Lesson video

Hello there, my name is Mrs. Dhami.

Thank you for joining me for your design and technology lesson today.

Now, the big question for today is: how can decisions for the distribution stage of the circular economy help to reduce the environmental impact of a product? Now, we're gonna explore this with some absolutely amazing products designed for the developing world.

So, hard hats on.

Let's get cracking.

Our outcome for today is we will be able to explain how decisions for the distribution stage can reduce the environmental impact of a product.

We have four key words today: "distribution," which is the process of getting a product from the manufacturer to the stakeholders; "circular economy," which is where products and materials are kept in circulation and do not become waste or become very minimal waste; "carbon emissions," which is the volume of carbon produced, contributing to global warming; and then lastly, "design opportunity," which is a gap or a need where a new or improved product would be beneficial.

We have two learning cycles today: distribution and investigation.

So let's get cracking with distribution.

The circular economy can be defined as an economic system where products and materials are kept in circulation and do not become waste or become very, very minimal waste.

And the diagram in the bottom right shows that very, very clearly, with the waste stage being much smaller than the other stages.

At the distribution stage.

So we are zooming into that distribution part now.

At the distribution stage, decisions can be made to reduce the environmental impact, so let's explore them.

These decisions include: location of manufacture; transport choices, such as fuel choices or green fleets or aerodynamic vehicles; and then packaging decisions, perhaps the ability for a product to be flat-pack, stacked, or disassembled; and then, obviously, the material choices that go with that packaging.

And we'll explore each of these in a bit more detail as we work our way through.

These decisions may be the result of a life cycle assessment, often abbreviated to LCA.

LCA, life cycle assessment, is where the environmental impact is assessed at every single stage of the product's life cycle, with the aim to reduce the environmental impact.

Transportation itself creates huge amounts of carbon emissions, often with products travelling long distances between manufacture and use.

Now, carbon emissions is one of our keywords today.

Let's remind ourselves of the meaning of carbon emissions.

So, carbon emissions are the volume of carbon produced, which contributes to global warming.

Therefore, locating manufacture close to where the product will be sold reduces the travel and therefore reduces the amount of carbon emissions, lowering the impact on global warming.

There is a choice at the distribution stage for considering how to power a vehicle.

So examples include diesel; petrol; hybrid, which could be diesel and electric, or more likely to be petrol and electric; or full electric vehicles; or green fuels.

Now, Andeep says, "What are green fuels?" Let me explain on the next slide.

Let's take a look, then, at a few examples of green fuel.

We'll start with bioethanol.

Bioethanol is made from corn, sugarcane, or plant waste.

It's often mixed with petrol and used in cars.

Benefits are that it's renewable and lowers carbon emissions.

We then have biodiesel, which is from vegetable oils or animal fats.

It's often used in diesel engines for cars or for trucks.

It reduces carbon emissions and, obviously, fossil fuel use too.

Then we have biogas.

This one always makes me laugh.

This one's made from food waste, sewage, or manure.

Imagine the smells with making that.

It's often used for heating, cooking, electricity, or vehicle fuel.

It's therefore made from waste, so it's got low carbon emissions.

We move on to hydrogen fuel, which is basically from water via electrolysis.

It's used for fuel cells for cars, buses, or trucks.

And the benefits are it only emits water vapour.

And lastly, we're gonna look at algae fuel.

It's made from fast-growing algae, and it's used for.

Well, it's been developed for planes, cars, and industry.

Benefits are it's got high yield and low land use.

What amazing alternatives there are.

Green fleets are groups of vehicles that are designed or managed to reduce environmental impact, and they do that in a variety of ways.

So first of all, switching to biofuels or low-emission fuels such as electric, hybrid, or hydrogen-powered vehicles, just like what we saw on the previous slide.

Improving fuel efficiency through route planning and driver training.

We all know that sometimes we can go the wrong way and cause a much, much longer journey, or get off at the wrong exit on a motorway that causes so much more travelling.

We've all done it, but route planning and driver training really helps with green fleets.

Then we have monitoring emissions and setting sustainability targets.

Therefore, green fleets help reduce carbon emissions, air pollution, and fuel consumption.

