Design it to Last

What kind of car do you drive? How long have you had it? 2 years, 5 years, 10 years? When you bought it did you need it, did you want it, did you love it?

How about now, do you still love it? Or are you contemplating buying a newer model, with more bells and whistles, the new streamlined design, and that nifty looking updated dash with the neat iPod hook-up?

And how many tape-decks, cd players, iPods, computers, and cell-phones have you owned in your lifetime? 10, 15, 100? Have you bought a new gadget this past year? I have, so you will have too probably.

If you answered yes to any of the questions above, don’t feel bad. It’s not your fault. Products are specifically designed to be replaceable. Even if we wanted to update our electronics, we’re not allowed. We’re meant to throw it away and fall in love with the latest version. It’s what keeps our current economy going. It’s also what’s polluting our environment, but we don’t care. We ship our waste to China anyway. Let them deal with it. Out of sight, out of mind.

Yes we all run after the latest fad and we all want new things. So let’s just accept it, and not rock the boat. It’s human nature after all.

Or is it? Well, not everyone seems to be running after the latest fad. Porsche owners certainly aren't, they are so in love with their cars they couldn’t even imagine getting rid of it.
60% of all Porsches ever made are still on the road…
Sixty Percent!!!!

That probably makes Porsche the most sustainable car in the world. However, when most people think of sustainable design, the last thing that comes to mind are gadgets, cars and electronics. Sustainable design tends to conger up images of granola, woolen socks and whiny neo-hippies. But that’s not what sustainability is about at all. It’s really about designing something to last, or to be updatable, or to be re-used. To use a catchy-term, it’s about “cradle-to-cradle” design (great book btw).

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I used to work in a place where they had transformed their colorful iMac to a very cool-looking aquarium, and a friend of mine has come up with awesome packaging that can be re-used in everyday life.

Anything really that is well designed, loved, timeless, and classic will not be discarded that quickly. It’s as simple as that.

And that might be the reason why 60% of all Porsches ever made are still on the road, and also why people have no problems throwing out their old ugly grey printers.