It's All About Design!!!

I see a connection in McDonough's TED talk and the book "The Ecology of Commerce" about the competition between businesses. McDonough pointed out that competition is "together-strive": a way of cooperating in order to fit together. The sixth principle in the book also pointed out how the competition in human culture works. Both support the idea that competition helps growth, but the book addressed on that invasive competitions do not necessarily bring improvements. We are suppose to compete against each other to help each other to grow, like McDonough said, not to try to beat each other. The best way to help human culture to grow and develop is to educate people, not through endless advertisements and invasive competitions!

Another big part mentioned in the book, which is the second principle "Sustainable businesses take responsibility for the effects they have on the natural world" talks about how and what we can do to really help this world to become more sustainable.
The book pointed out a very important point that the little things we are doing to save energy is not enough. The demands we put on nature already exceed what we, as individuals or small groups can do to help. Therefore, the real changes need to be made in the ones that have the real power, such as the corporations.

So, what can businesses do to make a difference? The key is re-think and re-design the whole business process! Starting from the materials and resources, then to employment, this whole process needs to be in a cycle. It is also said in the first principle: "If changing from linear to cyclical processes is a key to re-creating business in an ecological manner, then an important component of that redesign will be feedback, accountability, and responsibility.".

The book also mentioned about William McDonough's design. McDonough's designs are build in a cycle so that every part of the product can go back to the the most original form.
McDonough's designs and what the book talks about fit exactly into what Roxanne and I are doing in our internship. We are currently helping Sir Speedy, a print and design company, to research information about how to make its business green. Since paper is a huge part of a print and design company, we are trying to find out all the papers that are made from recycled paper or post-consumer wastes, and see whether they are chlorine free, or has certifications from organizations like Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), etc. We'll then move on to find out more information about less toxic inks and more eco-friendly printing process later on. The main reason for doing this is to educate not only the people in print and design industries, but also the clients and customers. Only if we start from the most basic, we can do the best to re-design the whole print and design industry, and then to share our knowledge with others!

On the whole, Like McDonough said, it's all about sustainable designs!