sustaining sustainability

I've heard a few really great lectures the past few weeks and have listened to some really great discussions centering on sustainability.

At Pratt's Focus the Nation Event, I heard designer Allan Chochinov speak about how as a designer the first question we need to ask ourselves is "Do we really need to design this?" Do we need another lamp? Another alarm clock? Another plastic-molded Santa that just sits there? And if you do design something, what sets your design apart and provides a useful function?

At New York's Gift Fair there's a continuing lecture series on sustainability. Green gurus were there from Herman Miller, Icestone, and Mio and their discussion centered on the ideas behind cradle to cradle and developing products so that they are durable, and once their useful life is having the materials either returning to the earth, or recycled back into usable raw materials. This sustainability series seems to be a continuing event at gift fair, which we blogged about here during their last event. It looks like sustainability is sustaining itself and continuing to be a topic of conversation. It's great to see so many businesses getting behind this idea!