Dissolvable Eco Wedding Dress Tests Marriage’s Sustainability
SHEFFIELD, United Kingdom — A dress designed in collaboration between fashion and engineering students leads to a greener gown for (indoor) nuptials. Students at Sheffield Hallam University in the United Kingdom have created five dresses that dissolve in water as a way of highlighting the issue of clothing waste in the U.K. — where 1.5 million metric tons of clothes ...
Editor's Pick
Public Works Department Goes Gold with Green
Public works departments strive to keep their cities and villages clean, green, and attractive. Departments that incorporate sustainable strategies into their facilities reap benefits: improved operations, reduced energy costs, improved ...
Virtue Rewarded: Design and Social Innovation Prizes
Every year, vast sums rain down benevolently on people working in design and social innovation. Here we describe nine awards programs that regularly bestow cash prizes of $100,000 ...
For Kids: A Nutrition Education Publication
Problem: Childhood obesity numbers are at an all-time high in the United States. For the first time in history, the next generation has a shorter projected lifespan than their parents. ...
X Endless: Neil Conley’s Sustainable Carbon Fiber Composite
Neil Conley, a Coroflot member and a 3-D design graduate of Northumbria University, has developed a sustainable carbon fiber composite, entitled "X Endless." The project relies on a ...
Helping Companies Avoid Excess: A Business Opportunity for Designers
There are few things more irksome than needless waste—in design (over-packaging) or elsewhere (cable modems with no “off” button). I have a particular obsession with reducing electricity usage—I ...
Worker-Owned Tara Books—A New Model for Publishing
In Hindi and Sanskrit, the word tara means “star,” and in the crowded galaxy of book publishing, Tara Books, based in Chennai, India, has a resplendent ...
What is Design?: Redefining a Better Future
Historically, designers have been known for their expertise in form, space, drawing and color. Today, they are sought after to design solutions for problems beyond artifacts—they have a strategy to ...
Guimeraicinca’s SunRed Solar Moped Concept
The armadillo-like SunRed solar moped concept features a cool way to cover the bike up when it's parked: a retractable shell covered in solar panels. When you're ready ...
Mobile Apps That Sustain Livelihoods
In India, mobile phones have changed lives. They have empowered people and provided livelihoods. Almost every self-employed professional in rural India has one, or is saving up to buy ...
Alimentando el Futuro
My name is Marlene Franco and Alimentando el Futuro (Feeding the Future) is my MFA Graphic Design Thesis Project for the Academy of Art University. Alimentando ...
The Revival of Main Streets
The Project for Public Spaces has a great new web feature up highlighting some of their work in improving older commercial streets, ...
Shanghai: A City of Two Tales
I’m writing this en route home from Shanghai, where I’ve spent most of the past week touring, visiting, meeting, and experiencing this Asian megacity for the first time. The occasion ...
About Living Principles
The Living Principles for Design aim to guide purposeful action, celebrating and popularizing the efforts of those who use design thinking to create positive cultural change.
This is the place where we co-create, share and showcase best practices, tools, stories and ideas for sustainable design across all disciplines.
Help us move the conversation, the industry and the world.
Explore the Framework
Ambassadors
Gaby
Brink
Nathalie
Destandau
Brian
Dougherty
William
Drenttel
Ric
Grefé
Lynda
Grose
Phil
Hamlett
Joel
Makower
Andrea
Mangini
Nathan
Shedroff
Adam
Werbach
These are just some of the great minds (and faces) behind The Living Principles. Join us now and speak yours.
Except where otherwise noted, content on this site is licensed under a Creative Commons
Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License.
Site by Tomorrow Partners