We believe some of the most inspirational and forward-thinking cases of green design interact with the user to teach about environmental impacts, and tell the product backstory.

Our favorite examples:

1. Prius Dashboard

The Prius Dashboard interface teaches you how to optimize your fuel economy.

2. The Wattson

The Wattson gives a house-level read on power consumption.

3. Background Stories a Dutch student project tells the secret backstory of chocolate.

4. Tiffany Holmes 7000 Oaks and Counting. Takes building environmental performance data out of the control room and into the public eye.

5. Greenplug

A universal power adapter that "talks" to gadgets to determine their energy need.

Our favorite book on the subject: Shaping Things by Bruce Sterling.

If you have other examples, or wish to debate our selection send them this way!

Anderson, Ray. Mid-Course Correction: Toward a Sustainable Enterprise - The Interface Model. New York: The Peregrinzilla Press, 1999.

Benyus, Janine M. Biomimicry: Innovation Inspired by Nature. New York: Harper Perennial, 2002.

Carson, Rachel. Silent Spring. New York: Houghton Mifflin, 1962.

Hawken, Paul. Ecology of Commerce. New York: Collins, 1994.

Hawken, Paul, Amory Lovins and L. Hunter Lovins. Natural Capitalism - Creating the Next Industrial Revolution. Boston: Litte, Brown and Company, 1999.

McDonough, William and Michael Braungart. Cradle to Cradle - Remaking the Way We Make Things. New York: North Point Press, 2002.

Papanek, Victor. The Green Imperative. London: Thames and Hudson, 1995.

Quinn, Daniel. Ishmael: An Adventure of Mind and Spirit. New York: Bantam, 1991.

Sterling, Bruce. Shaping Things. Boston: MIT Press, 2005.

Practical + Solutions-Focused:

Etsy, Daniel C. and Andrew S. Winston. Green to Gold: How Smart Companies Use Environmental Strategy to Innovate, Create Value, and Build Competitive Advantage. New Haven: Yale University Press: 2006.

Fuad-Luke, Alistaire. ecoDesign: The Sourcebook. New York: Chronicle, 2002, revised 2006.

Lewis, Helen, John Gertsakis, Tim Grant, Nicola Morelli, Andrew Sweatman. Design and Environment: A Global Guide to Designing Greener Goods. New York: Greenleaf Pubs, 2001.

Ottman, Jacquelyn A. Green Marketing: Opportunity for Innovation. New York: Book Surge Publishing, 2004.

White, Philip, Louise St. Pierre and Steve Belletire. Okala: Learning Ecological Design. IDSA.org, 2007.

We've got most of these books on hand. If you'd like to borrow, let us know and we'll lend you a copy.

The analysis incorporates all of the inputs and outputs throughout the lifecycle of the product, from design, to raw material extraction, to material product, part production, assembly, sale, use, repair, and final disposal.

This tool can be used by any designer seeking to influence sound environmental choices in the creation of a product, across all disciplines of design: industrial design, fashion design, and graphic design.

The following is a list of resources for those interested in learning about lifecycle analysis.

LCA for designers
EPA Case Studies
Life Cycle Links
Okala EcoDesign by the IDSA

LCA in Europe
The EU has adopted principles of lifecycle analysis into its methods for determining environmental impact of industry
LCA EU guidelines

LCA by industry
Food
Food Climate Action Network LCA case studies
Cleaning Products
LCA at P&G

LCA for beginners
LCA 101
LCA for Mere Mortals
LCA of a CD or DVD links to a PDF
LCA of a cell phone links to a PDF
LCA of a soccer ball links to a PDF

If you have resources to add email j@o2nyc.org