I am not embarrassed to say it: I am eco-crazy. I recycle everything. I unplug unused appliances. I make sure every unnecessary light in the house is turned off. I ride a 100mpg scooter. And I am terribly upset by any practice that is blatantly wasteful. Especially wasteful design.Most designers I know are pretty progressive people, so you wouldn’t suspect them. But design is a frequent culprit. I see wasteful design everywhere.
The problem is that designers always want to help their clients feel luxurious, and every designer knows that more space equals more luxury. And so you end up with brochures that have a single bold word taking up an entire page. Worst of all, you end up with mailers that contain page after page of essentially useless promotional materials. Each needless piece of paper represents the design community’s failure to act responsibly.
But there is a safe haven. There is a place where designers can stretch their proverbial legs all they like. I am speaking of the internet,of course. On the internet, an extra page, even an extra full website can be created with minimal individual impact on the environment. And it is wonderful.
I am aware that the internet as a whole, both in terms of electricity usage and computer hardware, does have a massive impact on the globe. But the internet is here and not going anywhere. Paper usage, on the other hand, is something that we can all help to reduce quite easily.
Three cheers for the internet!