POD sites, climate change and sustainability with Roger Vaughn
Hi folks! Welcome to the second part of my interview with Roger Vaughn, the artist behind bugeyefly designs.
Last week we talked about his initiative - #designersforfuture.
Today we are taking the conversation a bit further by touching on the relationship between POD sites and sustainability. As well, we are highlighting resources for designers looking to take action on climate change.Enjoy!
(I had originally planned on including this question as part of the interview last week. However, I thought Roger's response was just too brilliant and thought provoking, so I pulled it out to highlight separately here.)
Hi Roger! In an interview I did with Alexandra Michiardi (Tristan & Zoe) she said:
I am having a really hard time at the moment with... where I would like my business to go, because I really want to contribute to the world positively. It’s such a difficult time for us all as consumers and citizens. I am a very conscious buyer and all my life decisions have involved a deep reflection on how I want to live. It’s important that my business is aligned with my values. But I still don’t have an answer to how to make it happen?
I'm curious what your thoughts are on this. I have been reluctant to post my stuff to POD sites as well because I'm just not sure we all need more "stuff".
I agree, more stuff is not the way forward. The problem isn't really stuff in itself, it's the nature of our consumption patterns over the last few decades. It's been uncapped - the attitude (which has been formally written into our economic system) has been that we can leave this tap running and that someone can be paid later to clean-up our mess.
It seems to me that this problem can and should be looked at as primarily an economic one. The value/cost of the things we buy has fallen so low that we treat everything as disposable. Again, this has been quite explicitly expressed as a desirable goal - unlimited growth and unfettered expansion. We need to restore value to the things we consume. The costs need to reflect the costs to others involved in the production chain, as well as the costs of damage to the world around us. Those costs should, in fact, be so high that none of us can afford things which destroy people's homes, people's health, rob them of their rights and freedoms or damage the planet to the point where the future our species is thrown into doubt! We went the other way - costs fell and fell and fell for us while they rose, often unseen, for others.
I'm thinking this implies relocalization of production and a turn back towards artisanal goods and those which are built to last, not built to fail.
I don't have a simple answer for you about what to do about putting work on POD sites. I struggle with it myself. I'm trying to use more sustainable options where they exist. I will lean on POD suppliers to become more sustainable and work towards improving sustainability in my own supply chain. When people ask me I usually say 'survive first, then figure out how to do what you need to do.' Choice is a privilege and the privileged should exercise those choices where they can.
In short, it's not you, it's capitalism. We have to survive within it while we work against it. It's a process. And I've never done a job that doesn't in some way feel compromised.
Let's have a
:
"If this movement doesn't have room for people who have not figured out how to completely extract themselves from this economy that dominates all of our lives, then it's going to be a very, very small movement. So I think we do need examples of people who are figuring it out, but my thesis is that it's not going to happen unless we have systemic change, unless we have change at a policy level, so all of this stuff that focuses on our individual behavior is largely a distraction."
Examples of Roger's work
Roger, you've given us a lot to think about. Where can we go to learn more and to connect with organizations make a difference in this space?
Here's a list:
Long-term campaigners who have always been focused on the right issues. Those leading the charge here include authors Bill McKibben and Naomi Klein. I highly recommend Klein's 'This Changes Everything', which I haven't finished yet myself but will do shortly! It's a sobering dose of reality on the one hand, but also a tonic for those lean towards feelings of hopelessness when confronted by these issues. She makes it very clear that we're going to have to restructure things comprehensively, mostly in very positive ways. I said to my friends a few months ago that the solution to this nightmare looks a lot like a dream - it's social justice, it's equity, restoration of nature, planet before profit, moderation, consideration for others and so on. Klein's book drives home the details of all of this.
Natural Climate Solutions (site no longer active)
Very new, but I'm expecting this to be a big part of what we'll have to do: stop hacking away carelessly at the world around us and help planetary systems to restore themselves. A reversal of deforestation and so on. I'm not sure what this organization has to offer those who want to be actively involved right now, but I am watching with great interest.
Bees. If you're looking for something easy to do at home and you have a garden or any kind of outside space, supporting bees and insects and other wildlife is a great idea. There are similar organisations all over the world now. I need a lot of help with my gardening, I have no green thumbs!
A network of people who came together around the idea of taking direct action in groups to attempt to force change. My own view is that this was tactically a good plan, and the first round of actions seem to have been quite effective. There's been quite a lot of critique too, but it was the direct action aspect that interested me - being polite and asking nicely didn't see to be getting us anywhere. (Emissions are still rising in spite of decades of work and warnings.) I see a lot of genuine responsiveness to the critique too, so I'm very hopeful about the future of this group.
This organization (and others like it) which are supporting indigenous groups around the world in their fights against climate change are fairly new to me. I'm only just starting to understand how important it is that we understand the intersection between all these things. For example - logging in the Amazon puts indigenous groups on the frontline of the battle against climate change because stopping deforestation is stopping the destruction of carbon sinks. When forests are cleared what is the land being used for? Among other things, to grow crops that are turned into products sold in our own markets. Our consumption patterns are intimately connected with indigenous rights. Organizations like this may ask us to do things, so we can listen and help.
There are thousands more organizations all working in slightly different but related areas. I can't even begin to scratch the surface. But I am happy to try to help people with figuring out what they can do. Just talking to those in your circle about these things is incredibly valuable.
Roger's headshot
Want to see more of Roger’s work? You can visit his website
or find him on Pinterest.