“Our first green products must be ourselves.”

In the summer of 02007, Valarie Casey, current head of software/digital experiences at IDEO, wrote an article in frog design’s bi-monthly newsletter DesignMind called the Designer’s Dilemma. She wrote,

Our addiction to sweeping change has hobbled us from seeing the most obvious opportunities for improvement. In order to create a radical position around sustainability, we need to change our concept of design. Our first green products must be ourselves.

In the article, she proposes a “Kyoto Treaty of Design” – now called the Designers Accord. The community that’s formed around the Designers Accord is now 15,000 strong. The Accord is something revolutionary – a coalition of designers and design firms committed to stimulating mass change in product design.

First, designers and design firms commit “to proactively engage in dialogue about environmental impact with each and every client and customer, and to integrate sustainable alternatives in our work.”

By pooling our knowledge, we can create a network in which every client is compelled to engage in a discussion of sustainability – no matter which firm it selects as a design partner. Together, we can advocate for the improvements – large and small – that will produce lasting change.

Second, adopters of the accord make a committment to open knowledge-sharing, “so that all may benefit and build on marketable and sustainable solutions.”

The website notes that

The Designers Accord is for all designers – interaction, digital, industrial, graphic, advertising, architecture, interior – and those involved in the design industry, including engineers, business consultants, researchers, marketers, corporations, and educational institutions. Any designer, consultancy, or organization creating consequence at scale should join.

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