sometimes shake our heads at the damage humans do to the planet, we can’t ignore the fact that we’re social creatures, and people are here to stay. Communities create a carbon footprint, but they also provide services, friendships, and an ongoing chance to improve. Every single one of us is impacted by our communities in a multitude of ways; we shape them and they shape us.
From the planning stages to final production, we happily render our services! (That was a design joke. Get it?)
Okay, let's chat!
Have a great idea that fits with our pillars? Not sure if your idea fits but totally feeling what drives us? Hit us up! We love building relationships with fellow earth- and tree huggers.
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