I think a lot of sustainable lifestyles is thinking about the “cradle to cradle” concept. You have to think about a product from the time you design it, to production, use, and waste. Leyla talks about life cycle thinking in her TED talk. This concept is also talked about in the fashion and sustainability reading. Leyla goes further into economic problems in design based on waste we produce. Our refrigerators are supposed to keep our food good longer, but our veggies still end up soggy and rot in in a week. We need phone for communications, but we WANT a new iphone each time the new one comes out. That just leaves our old phone in our junk drawer. She also points out our energy usage as being quite excessive for little things like making tea. Back to cradle in fashion… We as fashion wannabes NEED to have the latest trends. So therefore our clothes get thrown out within a year because there something else to wear in the new seasons. We as consumers don’t need to just rely on designers to make us longer lasting clothes, but also don’t give in to the new fads and demand more of the old. As designers we need to think about long lasting design, production, use, and disposal with little burden to our environment. In doing this we lessen the effects of obsolescence. Western culture also provides more incentives for “cradle to cradle”. Our culture is all about MORE MORE MORE. But it doesn’t have to be. In wanting more we create higher consumptions which leads to limiting economic activity, larger inputs of energy and material, higher waste content, and high extraction of natural resources. In western culture maybe we should focus more on biophilic design which is thinking about nature first and loving it. Design should reconnect people with nature and create and instinctive bond. Things like nature in the space, natural analogues, and nature of the space are great design tips to encourage biophilia. It’s all about design within the environment in consideration throughout the whole process and afterlife. My wicked problem is actually implementing sustainable materials into commercial and residential areas which falls into some parts of biophilia. AS a designer I need to research where my materials come from so that I don’t support manufactures that are harming the environment in any way, shape, or form.There has to be a way to implement nature loving products and also provide great design and aesthetic. That will be my sustainability journey, to find this and live for it. Currently, I’m just learning about these detrimental environmental problems that just my field is causing. It’s very eye-opening about how much the world is declining.