One of the first examples of good green product design that I came across as a PD student was Method cleaning products. Method’s founders, Adam Lowry and Eric Ryan, saw a need not only for safe, green, toxin-free cleaning products, but also a need for ones that weren’t so ugly they had to hide them under the sink. The result: iconic recyclable bottles filled with so-safe-you-could-drink-it cleaning solutions that many people now proudly use in their homes.
Triple bottom line sustainability is a key driver for Method products, business, social engagement, thought leadership, etc., and the company aims to be very transparent about all of it. You can read about Method’s “greenskeeping” here. One of their accomplishments that jumps out at me is that they created bottles (the world’s first, in fact!) using recycled plastic collected from the ocean. How cool is that?
Now, I’ve seen a lot of “green” product design companies out there. What makes Method stand out from the rest is the way in which it designs it’s products not only to be greener, but to be better. Consumers often think that buying something because it’s “green” means they will have to compromise on other factors like functionality, aesthetics, usability. What the Method guys did so well is that they made a better product that people want to buy regardless of the fact that it’s also environmentally-friendly.
Imagine you are walking down the cleaning solution aisles of Target, with rows upon rows of similar-looking bottles around you. How do you know what to buy? Usually, you’d probably go for something familiar, cheap, or something that smells good. But then you come across the Method line, which clearly stands out because the bottles are visually stunning in form and color. Looking closely, you see they have some very nice fragrances, too. This “cool factor” alone can be enough to make you choose that product over the others…and you haven’t even yet discovered that it’s also healthy and green! Double win! The only issue here for many people is Method’s higher price point. While the price isn’t particularly outrageous, there is a significant market sector that cannot afford such “luxury” cleaning products. Perhaps Methods can play up the health benefits of using non-toxic cleaners, but until that becomes more important than price, or Method can (and wants to) sell it’s products for less, the company will miss out on this market sector.
To conclude, I believe it’s this kind of holistic, human-centered design strategy that will make green products more successful in the market; a design strategy where “green” doesn’t mean compromise, but is rather an additional benefit to an overall better product. Getting consumers to start choosing more truly sustainable products over others can be a good first step towards getting them to make other environmentally-conscious behavior changes.
nudge green 