Additionally, Bakker introduced the conference to a line of fashionable clothing called Kuyichi (that is, "rainbow") manufactured in Latin America in decent working conditions and using organically grown cotton and no child labor. Created by one of Europe's largest fair-trade organizations, Solidaridad, the clothes will sell for a bit more than Levi's, but they will come with an e-tag and a CD-ROM containing information about the product.
Even when market demand doesn't spur innovation, the heavy hand of government often does. Bakker spoke about a European program called Take it Back that compels electronics manufacturers to collect consumer products when they've become obsolete. Each year, she said, Europeans produce around 6 million tons of waste containing electric and electronic equipment -- everything from mobile phones to computers. That volume is projected to double in the next 12 years.
The WEEE (Waste of Electrical and Electronic Equipment) directive says that producers have an obligation to finance the recycling and management of that waste -- even if it means raising prices. The United States, she said, is the only developed country that doesn't have a policy on such products.
Concern for cost and resource efficiency has spurred innovative thinking in the Netherlands and elsewhere in Europe. For example, Greenwheels, a car-sharing program in Rotterdam, lets residents "borrow" a car when needed, instead of owning one outright. The program, Bakker said, has been used by some 25,000 people in 7 years and has resulted in 22,000 fewer cars on the road.
Bakker also touted Swedish designer Jan Dranger, who created a well-made inflatable couch that uses 83% less resources than an upholstered version and that takes up 10% less space to transport and warehouse. It's available through IKEA, and is inexpensive, durable, and environmentally sound.
Jens Bernsen, a principal at the Danish firm Bernsen Design Strategy, suggested that participants take a moment to ponder the conference theme by asking themselves a series of questions: If your PC were to crash, what data would you most want to retrieve? If your house were burning down and you had two minutes to get out, what would you save? If you learned you had a terminal illness, what would you do with your remaining time?
In the end, he said, life is about choices. And when it comes to design, the big question is, "What do we choose to design?" Bernsen urged his colleagues to design products that are not just possible, but useful.
Pointing to the invention of the typewriter and the PC, Bernsen noted that product design can change history and predicted that biotechnology will be the primary force shaping the coming century.
Communications design consultant Ralph Caplan suggested that good design, made for a specific client, can achieve universality. Padded vegetable peelers, originally designed for arthritic hands, have been a boon for all home cooks. Likewise, the "serenity prayer" designed by Alcoholics Anonymous has similar universality, even for teetotalers. "The serenity prayer tells us that designing your life doesn't mean it always comes out the way you planned," he said. "You control what you can and try to allow for forces beyond your control."
Caplan concluded by quoting the playwright William Saroyan: "It takes a lot of rehearsing for a man to be himself." You keep at it until you get it right, Caplan said. "When it comes to your life, there's no such thing as design. There's only redesign."
Linda Tischler (ltischler@fastcompany.com) is the Fast Company managing editor of new media.
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