Better Things Materials for Sustainable Product Design

How often have you seen a label on a product proclaiming it to be made from 'recycled material', 'bioplastic' or similar, without it giving any details of the concrete environmental benefits? What do these terms really mean? A drive for greater transparency and demonstrable environmental benefits is happening in product design, through emerging legislation and standards, and consumer demand for more sustainable products and unambiguous marketing.

In Better Things: Materials for Sustainable Product Design, Daniel Liden seeks to tackle the lazy 'greenwashing' terminology we see every day, providing a guide for product designers, manufacturers and consumers wishing to make better and more informed decisions about materials. The book comprises six chapters devoted to material categories - plastics, textiles, metals, ceramics and glass, wood and paper - and a seventh chapter covering emerging sustainable technologies. Each chapter includes interviews with industry experts, as well as photos, diagrams, environmental impact data, general material properties and more.

Daniel Liden is a product designer with a passion for materials and more than more than 15 years' experience working as an independent design consultant, as well as in the design team at Nokia and Lenovo. He currently works with Chris Lefteri, an internationally recognised leader in materials and design, whose current clients include Logitech, Google, BiC and Hyundai. Daniel has dedicated his career to design for sustainability, to a point where a majority of clients now approach him to help them develop sustainable strategies and products.