It seems consumers today are blissfully unaware of the amount of damage they are doing to the environment. Although you could argue in their defense that it’s hard for them to make the right choices when they don’t even know what is going on behind the scenes.

Have you ever wondered why every step of the manufacturing process isn’t accurately described in detail and included whenever you by a product? Like what sorts of chemicals and compounds went into manufacturing all of the items we see on shelves? Today, that sort of detailed information is all but invisible to consumers at the time of purchase.

What I think many eco manufacturers should be doing is including much more information with their products. It could be more like a simple food ingredients label for instance, what went into making the thing. But why not go beyond this and include additional disposal information?

Something to aspire to would be to include a lot more product information, such as:

• Where the raw materials were sourced including GPS information if possible. That way you can see which natural spaces are put into jeopardy.
• How the materials were extracted, harvested, processed, refined. That way you can see which chemicals and processes are most harmful.
• The manufacturing method, the production method. That way you can see which methods and processes are most wasteful.
• The amount of waste that went into making the product. That way you can see which products are the least efficient use of material resources.
• Best practices for disposing the product after the useful life is over. That way you can do the right thing by the environment.

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You know, my lecturer in polymeric materials used to say polymers were not bad materials, it’s the way they are over utilised that is the main problem with them.

I think one problem today is that people mistake the plastic identification symbol for a recycling symbol. I’m no expert on recycling, but I do know a thing or two about materials.

How does one easily recycle polystyrene foam? Or kevlar? Or any polymer containing aromatic compounds?

The truth is, to my knowledge, thermosetting polymers generally can’t be recycled easily without some very harsh solvents, so they’re generally being discarded. That means all resins like bakelite, the epoxy resin used in carbon fibre composites.

I may be wrong, but I believe that in many countries, it’s not a compulsory requirement to even label plastics. Of course the EU is ahead of say, Asia, Africa or South America.

Even so, just because plastic identification symbol is used, doesn’t mean a recycling centre will take it. I think it’s a kind of recycling loophole.

This is basically a list of eco design principles devised by the well-respected IDSA organisation.

Right. So I would just like to take this opportunity to state for the record that Vayakora is committed to implementing all of these design practises for our entire range of products. But we fully intend to go one step further even than this; we are going to try to ensure that all of the materials used in the tooling, moulds and manufacturing processes we select will adhere to these guidelines as well.

Use ecodesign strategies appropriate to the product

• Reduce overall material content and increase the percentage of recycled material in products.
• Reduce energy consumption of products that use energy.
• Specify sustainably grown materials when using wood or agricultural materials.
• Design disposable products or products that wear out to be more durable and precious.
• Eliminate unused or unnecessary product features.
• Design continuously transported products for minimal weight.
• Design for fast, economical disassembly of major components prior to recycling, and
• Design products so that toxic components (electronics, etc.) are easily removed prior to recycling.