They receive encouragement from the government through subsidies, tax reductions, and exemptions or discounts from charges in clean air zones.

So if you think of like London, the capital city, there are charges if you go into the middle for a certain vehicle, so that means green fleets will not be charged that, and they will be allowed to travel through.

Next time you're travelling on the motorway, have a little lookout for an aerodynamic lorry.

They look quite futuristic.

So aerodynamic lorries are trucks that are designed or modified to reduce air resistance, otherwise known as drag, while driving.

This improves the airflow, reduces the fuel use, and reduces carbon emissions, therefore increasing efficiency.

So let's take a closer look.

They have roof fairings, which are curved tops.

They have streamlined cabs; no extra space there.

They have side skirts, which are panels that cover the gap under the trailer.

So to stop the air going through sideways, instead, it directs the air underneath lengthways instead, which therefore reduces that air resistance again.

And lastly, they have a tapered rear end or boat tail, and it's that with the roof fairings that make them look quite futuristic in comparison to lorries that are not aerodynamic.

Time for a quick check-in: Which environmentally friendly methods can help reduce the environmental impact during the distribution stage? We have A, green fleets; B, manufacturing close to sales; C, aerodynamic lorries; and D, increasing the number of small individual deliveries.

Have a think.

Come back to me when you've got some great answers.

Well done if you've got A, B, and C.

Green fleets, manufacturing close to sales, and aerodynamic lorries all help reduce the environmental impact during the distribution stage.

Design decisions often need to be made at the design or redesign stage to then impact the distribution stage, such as ability to be flat-packed or making it stackable, or packaging requirements and choice of packaging materials.

Quite often, these decisions can't just be made at the distribution stage because they will have needed to have been put into the actual design of the product.

So it's that forward thinking.

Imagine having a big cardboard box that fits this office chair into.

Only one.

Imagine that one chair fitting into that box.

Now, have a think: what could you do to that chair to make more than one chair fit in that box? Have a little think, perhaps talk to the person next to you.

Pause the video; come back to me when you've got an idea.

So welcome back.

Hopefully, you have figured out that if you disassemble that chair, take off the arms, take off the back, remove the wheels, you could actually fit more than one chair into that one box.

Maybe you can't quite fit six like I've put in that picture, but you'd fit at least two or three if you disassembled it.

Therefore, you'll be able to transport more in one box than you could if it wasn't disassembled.

So, reducing the size and weight of products means that more can fit onto a ship or lorry, reducing the amount of transportation and consequently the amount of carbon emissions.

So, design decisions include using lightweight materials.

Perhaps we could make that chair a bit more lightweight.

But then also designing products to be flat-pack, self-assembly, or stacked.

Quick check-in: Without disassembling, which chair is a good example for sustainable distribution? So we have A, the deck chair; B, the office chair; and C, the polypropylene chair.

Have a little think.

Pause the video; come back to me when you've got an idea.

Well done if you manage to get A and C.

The deck chair, as you know, can quickly fold down, and you could fit lots of them in a big box or the back of a lorry.

And then the polypropylene chair, you might actually be sat on one of those as we speak.

They can easily be stacked, which means, again, you can fit more onto a lorry than if they were not stackable.

Then the office chair, if you read the question carefully, it said, "without disassembly." Well done, folks.

Have you ever had a home delivery where you've opened the box thinking, "Ooh, I wonder what this is," thinking it's gonna be something massive, and then inside is the smallest of products? We always laugh at that in our house.

So, packaging can be excessive.

This could be minimised to reduce overall size of parcels to be distributed and consequently reduce carbon emissions because more would be able to fit into that lorry.

Packaging material decisions also impact the environment.

So polymers such as bubble wrap are now being replaced by more eco-friendly options such as shredded recycled paper; mushroom packaging, that's a really cool one; wool; and then biopolymer air pillows.

So there's a real, real shift and a real change in the type of packaging materials being used so that they can be more environmentally friendly and have less of an impact on the environment.

Onto task A.

Part one: I'd like you to match the fuel to the source.

So we have bioethanol, biogas, hydrogen, biodiesel, and algae fuel.

So the descriptions are these.

