Sustainable Power Now Comes from Knowledge

By Wendy Jedlicka

The old ways of popping out this week's brilliant idea and then churning them out by the gazillion in spite of the consequences still work great. Or do they? The store shelves are bulging with "brilliance," with each SKU fighting with their neighbors to be THE lucky one to go home with the consumer. Brimming with choice and competition, though, nearly 70% of all new products fail.

Why? The simplest answer is that the whole of the selling environment is changing. Or maybe, the old products aren't what people really need, let alone what they want.

Consumer markets are maturing, meaning unless you can offer a breakthrough advantage—the basic need in a given sector has been met. Consumers are becoming better educated, too. From actively reading Nutrition Facts disclosures, to lawmakers and consumer advocacy groups quickly targeting ill-conceived goods, to instant information access through the Internet, the days of dumping "whatever" out there are over (at least in the developed world). Today the customer comes ready to shop, well-qualified, and in no mood to be toyed with.

Windows of opportunity

Sustainable products shine in this light of scrutiny. When the consumer considers an eco-labeled or sustainable product, they look to get all of the buy with none of the remorse. Surprisingly, eco-labeled products are often proving to be more profitable to the manufacturer as well. So why aren't all products already sustainable?

No normal person wakes up devising ways to trash the planet or engage in business with long-term adverse impacts on our world. Our choices have become a death by 1000 cuts. Manufacturers, their creative service vendors, and the consumer all play a part in this scene, and fear is one of the key factors in why change is slow to arrive. The consumer is fearful of wasting his or her ever-stretched dollar, the manufacturer is fearful that the consumer won't accept the new product or package, and manufacturer's creatives are fearful of being fired or losing the account for stepping too far out of the norm.

Yet innovation is about embracing fear, replacing that with knowledge, and using that new insight to your advantage. Fear is good. And fear is a powerful motivator. In the 2002 PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP/2002 Sustainability Survey Report, respondents indicated it was the fear that NOT adopting sustainable business practices would have an adverse effect on consumer perception. And so, negatively impact their market share.

One of the quietly mumbled fears in our production side world is that if industry does NOT adopt sustainable business practices, they will be legislated into action any way—and certainly NOT in an advantageous way. The farsighted recognize this and stay ahead of the curve to be best positioned when the inevitable comes by constantly recharging their most powerful resource—knowledge.

A sustainable curriculum

Long ahead of the curve, many architecture schools have made sustainability a normal part of their curriculum. Accounting for about 40% of the waste stream, the architecture industry exposure to adverse legislation and negative buyer perception is huge. Rather than get mowed down by it, the industry as a whole is positioning itself ahead of the curve though a more complete education in the beginning degree tracks, as well as requiring continued professional recertification. Slowly, other industries are following suit.

Several brick and mortar schools around the world offer select classes in sustainable design theory for a variety of non-architecture design disciplines (packaging, product, or graphic). Leading the way though is Minneapolis College of Art and Design's (MCAD) Sustainable Design Certificate Program.

This first-of-its-kind program not only offers specific studies in sustainability practices for package designers and their clients, but also graphic designers, print buyers, product designers, product managers, and engineers. All these professionals will find ideas they can apply to their work today while building long-term strategies for their companies and communities.

Current certificate seekers include not only students and working design professionals, but also government policymakers and business people. Cross pollination is a huge component of the program. Business people participating in the program have commented they are finding fresh perspectives by interacting with designers, while designers are gaining new insight into how business does business, making for more thoughtful, marketable, and profitable design.

The distributed learning format of the program, which is all online, allows interaction not only from fellow students and instructors in the U.S., but from around the world. Students in this forum come away with real life experience in thinking and acting local as well as global.

At the forefront of sustainable design are longstanding eco-pioneers like Starbucks, Nike, IKEA, Interface Carpet, and Aveda. These companies are being joined by mainstream giants like GE, Ford Motor Company, and Wal-Mart. Looking for ways of retooling their workforce in key areas of sustainable systems thinking, businesses are finding MCAD's distributed format allows them to reap the benefits of better-educated employees without losing valuable productive time and costs, associated with out of town workshops and traditional certificate venues.

The curriculum was created with the idea that every participant would take away a solid set of actionable tools applicable for any design or business challenge. Working designers from the o2 Global Sustainable Design Network and environmental professionals from the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency crafted the program to be what they wish they had had when they were in school—and what all schools should be teaching now but haven't quite caught up to yet.

MCAD's offerings include a variety of accessible learning modes, from intensive five-week workshops to complete certificate tracks geared to their industry. With each of the learning modes designed to help participants not only become highly skilled problem solvers, but to open new channels for innovation. The goal is to make it easy to look to tomorrow while still being profitable today.

Wendy Jedlicka, CPP is president of Jedlicka Design Ltd. (www.jedlicka.com), is chapter chair for o2-USA/Upper Midwest and liaison for the o2 Global Green Design Network (o2.org), and packaging and economics faculty for Minneapolis College of Art and Design's groundbreaking Sustainable Design Certificate Program (www.mcad.edu).