No one ever sets out to create a hardware firm with the sole intention of wiping out as much of life on Earth as they can. However, as I strolled the CES startup hall, I noticed that, with a few exceptions, there was painfully little consideration given to material choice, repairability, ease of disassembly, and considerations around the end of usable life.
It’s embarrassing, but having previously managed a hardware startup, I know how difficult it can be to decide what to focus on first. But if you can’t make environmentally responsible decisions when you’re at the helm of a startup and everyone is counting on you, when can you?
We interviewed Lauryn Menard, a professor in the future of biodesign at California College of the Arts, to learn more about creating environmentally friendly hardware. She is the co-founder and creative director of PROWL Studio, a design and material futures consultancy in Oakland, California, that focuses on environmentally friendly solutions, and she is also an adviser to Women in Design SF.
When launching a business, you have options. As Menard put it, “the thing is, we live in such a capitalistic society, and a lot of decisions are made based on time and money.” As much as the startups would like to consider sustainability, they are racing to get their products to market at lightning speed. All that good stuff, like the startups’ target price point, needs to be achieved. Not everything needs to be made from a brand new freaking material, so there’s no need to switch to a new bioplastic.
However, there are significant changes occurring in the market. Climate commitments, circularity strategies, and environmental questions are rising to the surface as a result of shifting consumer demands. Product development cycles can take years, and who knows what the landscape will look like by the time your product makes it to market, so it’s hard to say whether enough customers are making purchase decisions based on a company’s green credentials to move the needle meaningfully. While some businesses could benefit from taking the chance, some entrepreneurs are rethinking traditional production methods.
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“If a startup is run entirely by engineers, that can be problematic, as engineers have a natural preoccupation with ensuring success. The focus of their efforts is on the product’s functionality, and they are more likely to favour tried-and-true components, techniques, and methods of production, as Menard put it. Consulting a design firm that puts an emphasis on greener practises and safer materials has proven to be very beneficial. As an alternative, they could team up with a materials library in order to have a head start on considering how their materials will be put to use before they even begin making a prototype. It can take as much time to incorporate a new material into an existing manufacturing process as it does to develop a minimum viable product that meets all of your requirements.
Concerned with Long-Term Sustainability
While we strive to make more eco-friendly products, one of the biggest obstacles we face is finding suitable alternatives to plastics. The issue is that plastics are already widely used in processes. Plastic is a favourite among industrial designers because of its consistency, simplicity, and reliability.
Furthermore, there is no obvious substitute for plastic; alternatives include, but are not limited to, wool, paper, wood, plant pulp, carbon fibre, seaweed, hemp, mycelium, lab-grown leather, and many others.
Here are some steps entrepreneurs and designers can take to develop more sustainable products.
