Guest Column
Echodesign: An opportunity to a clean environment
By M. Sc. Gustavo Lopez- Universidad Autónoma de Baja California
March 27, 2006
Introduction. In the decade of 80's we lived in an atmosphere in which national and international governmental organisms and the private sector showed a great interest on the problem of contamination, taking care to establish mechanism of legislation and control, to regulate companies that threw polluting agents into the atmosphere. This in their time turned out to be some solutions in reducing levels of contamination in the cities with greater population, giving origin to arrive to where at the moment we were, where already we counted on, dependencies in charge of the legislation and protection to the environment, as much at international level as national. As well as the standardized of application for any country, known international norms like ISO-14000, in addition in the last years, which has been developed to a technique well-known as echo-I design, represents the central idea of this work of investigation. It is described of general order, analyzing the city of Mexicali for the application and implementation of echo-I design.
The definition of the term echo design, means that ` I acclimated aid to define the direction of the decisions that are taken in the design. In this process ` is assigned to him to the atmosphere same status' that to the more traditional industrial values: gains, functionality, aesthetic, ergonomics, image and, mainly, quality. In some cases, the atmosphere can even emphasize the traditional values of the commercial scope. The echo design considers the environmental aspects in all the levels of the production process, insisting on obtaining products that cause the smaller possible impact in the ecosystem throughout all their service life. In last term, the echo design leads towards a sustainable production and a more rational consumption of resources. The echo design is a methodology of design of products oriented, to the service life of the product considering the efficient use of the natural resources and that combines the best ones you practice with respect to the innovation, reduction of costs integrating it to the environmental aspects. The echo design also is known like Environmental Product Development (Environmental Product Development, EPD) and has been proven in the United States, Asia and Central America. Its implementation promises to the short term reduction of costs and improvements between a 10-50% and improvement of the negative impact to the atmosphere. To implementation of the echo design it will lead to us to obtain internal and external motivation. The internal motivation an organization to consider in the use of the echo design like part of their process of development and product innovation:
1, The description of the internal motivation. The necessity to reduce costs it leads to us to more efficiently use the auxiliary energy, water and materials during the production.
2, Necessity that the quality of the product is increased; the high environmental quality level elevated the quality of the product in factors such as: functionality, trustworthiness, durability and facilities for its maintenance and repair.
3, Necessity to improve the image of the product and the company; it implies that the image of the product in the market approach towards his environmental quality, a favorable opinion in the surveys to the consumer.
4, Necessity of innovation; the innovation to traverse leads to radical changes at level of the product in himself or its system, with the combination of product, market and technology, penetrating to new markets.
5, Sense of responsibility of the managers; the awareness on the importance of the sustainable development between the managements applying it to the product development, leads to the conservation of the atmosphere. 6, Necessity to increase the motivation of the employees. The motivated personnel is able to help to reduce to the negative environmental impact of products and processes of the company. External stimuli; these impel the environmental improvements in the means in which it operates any company, and the description of the external stimuli:
1, Demands of the market; The great companies no longer
want to assume, the environmental problems and are asking for their
suppliers that specifically demonstrate that their products do not damage
the atmosphere, in addition of which they inform to them on the
environmental aspects of the raw materials and products that give to them.
2., The competitors; The competition between the companies leads them to
implement environmental improvements. Obtaining like result an environmental
performance of the organization at level of its processes and their
products.
3, The government and the legislation; the companies
must foment the creation and implementation of future legislation besides to
fulfill those already established by the
international, national and regional organisms, for elaboration and
distribution of their products offering information related to the
protection to the environment of their products and processes.
4, The social means; the consumers and the society in general, raise exigencies on products and their processes of production. The personnel in charge of the companies as well as their employees must come up on measures of protection in its place of work and on the responsibilities that the company with a assumes the care of the natural resources and the protection of the atmosphere. The companies must assure that their products or processes are guaranteeing the protection to the environment obtaining the credibility and confidence of l society in general.
5, Normalization; the clients are demanding who their suppliers are certified under systems of environmental management, implementing the series of norms ISO 14000, that show to concrete evidence on reduction or elimination of the impact produced on the environment. Elaborating our products using the echo design allows us to reach the objectives and I put environmental that settle down in a system of environmental management.
