Environmental Protection and Green Design under Modern Civilization

Abstract: The development of modern industrial civilization and high technology has greatly improved human life. However, the excessive development and use of resources has also caused environmental pollution and deterioration. For this reason, the awareness of human environmental protection has become increasingly strong. Countries around the world are actively working to prevent and control environmental pollution. How to effectively protect the green environment on which we depend has become an important issue in human society. "Green Design" is responsible for the rational and effective use of resources, reduction of waste and sustainable development, and has opened up a whole new field; "Green Design" represents a new concept, new method, and new means. New value orientation. Its design concept is actually related to the balance of the earth's ecology and is related to the vital interests of everyone. Its contribution to and influence on future generations and the entire human society is immeasurable. It is a rational human being in the process of evolution and development. One of the signs of maturity. This article studies and discusses the concept, value orientation, approach and method of green design.

Keywords: green design environmental protection recyclable value orientation sustainable development

The vigorous development of modern industrial civilization and high technology has greatly improved human life. However, while enjoying the results of modern civilization, people cannot avoid the negative impact on the overexploitation and utilization of resources. The pollution and deterioration of the environment has hit us one step at a time. For this reason, humanity has become increasingly aware of environmental protection. Countries around the world are actively working to prevent and control environmental pollution. "We only have one earth" is a wave higher than a wave. How to effectively protect the green environment on which we depend has become an important issue in human society.

"Green Design" has established a brand-new field by using resources rationally and effectively, reducing waste and sustainable development. "Green design" represents a new concept, new method, new means and new value orientation. It is one of the hallmarks of human beings' rationality and maturity in the process of evolution and development. This article studies and discusses the concept and value orientation of green design, and approaches and methods of green design, in order to facilitate an objective understanding and grasp of it, and to promote the further development of this discipline.

I. Concepts and Values ​​of Green Design

"Green design" is a design that preserves the green environment of the earth. It can also be called a design that does not destroy the earth's resources and does not harm the environment in which people live. Advocating and implementing green design is to incorporate environmental factors and pollution prevention measures into product design during the design phase, establish systematic and sustainable development strategies and guidelines, and explore and reveal human industrial development and society rationally and profoundly. The relationship between civilizations effectively and reasonably alleviates the conflicts between the industrialized society and the living environment under high technology and develops environmental protection and green products.

These have great impact on human society, especially traditional values. It means that it is necessary to abandon the blind goal of the so-called "social affluence" and to stop the waste of resources and the unilateral demand for promotion and consumption stimulation, so as to form a responsible, healthy and effective value concept for human society and ecological resources. Evaluation System. For this reason, it requires designers to start from the design ethics, carefully study the entire process of the new product's life cycle, and consider the impact of the new product on the natural environment and human beings in the whole process of production and use.

In addition, consider the consequences of product disposal and the feasibility of handling. For example, in the field of industrial design, the design of the items should comply with the principle of 4R's green design resource recovery system - REDUCTION, REUSE, RECYCLING, and REGENERATION. The implementation and promotion of the 4R principle has a substantial impact and effect on the civilization and progress of human society, and on the improvement and protection of the ecological environment. At the same time, it is also the inevitable return of design to “nature and truth”. Regarding the problem of human living environment, Howard, a famous British sociologist, put forward the theory of "idyllic cities" that was compatible with nature 100 years ago. In 1930, L. Corbusier proposed the "green city", and in the 20th century, The emergence of "eco-city" and so on in the West is based on the desire for greenness and nature. Its concept and awareness not only have a major impact on the urban planning sector, but also have a profound impact on the entire design field.

In particular, the “United Nations Conference on the Human Environment” held in Stockholm, Sweden, in the 1970s, and the International Conference of Industrial Design Societies held in Taipei in 1995 clearly put forward an extremely important topic: explaining the true meaning of design and Our lives are infused with new life and seek for ecological balance and new development for the earth that humans inhabit together. In recent years, the British government has strongly advocated the concept of "redesign", which is to make designers really understand and realize that green design is the most powerful and most attractive means for enterprises to participate in competition in the 21st century. In the redesigned exhibition organized by the British Council of Culture, human protection of resources, nature and the earth was mentioned first. The concept and essence of its design is: the best product design is to save energy, save time, effort, and no pollution; the best material is materials that can be easily recycled and recycled; the best technology is non-toxic during the production process Harmful, easy to recycle and recycle.

