Take a wander around the Eco Design Christmas Fair at the Truman Brewery this weekend, (28th – 29th November 2009) to see some fresh new designs and meet the artists and makers who are moving the Eco and Ethical design movement forward. There’s also the chance to fill up your basket with Eco Christmas presents too for your friends and family!

It is with great pride that we are now launching the O2 Sustainable Design Network in the UK, so that others may use this network to share news, information, connect and to build up the United Kingdom’s Sustainable Design Collective .

We hope that this network will enable a universal voice to emerge across the UK. Informing, educating and raising awareness about sustainability within the Art and Design World.

“Design is a plan for arranging elements in such a way as best to accomplish a particular purpose”.

Charles Eames

It covers the key introductory principles of sustainable design and asks why there are so few examples of genuine Design for Sustainability when the need for it is so clear and urgent.

The online store helps foster three-way relationships between designers, producers and consumers, putting all three parties in direct contact and eliminating the problem common to high street stores that consumers are far too removed from the realities of the products they buy to make informed purchasing decisions.

The system works as follows:

1. Designers register and upload their own product designs, together with manufacturing instructions and specifying their royalty fee
2. Producers identify products that they can manufacture and register themselves as producers with details of manufacturing time and cost
3. Consumers browse the online store, identify the products they want to buy, and can select their preferred manufacturer based in whatever is important to them (e.g. price, location, timescales, working practices, quality etc).

The great thing about the concept is that all three parties can interact directly with each other, providing better products and services, and enabling consumers to make informed choices based on the issues that really matter to them.

The concept still needs development to turn it into a viable long-term business proposition, but it’s a superb proof of concept so keep an eye on it at www.WeFab.org.

The Postcode Lottery Green Challenge is a worldwide challenge for people who can instigate change – creative, innovative thought leaders and their organisations.

They’re looking for products and services that contribute to an eco-friendly lifestyle, directly reduce greenhouse gas emissions and score highly on convenience, quality and design.

Running for its 3rd year, the competition is offering €500,000 to the company with the best product or service to tackle climate change.

Get your design hats on, and visit www.greenchallenge.info for more information.