Chapter 1 Understanding design
The Design of Sustainability:
Turning Useless into Useful
Dana Vogt
In the wake of the 21st century, sustainability has become an incredibly pertinent
buzzword and sustainable action is growing in popularity at an exponential
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rate. “Recycle more, use fluorescent bulbs, drive a hybrid car, eat local, use public
transportation”—we hear these phrases every day as a means to convince us
to lead more sustainable lifestyles. The popularity of sustainability and sustainable
development seems to have emerged in recent response to the climate crisis
that many believe is occurring at an unprecedented rate. Although sustainability
has been an important term for many decades, much recent media, including
Al Gore’s film and book An Inconvenient Truth, have stressed the importance of
sustainability and responsible energy consumption. Over the past few years,
there has been a push to make people more aware of the implications of their
actions on future generations as ideas about sustainability and sustainable
development have become increasingly popular.
The term sustainable development has existed since the mid-1980s when the
Brundtland Report was published, which focuses on sustainable development
and the political means through which this development shall happen.1 In this
report, sustainable development is defined as “development that meets the
needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to
meet their own needs.”1 With recent issues of climate change and global warm-
The Design of Sustainability Dana Vogt
ing, the idea of sustainable development is incredibly pertinent. Generally, we
are beginning to realize the effect that we have on planet Earth and the idea of
our ecological footprint has increased in relevance. An ecological footprint is a
means of measuring human demand on nature and compares human consumption
of natural resources with the planet’s ecological capacity to regenerate them.2
As human population grows and natural resources dwindle, we need to become
increasingly aware of the impact of our choices.
Designers play a big role in helping people make conscientious choices because
designers are creating the products and graphic media that people are exposed
to every day. It is these products and media that influence how consumers make
choices, so the way in which ideas about sustainability translate to design are
very important. Designers hold much of the responsibility for creating new and
innovative products while simultaneously considering social responsibility and
environmental ethics. Many of the tenants of sustainability can be translated to
product design, like using recycled or recyclable materials, for example. In the
past few years, product and industrial design have been profoundly influenced by
recent issues of sustainability. The design community has responded to these
emergent environmental and social pressures through the creation of concepts
such as eco-design, sustainable design, and design for sustainability.3
 Chapter 1
John Stayton, the co-founder and director of a Green MBA program makes an
important point regarding sustainability and product design in a Business Week
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article entitled “From Garbage to Gold.” He states, “There are so many products
generated in our culture. Consumers are encouraged to purchase more and more,
but what happens to all those products? Without being mindful of the final
destination, we are going to end up with a world full of junk. We need companies
that are creative and innovative and will take products out of the waste stream
and turn them into something new.”4 Ideas about how to create products that
will not contribute to a world full of junk are important considerations in
sustainable product design.
Since the emergence of industrial design as a practice in the early 20th century,
the role and expertise of the designer has evolved with that of manufacturing.5
Now, in addition to considerations of manufacturing, sustainability is of major
importance as environmental awareness in product design becomes more
relevant. The integration of these tenants into one design approach proves to be
wchallenging. It is useful to approach the problem of sustainability and product
design in a way that considers how functional objects might be designed and
created in ways that are compatible with the principles of sustainability. Eli
3
Reich of Alchemy Goods did just that.
Understanding design The Design of Sustainability Dana Vogt
It started in Seattle when Reich’s messenger bag was stolen.6 He needed another
bag, but wanted one that was waterproof, environmentally friendly, and aesthet-
ically pleasing. It is not completely surprising that this ideal bag did not exist.
Reich realized he had, in his own house, the means to make it exist. Being an avid
biker, he had lots of old bike inner tubes lying around. And so the first messenger
bag (that would later be the foundation of Alchemy Goods) came to life through
the creative use of old inner tubes and other bike parts.6
Upon wearing the bag around, Reich received many compliments and some of his
friends wanted a bag of their own.7 A local Seattle bike store then expressed
interest in the bags as well. The demand for the recycled messenger bags was
Clockwise from far left:
continuously growing, and Reich had to make a decision. At the point when The Alchemy Goods workshop (image courtesy
he had 20 bag orders, he decided to leave his day job as a consultant for a wind of Patrick Sullivan and Alchemy Goods), a
bundle of banners to be made into Ad Bags,
energy firm. Prior to leaving his job, he was making bags in his off-time during reused soymilk cartons used as parts containers
evenings and weekends, during which he could make about one bag per week.
When Reich had 20 bag orders, and upon realizing that this would take him
20 weeks (almost half a year) he decided that it was time to pursue bag-making
as more than just a side project and Reich founded Alchemy Goods in 2004. He
did not know how it would all turn out, and Alchemy Goods’ first year was not self-
sustaining. Ultimately though, what started out as a project out of Reich’s small
 Chapter 1
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The original Messenger bag uses old inner
tubes and seatbelts to create a functional and
aesthetically appealing bag, using 73 percent
recycled material.