We have: Produced from used cooking oil; made from water using electricity; comes from organic waste; uses fast-growing aquatic organisms; or made from crops like corn.

Try and sort out the fuel to the source.

Good luck.

Come back to me when you've got some answers.

Let's take a little look at our answers.

Biodiesel is produced from used cooking oil.

Hydrogen is made from water using electricity.

Biogas comes from organic waste.

Algae fuel uses fast-growing aquatic organisms. And bioethanol is made from crops like corn.

Part two: I'd like you to identify three methods that can reduce environmental impact at the distribution stage.

Then, part three: choose one method and explain how it reduces environmental impact.

Good luck.

Come back to me with your answers.

Your answers could include, for part two: Three ways that can reduce environmental impact at the distribution stage include using green fuel, designing products to be stackable or flat-pack, and efficient route planning for a driver.

Part three: I asked you to explain the environmental impact of one of those.

So aerodynamic lorries are specially designed trucks that reduce air resistance when driving.

They often have smooth, rounded shapes, side panels, and roof covers to help the air flow over them more easily.

This means the engine doesn't have to work as hard, so the lorry uses less fuel.

Using less fuel helps the environment by cutting down on pollution and carbon emissions.

It also saves money for companies because the trucks are more fuel-efficient.

Aerodynamic lorries are a smart and eco-friendly way to improve transport.

Onto my favourite learning cycle now: investigation.

This image is an image of a refugee.

Now, what I'd like you to do is: what does the word "refugee" mean? I'd like you to discuss that with the person next to you, or perhaps as a class.

Pause the video.

Come back to me when you've had that discussion.

Let's bring ourselves back together.

Refugees are people who have been forced to flee their home countries due to war, persecution, or violence.

They often seek safety and protection in other countries, hoping to rebuild their lives in peace.

Shelter and accommodation is not always available or affordable.

This creates a design opportunity.

Now, "design opportunity" is one of our keywords today.

Let's remind ourselves what it means.

A design opportunity is a gap or a need where a new or improved product would be beneficial.

So, what could be the solution to this design opportunity? What I'd like you to do is have a little think now, either by yourselves, with the person next to you, or perhaps as a class.

What products are out there already, other than a tent, that could solve that design opportunity? Or what potential products could be designed to help solve that design opportunity? Pause the video.

When we come back, we'll look at an existing amazing solution.

Better Shelter responded to this design opportunity.

In partnership with the IKEA Foundation and the UNHCR, which is the UN Refugee Agency, Better Shelter developed safe and dignified shelters for displaced people.

Equipped with solar panels for lighting and phone charging, this increases safety and allows connectivity, allowing family members and family friends to be able to connect with each other and let them know that they are safe.

The image on the left shows a zoom-in, close-up shot, sorry, of the shelter, and then the picture on the right shows a whole village of these shelters.

What a fantastic design.

Let's look at it in a bit more detail on the next few slides.

Better Shelter provide a modular design, which can be combined with different options.

So it's the main kind of skeleton of the shelter, but then it can be covered with tent covers for affordable emergency cover, but it can also be covered with pre-made panel system, which is a lot more secure.

And then it can also be covered using local building materials.

Three options right there with the modular design.

Using locally sourced building materials based on the region can increase the shelter's durability, allowing it to be upgraded or expanded into semi-permanent housing in certain areas.

This avoids carbon emissions in transporting further materials to cover it.

And you can see in this image, this local community is using their local resources to make it into a more permanent house.

What a wonderful idea.

One of the selling features of IKEA products is that they can be flat-packed, so you can take them home in your car yourself rather than having to get a lorry to take them home, and that they also use standardised connectors and standardised components.

The same goes with Better Shelter, hence the collaboration with IKEA.

So the Better Shelter can be packed into a flat-packed box just like that image shows.

If you think that expands up into a massive skeleton of a shelter, yet it can condense right down into that flat-packed box, making it really easy for transportation and enabling lots of them to be transported at once.

Then the standardised connectors, they're great because they're really easy to put together, just like IKEA furniture is.

Anybody can put those together as long as they've got a few standard tools.

And that's the same with those shelters.

They don't require specialist tooling, they don't require specialist parts.

It's all standardised connectors.