For example, the development of “pollution-free energy sources”, the research and utilization of solar energy, wind energy, hydropower, and geothermal energy, and the new generation of electric vehicles, solar cars, and hydrogen-fired cars are preparing to enter the market in the near future. At present, in some developed countries in the world, the environmental balance of the environment is protected through government legislation, and "green products" and "environmental protection products" are advocated. For example, the German government has legislated that production TV companies must recycle their products before they are allowed to produce, giving birth to green TV sets, and their parts and components recovery rate is above 90%. In June 1997, Germany announced the establishment of a recycling system for waste discs throughout the country, which will be recycled for use in computers and automobile manufacturing. Not only that, the “Blue Sky Enforcement” plan implemented by the German government grants the “green product” logo to those products that have no harm to the ecological environment and consumer health during production and use. For non-green products, strict restrictions are imposed on imports and exports. In order to promote the enterprise to environmentally friendly production and product transformation. And mobilize the people’s understanding of the concept of green products and consumption guidance, so as to form an increasingly large number of green consumer groups. Its purpose is: to refuse to use non-green goods. It is not difficult to assert that in the development process and competition system of the global economy in the 21st century, whoever designs and produces green products will have a market in the new century. This may be the inevitable choice for “sustainable development”.

Second, the green design of the methods and methods

Green design, as a means of safeguarding the human and the earth's ecological environment, requires the participation and cooperation of the entire society. In particular, the government should guide and guarantee the legislation, and urge the enterprise to systematically pay attention to the injection of green design concepts from the concept of product development. And pay attention to many problems in the design, the main ways are as follows:
First, in the product design, the use of materials that harm the environment or materials that are not easily recycled can be avoided as much as possible. For example, the use of foamable plastics, such as those that are difficult to recycle, difficult to reconstitute, and difficult to destroy, should be avoided, and materials that can be organically incorporated into the environment and ecology and that can be recycled or regenerated easily should be avoided.
Second, save as much material as possible in the design of new products, and fully consider the energy saving issues in the process of production and household consumption. Be careful with biodegradable materials and try to make the designed product reusable.
Third, on the premise of not affecting the use of functions, products should be as short, small, light, thin and multi-functional as possible, abandon unnecessary decoration, eliminate excessive packaging, promote simplification, effectively reduce consumables, and save resources. Green design is a purposeful method of designer care and protection for human and ecological resources. It abandons immediate and temporary utilitarian interests, and looks to the longer-term future and development. Therefore, when there is a conflict between the cost benefits of designing and developing products and environmental protection, the green design principle should be adhered to as the selection criteria.

As a designer, it is especially important to establish a strong green and environmental outlook on ethics, career, and design, make green design a conscious awareness, and agree fast-paced professional habits, strive to promote the concept of green design, and guide business and consumption. The recognition of green environmental values. Designers in the process of green design, the main methods are the following three: First, modular design. It is based on a certain range of functions based on different functions or the same function, different specifications of the product for functional analysis, based on this, divided and designed a series of functional modules. Through the selection and combination of modules to form different products to meet the different needs of society. This design method can not only solve the contradiction between product variety and specification, product design and manufacturing cycle and production cost, but also can quickly replace products, improve the quality of products, facilitate maintenance, and facilitate the disassembly of products after their disposal. Recycling provides conditions for enhancing product competition.

The electronic industry in the world today is more and more popularized in this way. The second is circular design. It is a means and method used to implement generalized recycling, that is, when product design is conducted, full consideration is given to the possibility of recovery of product parts and materials, the value of the recovery value, the recycling treatment method, the recycling processing structure, and so on. A series of problems to achieve the full and effective use of spare parts and materials resources and energy is a design method with the least environmental pollution. The third is sustainable design. It involves the development of the nation's future and the development of future generations sharing resources with it, and how it can reduce the burden on the entire planet while ensuring product functionality. The basic operation method is to promote the development of the related service system while improving the efficiency of the product: to examine the necessary functions of the product for the user and to prolong the life of the product; to design the sustainable development of the entire system of the product, It is more important than the design of the product itself. The focus of sustainability products is on the analysis of external factors that affect the product life cycle. At a certain level, green design may not pay much attention to aesthetic performance or narrow design vocabulary, but it emphasizes the principle of minimizing material consumption, emphasizing the use of recycled materials and making efforts to use natural materials, and giving positive effect to modern design and environmental protection. The influence, its design concept, and practical and practical relations to the balance of the earth's ecology are related to the immediate interests of everyone. Its role for future generations and the entire human society is very significant.

Tang Shujuan, School of Art, Central South University Source: Art and Design