What is green design?

Before we dive into the world of green design, let’s lay down the land of what green design actually is. Our design choices matter. Green design prioritises the planet by making low impact design decisions through all aspects of the creative journey. Elements such as inks, supply chains, packaging, materials, techniques, fonts and certifications, all play an important part in practicing the art of green design. As well as, thinking beyond the production and considering the entire lifecycle of the things that we create.

As important as paper stocks and packaging are for brand recognition, print quality and the professional representation of the brand, we should understand what choices have a bigger impact on the planet as well. By knowing what resources are out there and getting creative, you can in fact create something just as beautiful and far more meaningful as a result.

Our responsibility as designers

As designers, and human beings as a whole, we have the ability to make considered choices in all that we do - it all comes from action and knowledge. As a graphic design studio, we have the responsibility as industry experts to guide our clients in making empowered, sustainable choices with everything we create for them. From as little as the font chosen, to as big a decision as the inks and what stock the packaging is printed onto, we have made it our purpose to educate ourselves and the brands that we work with on the best green design practices out there. Believe me when I say that it is no easy feat, as the sustainable printing industry is still very much behind the times, with there being a huge gap in the market for high quality, highly creative and super sustainable suppliers. So it is up to us to shift the space by doing the research, working with values aligned suppliers to raise the bar and implement creative sustainable design and packaging solutions.

We have the knowledge and power to make these informed decisions, and as this is something that Puraest is deeply passionate about, we choose to play an active role in the process - going beyond simply creating for beauty alone. It is something that our clients seek our guidance with, and it gives us such joy knowing that we can empower them to build a purposeful brand that is true to their values in every aspect of their business.

How do we help?

As the designer, we help the brand choose paper stocks that minimise impact on forestry, that are responsibly milled, and can travel a shorter distance to the printer than other paper stocks. When choosing a printer, we select ones that operate sustainably and work closely with us to ensure sustainable print specifications and operations. We carefully select materials that have a favorable lifecycle, ensuring that they are recycled or properly disposed of without damage to the environment. In most cases clients and printers are not considering what will happen to each item after it is printed and out in the market. Often brands naturally choose the path of least resistance, usually preferencing the cheapest and most effective solution for that particular moment in time. As their designer we can encourage them to think of the bigger picture and make more sustainable choices.

Questions we should be asking

Here are some questions of harm we can be asking ourselves when it comes to design choices, materials, processes and outcomes…

What problems are we solving for our clients? But what problems could we be creating in the process? By reflecting on these questions, it helps us measure our impact as designers. How much harm might we be unintentionally causing? Did the paper come from an ancient and endangered forest? Will the coating we apply to the paper be able to be recycled, or break down naturally? Are we unnecessarily using plastic that won’t be recycled and cause environmental harm like micro plastics, or is bound to wind up in a landfill that is within an impoverished or underrepresented community - causing toxins to be present in their everyday lives?

How green design can mean good business

Green design isn’t just good for our ethics and our morals, it is also good for business.

65-73% of the global population of millennials reported that they want to buy from purpose-driven brands

Small businesses are mostly influenced to go green by their competition, which creates a domino effect for incorporating eco friendly practices into businesses. By building strong brands around sustainability and eco-friendly practices, as designers, we can help shift the conceptual space of sustainable materials and options to signify high quality, worthwhile purchases that stand the test of time, and in turn help our clients to grab more market share. We can also encourage our brands to tap into the emotional appeal to attract the majority of consumers who want to purchase from and support ethical and sustainable businesses. Hope and pride are key emotions in driving sustainable consumption and we can tap into these emotions as designers to ensure brand strategy for our clients centers around these ideas. From 2015 to 2020, sustainably marketed products grew 7.1x faster in market growth than products not marketed as sustainable (according to research conducted by the NYU Center for Sustainable Business). They have since found that sustainable product demand has continued to grow, even through the pandemic.

Design won’t save the planet alone but it is our responsibility to try and make a difference. It will, however, create some of the fundamental changes that we need to make happen in a world, one where we respect eco systems and all people equally. Green design practices will need to become industry standard across the board for the next two decades in a low carbon, greener future.

