‘This is a wonderful book that should be on the desk of every architect and planner. It shows how

Step 1
Think seriously about ‘designed waste’, or the relationship between waste and design 
Step 2
Develop new concepts like ‘ecological waste’ that take into account the 
living
dimension,
not just inputs and outputs of resources 
Step 3
Assess and prioritize innovations and investments in terms of their potential to improve
ecosystem health
What is meant by the first step, awareness of designed waste?
As a society, we need to appreciate the role of design in generating excessive waste and toxins. The 
following factors contribute to designed waste, or waste that is ‘designed into’ our industrial and 
construction systems:
•
Products are often designed for wasteful purposes or redundancy
• 
A small fraction of materials used in production ends up in products
• 
Many products are designed for planned obsolescence and/or disposal 
• 
Much of what is bought is surplus to need, including extra cars and homes
• 
Reused materials and goods are mostly ‘down-cycled’ to lower uses 
• 
Packaging can be resource intensive (and require us to buy ten bolts when we need one) 

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74
Positive Development
• 
A small fraction of waste is diverted from landfill, and even less is recycled
• 
Many products combine materials which then cannot be recycled economically
• 
The means of survival (natural capital and eco-services) are being laid to waste
• 
Efficiencies in one area are counterbalanced by the ‘rebound effect’
What is the rebound effect and what do we do about it?
The rebound effect is where consumers save resources and therefore money, but then turn around and 
spend the extra money on carbon-rich or conspicuous consumption.
51
For example, people who save 
money due to investing in energy efficiency may then spend that money on an overseas holiday via 
jet plane, instead of rolling it over into more efficiency measures. The rebound effect can probably 
only be addressed by designing built environments that create a rich range of low-impact choices.
Environmental solutions that rely on altruistic and responsible behaviour can never be foolproof.
Overall, most innovation is still aimed at increasing consumption.
52
Business does not create new 
products or designs to reduce their net sales.
53
Design approaches that make responsible living ‘cool’, 
like one firm’s stylish but ‘compostable’ shoes, are therefore more likely to succeed than approaches 
that require sacrifices. Style influences behaviour, so by defining what is 
cool
through design, we can 
begin to reduce our ecological footprints. At this stage in our development, 
cool
still often means 
adding an extra Prius to the existing fleet [Box 54]. Instead, however, good design can be a means of 
reducing the need for retail therapy in the first place. A comfortable and beautiful built environment 
can substitute for personal consumption and material goods. Of course, designers are seldom taught 
to substitute low-impact, high-quality environments for high impact consumables. They are seldom 
taught to seek the optimal relationship between durability, flexibility and adaptability – let alone to 
consider concepts like reversibility, compostability or edibility. Designers of materials, components, 
sites and buildings must learn to consider how to accommodate and stimulate responsible change 
in human needs and preferences.