6, The suppliers; these can be turned promotional
allies of the product innovation and the update of the technologies. The
companies will have to make decisions on the relation with their
dispositions with the atmosphere, those that are prepared to assume the
challenges of the innovation will obtain you compensate, obtaining one
better image, improved their expectations and permanence in the market.
Indicating echoes. They are a parameter that offers information on the
tendencies of the conditions of a phenomenon that talks about problematic
the environmental one. An echo-indicator shows to the rapidity in that
deforests a country (hectares of forest deforested by area of the country),
or the consumption of resources of a productive process (liters of water by
unit of product). The indicating echo must be defined to be able to evaluate
the environmental performance of the management of an organization, the
investments in clean technologies per year. Different ways can be described
from you make an echo-indicator.
Cleaner production. The term of Cleaner Production was accepted in the
World-wide Conference of River like an important step towards the
sustainable development. One of the to begin with more important points is
considered and practical to obtain a sustainable industrial development, it
tells on a basic principle that it says "the contamination that does not
exist does not need to eliminate itself". The Cleanest Production is the
systematic application of an environmental strategy for the reduction of the
negative impact environmental that generates the companies through a more
efficient use of their resources. The cleanest production includes so much
the production processes as the same products, commonly make more emphasis
in the processes. The Cleanest Production contemplates the following
practices: Recycled the internal one; "the less pure" option within the
concept of cleaner production is considered, nevertheless, its
implementation is desirable. The modification of the product: it is obtained
in a reduction of the environmental impact of the product throughout all his
service life. The modification of the processes; in this it practices looks
for to implement good practices in the processes and technological changes.
Echo design in Mexicali. In Mexicali, in the last years it is had been
giving an industrial development, that takes to us to question to us on the
environmental problems, since nowadays, it is a city that does not count
with the million inhabitants and she is already one of the contaminated
cities but of the country. In the city of Mexicali, the echo design must be
taken like a prevention technique to guarantee the sustainable development
of the region. In this city are around 15 companies that have implemented,
Environmental Treatment Systems (ETS) looking for with it to control and to
diminish the negative
environmental impacts of an organization. Becoming attached itself to the
requirements of implementation of norm ISO 14000, for the evaluation of its
processes from an environmental perspective, developing programs that
demonstrate the elimination or reduction of the impact produced on the
environment. In the following picture are the companies which they are
registered letter in ISO 14001 in the state of Baja California, which they
represent 3,9 % of a total of 177 companies certified in all the country,
these are collected data of the Main directorate of Norms, that depends on
the Secretary of Economy of the country. The opportunities of Echo design
appear following the following methodology with the strategies that next are
described: Optimization of the function of the product or service? Selection
of materials of low impact? Improvement in the efficiency of the processes?
Optimization of the production in social and environmental terms? Reduction
of the use of resources during the product use? Optimization of the product
life utility? Optimization of the product remainder and advantage of the
opportunities of the reusability of the product. These strategies represent
an area of opportunity for the companies as much of the industrial sector
and I publish of the city of Mexicali to contribute with the society in
general, for the conservation of our environment, obtaining economic
benefits for their organizations.
Conclusions. The companies in Mexicali that implement the echo design in
their products, will obtain great benefits, reached their objectives and I
put environmental, that these same ones establish, obtaining the reduction
of the amount of materials by product, the use of materials with a reduction
in the cost of energy, designing products that consumes less energy or fuels
during its manufacture and optimizing the life utility of the product, and
mainly the conservation of our environment. The echo design represents to
be, for the companies of the city of Mexicali an innovation technique, with
which it is possible to be had great competitive advantages in a globalize
market. Besides to benefit its prestige with the society, being a company
that takes care to preserve and to take care of the environment. The echo
design, him sustainable development, the clean production but, is techniques
that with a program of integral management along with the systems of
environmental management represent one of the viable alternatives but to
cause the development of the region, in a friendly system with the natural
resources, that as much bring with himself economic benefits for the
companies as the region, preserving our environment.
_________________________________________
M. Sc. Gustavo Lopez is a Researcher in Environmental and Health, Student
of
Doctor Degree, Universidad Autónoma de Baja California, Mexicali, B.C.,
México.
Contact at:
glopezbadilla@yahoo.com
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