Understanding design
basement has turned into a company that employs six people in a workshop in
the SoDo district of Seattle.7 Reich admittedly yet condemningly declares,
“So to whoever it was that stole my messenger bag, you were the inspiration for
my imagination. But don’t steal. It’s not nice.”6
Alchemy Goods’ motto is simple and straightforward, “turning useless into useful,”
and mirrors their overall ideology. Alchemy Goods is taking something that was
previously valueless junk and making it into something of value that people can
use and feel excited about using. The company stresses ecological value as holding
the utmost importance, as opposed to economic value.6 Alchemy Goods’ ideology
reflects the growing movement of environmental consciousness and sustainability.
Alchemy Goods’ name and logo are used to reflect and reinforce this sustainable,
recycling ideology. Alchemy, as defined by Merriam-Webster Dictionary, means
two things— 1: “a medieval chemical science and speculative philosophy aiming
to achieve the transmutation of the base metals into gold, the discovery of a
universal cure for disease, and the discovery of a means of indefinitely proloning
life” and 2: “a power or process of transforming something common into something
special.” Both of these definitions can be translated to the process of creating
8
bags out of recycled material because they both talk about creating something
The Design of Sustainability
of value out of something common. Applying this definition to the name of the
company helps to emphasize the ideology of turning useless into useful. The
logo purposely looks like an element of the periodic table containing the initials
of the company, Ag. The number in the upper right corner of the logo represents
the percentage of recycled material in each product. All products are created using
at least 73 percent recycled material, and some use an even higher percentage.
The original Alchemy Goods product was the Messenger bag (73 percent recycled),
and after getting feedback from users the refined Messenger bag became a
bag called the Urban. The Urban contains a front zipper pocket and more recycled
7
content (76 percent recycled), through the reduced use of reflective tape. The
Dana Vogt
Left: the Haversack is a smaller version of the
Messenger bag without reflective tape, using
72 percent recycled material.
Right: the Ad Bag uses old banners from
around Seattle and is created using 96
percent recycled material.
Haversack (73 percent recycled) is a smaller version of the Messenger, maintaining
the same aesthetic using the same materials, inner tubes and seatbelts. The
Ad Bag (96 percent recycled) is unique because it uses different materials than
the other three bags. It is a large shoulder bag created from printed banners
around Seattle. Other products include wallets, can openers, and zipper pulls.6
The Messenger, Urban, and Haversack bags all use the same materials—inner
tubes and seatbelts as the recycled components and reflective tape, Velcro,
lining, and buckles as the non-recycled parts. The recycling coordinator of Alchemy
Goods manages all the collection of recycled materials, including inner tubes,
seatbelts, and the banners for the Ad Bag.7 The inner tubes are supplied mostly
 Chapter 1 Understanding design The Design of Sustainability
by local Seattle bike shops, including Recycled Cycles and Gregg’s Cycles, although
tubes have been collected from over 300 shops throughout the country. Reich
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stated that the company tries to avoid shipping tubes from far distances for both
environmental and economical reasons, but said that it is hard to reject recycled
tubes. The tubes are shipped to the workshop or picked up by the recycling coor-
dinator biweekly and the seatbelts are collected from junkyards monthly.7
After collection of inner tubes, they are sorted by width into bundles of 20. Once
7
the tubes are sorted, they are inflated and inspected in order to check for holes
punctures in order to ensure each bag is durable and strong, since the inner tubes
become the bag exterior. Each inner tube contains unique qualities like patches
or text that contribute to the individuality of each bag. The valves are cut from the
tubes but are saved and reverted into zipper pulls that get sewn onto the bag
later in production. The tubes are then cut open, thrown in the washer and drier,
and stitched together to create the bag’s durable, waterproof, exterior shell.
Originally all production occurred within the company’s workshop, but demand
has grown exponentially so the sewing is now outsourced to a local, Seattle
sewing shop. Just like the inner tubes, the seatbelts are inspected to ensure the
highest possible quality. They are then cleaned, spread open and integrated into
the design of the bag. The seatbelts are cut with a heat cutting machine to prevent
Dana Vogt
frayed edges. The seatbelt becomes a wide, nylon strap that distributes weight
more evenly than typical shoulder straps. The seatbelt as a shoulder strap is
especially comfortable because the place where a shoulder strap rests is the place
where a seatbelt naturally sits on your body.
