Too many people, too much stuff

On Friday I went up to London to go to a couple of events on the theme of sustainability that were connected to the London Design Festival. As part of the Festival there was a programme of events under the banner Greengaged, raising the issue of sustainability in design, across all its disciplines. Some really interesting issues were discussed at the events I attended, and I'm sure I'll be coming back to them over the next few weeks. But the first topic that was raised in the first presentation I went to (by Peter Madden of Forum for the Future) really laid out the challenge that faces us all. It's the fact at the heart of sustainability: there are too many people, with too much stuff.

In the 60s the world population was 3 billion. Now it is 6 billion. By 2050 it is estimated it will be 9 billion. If the world's population lived the same lifestyle as we do in the UK - with our cars and gadgets and houses and food and all the other stuff we take for granted - it would take 3 planet earths to provide the resources required to support it. 3 planets. We've only got one. The demand is increasing, but the capacity to meet it is limited.

So mankind needs to be more efficient - the phrase Peter Madden used was 'radically more efficient'. We need to use less to make more. We need to make things last longer. Then when we've finished with them, turn them into something else. It's going to take a huge shift in our expectations, but what's the alternative?

The message at the heart of the presentation was that designers need to step up to meet the challenge. But I think everyone can take a look at themselves and see what they can do - at home and at work. What can you change? Who can you influence? That was certainly our motivation when we launched Today and Tomorrow, but this presentation certainly got me thinking about what else we can do.