Blog

Here you can see our vision about design and sustainability, with posts that describe the methodology we follow, the design criteria we consider is necessary, some interviews and articles that media dedicates to us and some projects and initiatives that we consider a reference.

COP26 - Why we all have to take action

These days COP26 is held in Glasgow, with a gathering of more than 120 world leaders and a total of 25,000 people expected to attend to keep up with the negotiations after the world leaders have left.

With the current national targets (NDC's) the situation would result in a 16% increase in emissions, far from the 45% cut needed. That's why the negotiations of these days are so important to remain under the 1,5ºC increase that experts point as the security limit.

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How can sustainable design contribute to the European Green Deal goals?

In a moment when our society has received signs that changes are necessary, with the pandemic showing that we are too dependent on sectors that don’t bring added value, and scientists advising about the environmental crisis that is about to come, Europe is preparing a plan supposed to transform our economic model into a more circular and sustainable one. But how can design help to implement these changes?

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Some thoughts about the crisis

Surely it is still too early to analyze what is happening these days, we have neither the perspective nor the cool head that a few months of routine will give us. Even so, and at the risk of being wrong for not waiting a couple of months, we have some thoughts that we want to share. These thoughts completely go beyond the field of design - although they may be related to it - but they do have a direct relationship with sustainability and our model of society.

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Formaldehyde, a hidden compound in your furniture

Formaldehyde is a chemical compound widely used in building materials, paints, adhesives, furniture, fabrics, and even cosmetics. One of its most common uses – around 64% of the applications of formaldehyde according to TURI - and the one that hits closest to home for designers, is in composite or pressed woods such as particleboards, fibreboards, and plywood. Most commonly in the form of urea-formaldehyde resin, this compound is found within adhesives used to join wood laminates or particles. Formaldehyde was first introduced for this purpose in the 1950s, but its usage has been regulated since then due to the negative impact on human health. 

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Nutcreatives S.L.
Part of the problem or part of the solution

COP25, the international conference about climate change organized by the United Nations, is currently being held in Madrid with the assistance of 197 countries. After the signing of the Paris agreement at COP21 four years ago, this event will involve an update of the action plan designed then: to maintain the temperature increase below 1.5 degrees, to achieve the neutral carbon footprint by 2050, greater transparency and ambition of countries in terms of the commitments they make about climate change, and to favour climate finance with a sort of Green Climate Fund among others.

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Honourable mention in the Catalunya Ecodesign Prize 2019!

Yesterday our armchair design NOEM Carl was awarded with an Honourable Mention at the Catalonia Ecodesign Award 2019!

These prizes are organised biannually by the “Department of Territory and Sustainability” and the “Catalan Waste Agency”, and recognize the products and services, whether they are in the market or they are still in development, which seek to improve their environmental impact and extend their life cycle. Products that, with a functional design, break with the idea of buying, using and throwing and, instead, bet on minimizing their impact on the environment and health.

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Restoration or rethinking

A really popular swedish brand presented few months ago a new set of curtains produced with a fabric that absorbs co2 thanks to a process comparable to photosynthesis. We have no idea about the exact amount of co2 that this material is capable to absorb, but it seems a great idea. Anything that contributes to improve wellbeing in our homes must be considered a step forward. We also appreciate and admire innovation and novelty, and new materials are one of the most important areas of learning, because to be aware of a new one and to apply it properly can make better any project. Many of the advances that have been made in our history have been thanks to new materials, and you only have to look at the age of bronze, the iron one, or the so-called age of silicon to realize, so well done guys!

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The solution of packaging

What can design do to solve the problem we presented in our previous post? A lot. Like we always say, design alone can just take small steps, we need companies (our clients) scientists and engineers (our colleagues) and specially consumers to make a real impactful change. Nevertheless, design has a strategic role which can show the way to the other actors in the scene.

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The problem of packaging

We are not the first to say that in a global reality where there are increasingly more competitors, the image of a company is a key factor that must be controlled to send the right message in the intended tone. Consumers want to be identified with the brands they buy, so companies better care about how they present their products.

But packaging is not only a question of image, it is what protects what you want to sell, what the consumer sees in the store, what helps you to use the product in the right way and which completes its -generally short- life cycle by being recycled in the best of cases, or what ends up in a landfill or the sea being eaten by a fish or creating islands of waste in the worst of them.

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