Top Takeaways, Thoughts, etc. from Sustainability Inspired Innovation and Design: I am more conscious of my behaviors. I’ve always been conscious when it comes to the human aspect of consumption (ex: who made my clothes and what conditions they were working in), but I spend less time thinking about the environmental impact. However, I’ve noticed […]

I think that the evaluation stage might be my favorite of them all. It was really rewarding to see all of our work throughout the semester come together and it was nice to hear positive things about our project. The evaluation stage was particularly helpful because it brought in fresh eyes and ideas. It also […]

Like all of the other stages, I enjoyed the prototyping stage more than expected. Overall, the whole design thinking process has been different than I thought it would have been. I imagined it to be a colder, technical process that took place in a lab. I never thought that it could be done using post […]

Honestly, I did not think I would enjoy the Ideation phase. Before our two classes on Ideation, I mostly thought of ideation as technology focused. Which I guess, it can be. However, I really enjoyed the Ideation process. I think that the work with the post it notes was really productive. It forced us to […]

I really enjoyed the define stage, and I think that it will probably be my favorite stage in the process. It plays into some of my strengths — I really enjoyed the process of developing different personas. It’s so fascinating to create lives for people, especially when you think about the small, minute details that […]

I think that a great “design” in the hospitality industry is the hostel. They are extremely popular around the world, but less so in the United States. Having stayed in hostels many times myself, I am a huge fan. They encompass many aspects of sustainability. For example, sharing rooms and having hall style bathrooms saves […]

Market Potential: I think that there is market potential for a book on consumer wisdom, but it all depends on how you frame it. Self help books and memoirs are really popular, so I think that it could be a good idea to frame is as series of stories about wise consumerism instead of an […]

The goods and services mostly likely to be chosen by wise consumers tend to fall into into three categories: Environmentally Conscious Cost Efficient Increase quality of life The definition of a wise consumer that was given in the article encompasses these categories: “a good decision- maker who effectively balances heart and mind, is concerned as […]

Natural Capitalism is, in my opinion, one of the best frameworks for sustainability. I really like the emphasis on acting now – natural capitalism reminds us that we do not need to wait for new technologies to make a difference, that there is work that can be done with the resources we have now (pg […]

I think that the brief case assignment was a great introduction to our larger course project. It was really interesting to be able to see all of the different types of sustainable work done across industries and the issues that those companies were seeking to tackle. From candles to permaculture to recyclable benches, sustainability is […]