So Better Shelter's smart, modular, easy-to-assemble design allows it to be flat-packed, maximising the number of units transported at once.

This reduces the need for multiple shipments, which lowers transportation requirements and consequently cuts carbon emissions.

What a great design decision to lower the environmental impact.

When the shelter is no longer required, it can be easily disassembled and transported efficiently to people in need.

Therefore, it extends the product's life and helps the impact of it move on to more people in need.

And again, because it can be flat-packed and because it uses those standardised connectors, it means it can easily be taken apart but easily reassembled again.

What a great concept.

Let's take a look at Better Shelter's impact.

91,250 shelters have been manufactured and distributed to people who need them.

87 countries have been reached and supplied with shelters, and a whopping 456,250 people have benefited from these shelters.

And I imagine when you are listening to this, that number has already risen from the time that I recorded this.

Wow, isn't it incredible? But not only that, they don't just provide shelter for communities, for families, for people, but also they provide healthcare and education facilities with their fantastic modular system because they can be adapted for different uses.

What an amazing charity providing amazing work around the world.

Time for a quick check-in: Which of the following is not a sustainability benefit of Better Shelters' distribution design? Is it A, flat-pack design reduces carbon emissions? B, modular parts allow for efficient storage and delivery? C, local assembly reduces global shipping needs? Or D, shelters are delivered fully assembled to save time? Have a think.

Come back to me when you've got an answer.

Well done if you got D.

D says shelters are delivered fully assembled to save time.

We know that that is not true.

They are designed purposely to be flat-packed so that more can be transported in one go.

Time to explore another product and another design opportunity.

So in 1991, the designer Trevor Baylis watched a programme about the spread of the virus HIV in parts of Africa, which can lead to the condition AIDS.

Baylis noticed that in some rural parts of Africa, the dangers of spreading a virus could not always be communicated because some communities could not read healthcare literature and did not have access to electricity to access TV or radio messages.

Baylis identified a design opportunity.

This is Trevor Baylis on the left-hand side.

Now, Trevor Baylis addressed this design opportunity by inventing the first wind-up radio.

And you can see a picture of that wind-up radio on the bottom left.

Wind-up is an example of a renewable energy source.

It doesn't need batteries; it doesn't need to be plugged into the mains.

The mechanical energy from winding the radio winds up a spring.

As the spring slowly unwinds, the radio plays.

Let's take a listen now as Baylis explains his idea to us.

<v Trevor>A great honour to participate in this,</v> what, 21st-century challenge.

My name's Trevor Baylis, and perhaps you may not know, but I invented the wind-up radio.

People often ask me, "How did it all come about? It was pure chance.

I happened to be sitting here, where I am now, in fact, looking at my television, and I could have been watching "Come Dancing" or "The Golden Shot," but in fact, I was watching a programme about the spread of HIV/AIDS in Africa.

And this was really, really dramatic.

And I almost turned it over to another programme.

But I listened long enough because they said the only way they could stop this dreadful disease cutting its way through all these people was with the power of information and education.

But there was a problem.

The most effective way to get information to people was through radio.

But alas, alas, because most of Africa doesn't have electricity, the only other form of electricity was in the form of batteries, which were horrendously expensive.

People were bartering their maize and their rice in order to obtain batteries.

And where do you get batteries? So I'm just sitting here thinking about this, and then, well, very instantly, I can imagine myself in the old days when we used to have a wind-up gramophone with a big horn on the top, and I thought, "Look, hang on, hang on.

If you can get all that noise by dragging a rusty nail around a piece of old Bakelite using a spring, surely there's enough power in that spring to drive a small dynamo, which in turn would drive a radio." And then, because my workshop out here, my studio, as I call it, is the graveyard of 1,000 domestic appliances, I was able to find a cheap transistor radio and a small DC motor, which I realised, when run in reverse, becomes a dynamo.

And I put that into the chuck of a hand brace, I turned the handle, having joined the two wires to the back of that cheap transistor radio, and I, in fact, generated first bark of sound.

And that was within the top half hour of watching that amazing programme on television, and that really is how the wind-up radio got started.

<v ->Wow, I just love this design.