As designers we need to recognise that the things that we create have lives before and after we create them. The items we create are then sent out into the world and end up in people’s hands, and they choose whether to recycle them or not - which is why the design must feature encouraging ways for people to best dispose of the item. And, we need to ensure that the materials we decide upon aren’t going to be harmful in its final end state.

So let’s talk about the environmental impact that our designs can actually have…

Enviro Impact

Sustainable and unsustainable forestry practices can damage ecosystems that are crucial to the health of our planet, this includes old growth rainforests across the world and the biodiversity that depends on them. Forests are important carbon sinks to prevent climate crises but they also support clean water filtration, endangered species and species that are yet to be discovered. Laminate and other plastic coatings can’t be recycled and they break down into micro plastics that can harm our oceans, our eco systems and ourselves. They can also pollute communities that are underrepresented, such as first nation communities and black communities. Traditional inks contain petroleum and increase our demand on the fossil fuel industry. Do not fear though, there are other options out there.

Printing Impact

Printing impact is also where we need to critically examine the impact of the production of paper, packaging and print collateral. Some paper mills, such as Domtar that sell sustainable papers, actually have several EPA violations for pollution of toxic waste water that run off into healthy ecosystems, causing extreme damage to local environments and communities that are usually people of colour.

Human Impact

For human impact, many landfills, paper mills and chemical plants that create plastics for lamination on business cards are located near vulnerable communities, such as black and indigenious. Only 1-2% of plastic actually ends up being recycled and the rest is shipped to the global south to offload the pollution burden onto developing countries, leaving people to literally live in plastic and experience extremely high rates of cancer.

Green design tips to start making a change today

Materials and supply chains are the easiest and most impactful way to make change.

For paper projects, you can favor 100% recycled post consumer waste paper and plant based inks, such as soy based inks. These inks are less toxic than regular inks and they also release less air pollution or volatile organic compounds into the air as they dry. You can look for papers made with renewable energy. This is often listed as a Green-e certification on the paper. You can also try alternative paper fibers, such as hemp, recycled cotton, straw and seeds.

Hemp paper is fantastic because it has an incredibly short growing cycle of 90 days and requires little water and energy to create paper, the fibers are thick and it creates wonderfully luxurious paper.

Straw paper turns reclaimed straw from farmer’s fields that would have otherwise been burned, into usable paper.

Cotton paper stops unwanted jeans and t-shirts from ending up in landfill, and prevents even more textile pollution from the planet. The paper is soft to the touch and perfect for packaging.

Certifications

You can look for credible forestry certifications, such as the FSC or the Ancient Forest Alliance. These certifications work to ensure that there are verified forestry supply chains that endangered and at risk forests are protected, while healthy forests are logged in a sustainable manner.

You can also research the supply chain of your paper products. Ask yourself - Do the companies that produce the paper harm vulnerable communities? Or do they have any EPA violations?

Here are two of the best resources to guide you in finding the most eco-friendly papers and printers in Australia…


https://au.fsc.org/en-au/buy-fsc-certified/printers

https://au.fsc.org/en-au/buy-fsc-certified/paper


Consider Location

Try to source your suppliers as locally as possible in order to reduce your carbon footprint as much as possible.

Design Choices

You can try and avoid bleeds, as that reduces ink waste. And, you can avoid using metallics or foils, as they contain plasticised layers, in addition to the aluminum layers and cannot be recycled. Avoid using laminates, soft matte touch coatings or even eco friendly water based UV spot coatings or glosses. These all contain plastic formulations and mean the paper can’t be recycled.

Try to Avoid Plastic

For plastics, try to use backyard or home compostable products instead of standard bio plastics or industrial compostable plastic that are chemically identical to regular plastic and require a special facility to break them down. Consider using glass or aluminum instead of plastics for packaging, and consider reducing the amount of plastic when it is required.

Ask yourself will this piece end up in the ocean or landfill? Will it break down naturally and turn into planet and people safe materials? Or is it set to last forever?

Green design is a whole other world and it takes time to build up the knowledge to make the best sustainable decisions. If you are wanting to create a purposeful brand but don’t know where to start, then you have come to the right place - we would love to share our wisdom with you.