Design and Technology: Product Design (9252) | Sources and origins

Welcome to Sources and Origins!

Hi future Product Designers! This chapter, Sources and origins, is fundamental. It asks the critical question: Where do the materials for my products actually come from?

Understanding the source of a material is vital because it affects everything: the cost, the manufacturing process, the ethics of production, and most importantly, the environmental impact of your design choices. Don't worry if this seems tricky at first—we will break down the journey materials take, from the Earth to your final product.

Key Focus: Material Categories and Sustainability

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1. Classifying Material Sources: Natural vs. Synthetic

All materials start their life in one of two main ways, depending on how much processing they need before we can use them.

1.1 Natural Materials

Natural materials are found directly in the environment and require minimal processing to be useful. Think of things that grow or are dug up.

• Examples: Timber (wood), cotton, silk, wool, stone, crude oil, metal ores.
• Important Note: Even natural materials like timber or cotton still require energy-intensive processing (cutting, milling, cleaning) before they are ready for production.

Analogy: If you pick an apple off a tree, you might wash it (minimal processing), but it’s still essentially natural.

1.2 Man-Made (Synthetic) Materials

Man-made materials are heavily engineered. They are chemically changed, combined, or synthesised from raw, naturally occurring substances to achieve specific properties.

• Examples: Most plastics (synthesised from crude oil), alloys (metals mixed together, like steel), composites (materials mixed together, like fibreglass).
• Origin: Often, their source is still a natural resource (like crude oil or metal ores), but the final material is chemically distinct from its raw form.

Did you know? The plastic in a water bottle starts as crude oil, which is drilled from the earth. The oil is then highly refined and chemically converted into polymers (the building blocks of plastic).

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2. Finite and Non-Finite Resources

When we discuss materials, we must consider whether the source can replenish itself. This is the crucial concept behind sustainability.

2.1 Finite Resources (Non-Renewable)

Finite resources exist in a fixed amount on Earth. They are consumed much faster than nature can replace them, or they simply cannot be replaced at all within a human lifetime. If we run out, they are gone forever.

• Examples:
  • Fossil Fuels: Coal, natural gas, crude oil.
  • Metal Ores: Iron ore, bauxite (for aluminium), gold, copper.
• Designer’s Responsibility: When designing products using finite resources, we must prioritise Recycling and Reducing the amount used.

2.2 Non-Finite Resources (Renewable)

Non-finite resources can be replaced or replenished naturally over a relatively short period, often through natural processes.

• Examples:
  • Biomass: Wood (if trees are replanted correctly), cotton, bamboo.
  • Energy Sources: Solar energy, wind power, hydropower (water).
• Important Condition: A material like timber is only truly renewable if it is sourced from a sustainably managed forest (meaning new trees are planted to replace those cut down).

Memory Aid: Think of Finite as Finished eventually. Think of Non-Finite as Never Finishing.

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3. The Journey of Materials: From Source to Factory

Every material, whether natural or synthetic, goes through several stages of production. Understanding this process helps us identify where environmental impact occurs.

3.1 Step 1: Extraction and Harvesting

This is the first stage, where raw materials are taken from their source.

• For Metals: Mining is used to extract ores from the ground. This often involves huge machinery and causes significant habitat destruction and large-scale waste known as 'tailings'.
• For Plastics/Fuels: Drilling is used to retrieve crude oil or natural gas.
• For Timber/Cotton: Harvesting (felling trees or picking crops).

The Environmental Cost: This stage is usually the most damaging to the local environment due to habitat loss, noise pollution, and the large amount of energy required to move earth.

3.2 Step 2: Processing and Refining (Turning Raw into Usable)

Raw materials are almost never useful immediately. They must be processed.

• Metals: Ores are smelted (melted at very high temperatures) to separate the pure metal from the rock. This is extremely energy-intensive.
• Crude Oil: It is heated and refined using fractional distillation to separate it into useful components like petrol, diesel, and naphtha (which is used to make plastics).
• Timber: Logs are taken to a sawmill, milled, and sometimes seasoned (dried) to make them dimensionally stable.

Analogy: Imagine baking a cake. Extraction is finding the raw ingredients (flour, sugar). Processing is mixing them, kneading the dough, and getting it ready for the oven.

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4. Sustainability and Material Life Cycle

As product designers, our job is not just to make something functional, but to make it responsibly. This means thinking about the entire journey of the material—known as the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA).

4.1 Life Cycle Assessment (LCA)

LCA is the process of analysing the environmental impact of a product from "cradle to grave."

1. Raw Material Extraction: (Energy use, pollution, habitat loss).
2. Manufacture and Processing: (Energy use, water pollution from factories).
3. Distribution and Packaging: (Fuel used for transport).
4. Use and Maintenance: (Energy used by the customer, e.g., charging a phone).
5. Disposal or Recycling (End of Life): (Landfill impact or recycling processes).

4.2 From 'Cradle to Grave' to 'Cradle to Cradle'

Traditionally, products followed a Cradle to Grave model—a linear path where the product is extracted, manufactured, used, and then thrown away (landfill). This is wasteful and unsustainable.

Modern designers aim for the Cradle to Cradle concept. This is a Circular Economy model where the product is designed specifically to be recycled, reused, or composted, ensuring the materials stay in use and generate zero waste.

4.3 The Six R’s (Responsible Design Strategies)

These guidelines help designers minimise environmental impact by changing their approach to material use and product structure.

• 1. Rethink: Can I design this product in a completely different, more sustainable way? (E.g., using a service model instead of selling a disposable product).
• 2. Refuse: Refuse to use highly polluting or non-recyclable materials. (E.g., refusing to use PVC plastic).
• 3. Reduce: Use fewer materials and components. Make the product smaller or lighter.
• 4. Reuse: Design the product or its packaging to be used again for the same or a different purpose. (E.g., jam jars becoming storage containers).
• 5. Repair: Design the product so that broken parts can be easily fixed or replaced, extending its life.
• 6. Recycle: Use materials that can be processed and used again as a new raw material. Ensure the product is easy to disassemble into recyclable parts.