It is important to note the difference between these recycled bags and other
products made from recycled materials, like cups using a percentage of post-
consumer recycled content. These recycled products are created from recycled
materials but require multiple intermediate steps to change the materials
into the desired product. Alchemy Goods, on the other hand, takes old junk from
bike shops and junkyards that is then directly converted into the product. Old
inner tubes are collected, cut, and sewn together to form the exterior of the bag.
Seatbelts are cut from cars and sewn into the strap. Alchemy Goods creates
a product that does not require alteration of the original material; the product is
ultimately junk that has been cut and sewed together. Alchemy Goods bypasses
the process of producing toxic by-products by using materials in the rawest form
and converting the materials directly into products.
Once the bags are complete, they are sold in various bike shops around Seattle and
Washington, Oregon, California, Pennsylvania, California, Montana, and Japan.
 Chapter 1
Something exciting happens with the locality of recycling and selling when inner
tubes from different bike shops are used and then the tubes return to those
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bike shops in the form of a bag to be sold (as opposed to dumped in a landfill). The
stores benefit because they are able to recycle used junk, which then returns as
an attractive, recycled product. Customers begin to understand and appreciate
the recycling process because the bags are sold in the same place from where
the materials come. Because the bags are converted directly from junk to product
without altering the original form, consumers can see the process happening
before their eyes, which raises consumer awareness.7 Reich stated that although
Alchemy Goods doesn’t have a formal mission statement, the goal of the
company is not only to create products out of recycled material, but also to change
how consumers make choices. Making a link between junk and product is an
important connection for consumers to make in order to change how choices are
being made, and that link is successfully embodied in Alchemy Goods’ products.
It is interesting to observe where similar things in product design are happening
elsewhere. freitag is a company that was started in Zurich, Switzerland that
creates products comparable to those of Alchemy Goods. It was founded by two
graphic designer brothers who wanted a bag that was tough, functional, water
resistant, and aesthetically pleasing (like Reich).9 They were inspired by the highway
Understanding design The Design of Sustainability Dana Vogt
strip in front of their apartment, and sewed a bag together using an old truck tarp. consumers. This is significant because the consumer buys an environmentally-
Just like Reich’s first bag, the bags were unintentionally a hit and freitag was friendly product that contributes to the discourse and ideas that are generated
12
founded. They are made from almost all recycled materials (truck tarps, seatbelts, and exchanged about our world. The creation of these products constructs a
inner tubes, and airbags) and each bag contains a unique design. 9
generation of people who will undoubtedly be more aware and tuned in to the
importance of considering issues of sustainability. Additionally, the role that
The fact that companies like these are beginning to spring up around the globe is consumerism plays in either counteracting or embracing the principles of making
very important, especially today with the increasing importance of sustainable environmentally conscious choices are embodied through products like these.
design. Not only are these companies creating valuable products out of materials Ultimately, Alchemy Goods has created a product that helps consumers in Seattle
that would otherwise be in a landfill, they are also contributing to the movement and elsewhere become more aware about issues surrounding sustainability
of sustainability and responsible product design. The role of the designer is and has contributed to the dialogue that is only beginning to surface. 1. Adams, William Mark. Green Development: 5. Walker, Stuart. “A Journey in Design - an
Environment and Sustainability in the Third Exploration of Perspectives for Sustainability.”
changing in light of new social and environmental responsibilities. Designers have World. London: Routledge, 1990. The Journal of Sustainable Product Design. 2
a huge amount of potential to slow the rate of environmental degradation and (2002): 1-2.
2. Charter, Martin, and Ursula Tischner.
the power of designers is catalytic. Sustainable Solutions Developing Products and 6. “Alchemy Goods.” 2007. Alchemy Goods
Services for the Future. Sheffield, UK: Green- website. 21 Oct. 2007 <alchemygoods.com>.
leaf Publication, 2001.
When products like those produced by Alchemy Goods are part of the spectrum, 7. Reich, Eli. Personal interview. 6 Nov. 2007.
we see that the culture of design and role of the designer is physically changing 3. Sherwin, Chris. “Design and Sustainability.”
The Journal of Sustainable Product Design. 8. “alchemy.” Merriam-Webster Online Diction-
to embrace new responsibilities. These products are beginning to initiate dialogue 4 (2004): 1-4. ary. 2007. http://www.merriam-webster.com
about what is happening in our world, which is something incredibly significant. (18 Nov 2007).
4. Perman, Stacey. “From Garbage to Gold.”
The products that are emerging are helping the consumer to understand how they Business Week. (17 Aug. 2006). 1 Nov. 2007 9. “freitag.” 2007. freitag website. 4 Nov.
can contribute to the sustainability movement through certain choices as < http://www.businessweek.com/smallbiz/ 2007 <http://www.freitag.ch>.
content/aug2006>.