When designing products it’s important to remember the 3 Rs: Reduce, Recycle and Reuse.

The 3 Rs provide guidance on how to minimise the damage a product does to the environment.

Reduce

Use the least amount of materials and energy when making a product.

Recycle

Use recycled materials and/or materials that can be recycled after use (e.g. untreated papers,

glass).

Recycled materials are those which can be used again in new products. This usually involves

separating the materials into different types and then cleaning and re-preparing them.

Reuse

Use products and components (e.g. containers, electronics, fastenings) that have already been used and/or can be used again in different products.

Disadvantages

While these approaches help save the environment, the 3 Rs can bring disadvantages in terms of:

● increased costs of materials.

● manufacturing and recycling processes.

● products that may not perform as well as required.

However, many of the most successful designs manage to combine environmentally friendly issues with low-cost, quality production.