Sustainability
Design & Technology: AQA GCSE, topic 1.1.3
Sustainability
Sustainable design aims to minimise negative impacts on the environment.
Life cycle assessment (LCA)
- Life cycle assessment (LCA) can be used to analyse all the stages in a product’s life and highlight the impact it will have on the environment.
- The main stages of a Life cycle assessment (LCA) are:
- Extraction of raw materials.
- Manufacture and assembly.
- Transportation.
- Use.
- Disposal.
Life cycle assessment (LCA) cont.
- The designer can then investigate different ways to reduce the negative impact at each stage. This could include:
- Alternative materials or manufacturing processes.
- Sourcing local materials or relocating factories to reduce transportation.
- Reducing parts.
- Alternative energy sources.
- Labelling for recycling.
Finite and non-finite resources
- Resources can be split into two main categories, finite and non-finite resources.
- Finite resources:
- Finite resources are not sustainable.
- They are in short supply and once used will eventually run out.
- Examples include: oil, gas and coal.
Finite and non-finite resources cont.
- Non-finite resources:
- Non-finite resources are sustainable.
- Can be easily found and once used can be re-grown and replaced.
- Examples include: wood, wool, cotton.
Disposal of waste
- Waste throughout the products life needs to be reduced.
- Waste causes environmental damage and growing landfill sites.
Reducing waste
- Ways to reduce waste:
- Recycling schemes with councils for household rubbish.
- Returning electronic products to companies for disposal.
- Creating products with re-usable or replaceable parts.
- Encouraging the use of renewable power sources.
- Financial incentives for users to refill products.
- Reducing the amount of disposable products that are used.
- Using more recycled materials.
Test yourself on Sustainability
What does LCA stand for?
Which of the following is an example of a non-finite resource?