Looking Back on Week 3...

I believe the most important thing I have learned this week is that money is not everything.  There is too much importance placed on profit and people are willing to destroy our ecosphere to achieve as much profit as possible.  What they do not realize is that being a sustainable company could actually save them money and attract more buyers because they are taking pride in our foundation for living.  As a designer, learning to focus more on sustainable design, rather than just profit is crucial, because in order to keep designing we are going to need our foundation which comes from our natural resources.  Sustainable design approaches will be a lot of work because most designers were not initially taught to consider the life cycles in the design process, but designers will definitely see the benefits once they find their own sustainable approach.  In my research this week I have learned that the sustainable design approaches are most effective in the big corporations.  Maybe if every big corporation like Wal-Mart strives to make a change, then many other corporations will follow in their footsteps in order to stay competitive.  After having this class, I know that as a consumer, I will be more apt to buy products that are sustainable or at least shop at a store that is making efforts to become sustaibable.

When shopping at Wal-Mart yesterday I ran into a guy who had a basket full of the reusable shopping bags instead of the plastic.  It made me realize that there actually are people trying to do their part and setting a good example for others, so of course I ran up to the guy and asked him if I could take a picture of his basket for my sustainability blog, and told him how happy I was to see that he was making a change and setting a good example!