</v> What a fantastic design from such a simple idea that helped to educate and change the lives of so many people around the world.

Let's take a look at the benefits of the wind-up radio.

It reduced the effect on the environment by using renewable sources of energy and therefore not producing harmful carbon emissions.

It educated communities unable to read and write, and without access to electricity.

It reduced the spread of dangerous viruses by informing local communities.

And it empowered isolated or rural populations by giving them access to news, education, and government updates.

What an amazing impact of one product.

Let's zoom into the distribution stage of the circular economy and relate that to the wind-up radio.

So Baylis chose to manufacture his wind-up radio in South Africa to support local employment, particularly for people with disabilities.

He also chose to manufacture in South Africa to ensure the product reached the communities that he actually designed it for, so it didn't end up going off to other parts of the world.

Manufacturing the radios closer to their primary users, he significantly reduced the need for long-distance transportation, which, in turn, reduced carbon emissions.

Not only is it a wonderful design, but the decisions for the distribution stage have such positive effects on local communities and the environment.

Incredible.

Time for a quick check-in.

The wind-up radio designed by Trevor Baylis focused more on form than function.

Remember, "form" relates more to aesthetics, "function" the way that something works.

Is that statement true or is it false? Come back to me when you've got an idea.

Well done if you got false.

And why is that? Baylis's main focus for the wind-up radio was on the functionality of producing electricity without the need for batteries or mains-powered sources.

Form was definitely secondary after function.

Onto task B.

Part one: I'd like you to choose a product designed to support developing countries and explain how it reduces its environmental impact at the distribution stage.

Part two: I'd like you to select an existing product currently sold as a fully assembled item.

I'd then like you to redesign it to improve its efficiency for transport and storage by making it either flat-pack, stackable, or more lightweight, whilst maintaining its functionality and aesthetic appeal.

Good luck.

I can't wait to see what you come up with.

Answers could include, for part one: Better Shelter is a product designed to support displaced communities in developing countries by providing safe temporary housing.

Its flat-pack, modular design allows multiple units to be transported efficiently in one shipment, significantly reducing the number of trips needed and lowering fuel consumption.

This helps to cut down on carbon emissions during the distribution stage, making it a more environmentally sustainable solution.

Part two.

Sofia redesigned a lamp so that it could be compact for distribution, reducing the amount of packaging required and enabling more to be transported at one time, therefore reducing carbon emissions.

Sofia looked around for inspiration, and she found a toy.

This toy giraffe, as you can see, becomes smaller.

Let go, and it becomes full size.

And Sofia thought, "Do you know what?" I'll have a go at putting that into the design of a lamp." Let's see what she created.

Sofia used sketches and annotations to explain her idea.

Here on the left, we've got the lamp in use, and there's that giraffe providing the inspiration.

Here's the lamp retracting, and let's take a little closer look at how that works.

It works with a little stop mechanism, so you can see it's kind of a pinky-redy little ball.

If you pull that cord and move that little ball to the other side of that little stopper, it means that the lamp then is straight because the cord is pulled straight and it goes up.

When you release that little ball, it falls down just like the giraffe, and you can see that it could then easily be compacted so the stem of the lamp could go into the top part of the lamp so that it compacts down for distribution.

Therefore, more can fit into a box; therefore, more can fit into a lorry.

It reduces the amount of transportation required for a large amount of lamps.

Great idea, Sofia.

This brings us to the end of our lesson today.

Let's summarise what we have found out.

At the distribution stage of the circular economy, decisions can be made to reduce the carbon emissions and environmental impact, including location of manufacture; transport choices, such as fuel choices, green fleets or aerodynamic vehicles; packaging choices, so the ability to be flat-packed or stacked or disassembled; and the material choices for packaging too.

Better Shelter, in partnership with the IKEA Foundation and the UNHCR, developed safe and dignified shelters for displaced people that can be easily assembled from a flat-pack design and then reassembled where the next need is.

Trevor Baylis designed the wind-up radio for communities without access to electricity and located manufacture close to primary users to reduce the environmental impact.

Well done with all of your hard work.

I hope you've enjoyed this lesson, and hopefully we'll see you in another one soon.

Take good care.

Bye, bye, bye.