How To Increase Sustainability In Your Product Design

Julie Starr • July 12, 2024

Embracing sustainability in your product design not only caters to the growing consumer demand but also positions your business as a responsible entity. This shift in consumer trends can make your product more appealing to your target audience and significantly reduce your environmental impact.


As a business, you have the power to shape the market. By investing in areas that align with consumer demands, you can ensure that you deliver exactly what the customer wants. This is not just about profit; it's about responsibility and influence.


To incorporate sustainability into your product design, here are some suggestions that can help you meet sustainability goals and ensure your product appeals to the 78% of consumers who want more sustainable products (source: Nielsen IQ)


Consider the Lifecycle Of The Product

It's not just about the end product but the entire journey. From the production of raw materials to end-of-life disposal, every step matters. By understanding and optimizing each stage, you can reduce your carbon footprint and make a significant impact on sustainability. 


Understanding the lifecycle of your product is crucial. It starts with producing raw materials, energy consumption in design, transport emissions, product longevity, repair needs, and end-of-life disposal. This knowledge empowers you to explore more sustainable options, thereby reducing your overall carbon footprint.


Use Sustainable Suppliers

A great way to reduce waste and consumption when making your products is to partner with other companies with the same ethos as you. Ask about their sustainable practices and policies. If they are making changes and adaptations to how they work to become more sustainable or working towards sustainability goals, this will further impact and increase your own efforts, too.


Think Durability

The more durable a product is, the longer it's likely to last and the less chance there is for it to end up damaged or in a landfill and rendered unusable. When designing your products, weigh the pros and cons of materials. For example, while you might not initially think using durable foam to make products is particularly sustainable, the fact it can last, is hardwearing, and retains its functionality over long periods can still make it a viable option for your products.


Use Recycled and Renewable Sources

The more you can make use of materials already in circulation due to be recycled, the fewer new materials have to be sourced to meet your demands. Commit to moving towards using recycled or renewable materials, such as recycled plastics, paper, cotton, and bamboo, or switching your energy to renewable sources to create your products or power your facilities. Your company will be more environmentally friendly by making these changes. Marketing your products based on the changes in the materials you use can further boost your eco credentials and support the changes you are making.


Make It Recyclable

Not only do you need to use as many recycled and renewable sources as possible, but it's also important to ensure that your products are easy for the user to recycle. Is it easy to identify recyclable parts? Do you make it clear what can and cannot be recycled and how? The easier it is for your products to be sorted into the correct recycling initiatives, the more sustainable they will be even after they are no longer being used for their initial purpose.

5 Everyday Items That Can Quietly Boost Your Brand

By Julie Starr • July 17, 2025
The best branding doesn’t always come from big campaigns or expensive graphics. Sometimes it’s the smaller stuff that leaves the biggest impression. Things people actually use, touch, or carry with them. That’s where your brand can quietly make its mark without needing to shout about it. If you’re only focusing on social media and business cards, you’re leaving a lot on the table. Here are five overlooked ways to get your name out there that feel natural, useful, and more personal. Thank-you slips If you’re already sending out orders, there’s no reason not to include a short thank-you slip. You can easily get these made through any decent online print shop , and they’re usually pretty cheap to run off in small batches. Just a simple note that says thanks, maybe with a reminder to follow you online or a cheeky discount code for next time. It’s quick, thoughtful, and makes the whole order feel more finished. Customers notice that kind of detail, especially when everything else they buy online comes with zero personality. You don’t need a complicated design either. Just something clean with your logo, a message that sounds like you, and maybe a social handle. The point is to give them a reason to come back or remember your name without it feeling forced. Branded zip pouches If you sell physical products, offer services, or run events, small zip pouches are surprisingly effective. Think of the kind you’d use for stationery, receipts, or travel bits. You can get your brand printed on the side and hand them out with purchases or include them in welcome packs. People keep them because they’re actually useful. They get tossed in handbags, school bags, or glove boxes and your logo just keeps turning up. Cleaning cloths for glasses or screens This one works brilliantly if you’re in tech, health, beauty, or anything involving screens or eyewear. A simple microfibre cloth with your branding on it can go a long way. Everyone needs one. Whether they use it for glasses, a phone screen, or their laptop, it’s something they hang onto. It’s not the kind of thing people throw away, and that means your name sticks around too. Receipt envelopes You might already use little envelopes to hand over receipts or business cards. Branding those envelopes is a small change that makes a big difference. Instead of someone getting a scruffy bit of paper in a plain sleeve, they’re handed something that feels a bit more finished. You can even add a message inside. Doesn’t need to be anything dramatic. A simple “thanks for visiting” or “see you next time” is enough to add a personal touch. Wet wipes or mini hand gels If your business is in hospitality, food, or anything hands-on, branded wet wipes or pocket-sized hand gels are surprisingly popular. People actually use them, especially at festivals, food stalls, pop-ups, or kids’ events. They end up in handbags or cars and stick around longer than you think. They don’t scream “marketing” either. They’re practical, and when done right, they make your business feel thoughtful. That’s what good branding does, it shows you’ve thought ahead.

How Student-Led ‘Energy Audits’ Are Cutting School Costs (and Lighting the Way Forward)

By Julie Starr • July 14, 2025
What happens when students stop waiting for adults to fix things and start conducting their own energy audits? Money gets saved. The lights get switched off. Data gets analyzed. And a quiet revolution in sustainability begins—inside schools that once overlooked their own inefficiencies. Across the globe, student-led energy audits are proving that change doesn't always need to come from a policy shift or a major capital budget. Sometimes, it begins with a clipboard, a spreadsheet, and a group of curious minds asking: Why are the hallway lights on at noon when sunlight floods the building? The Energy Detectives These audits aren’t science fair projects. They’re rigorous investigations, often done in collaboration with facilities staff, local environmental nonprofits, or even engineering mentors. Students go from classroom to classroom measuring electricity usage, checking for phantom loads , and identifying where heat is escaping in winter or air conditioning is leaking in summer. One high school in Ontario saved over $12,000 a year after its Grade 11 physics students ran an energy audit and suggested simple changes—LED upgrades, motion sensors in bathrooms, and smarter heating schedules. They didn’t just propose ideas. They pitched them with spreadsheets, thermal images, and payback timelines. It worked. Learning That Pays Off—Literally Unlike textbook learning, these audits blend real-world math, environmental science, economics, and persuasive communication. Students aren’t just learning about sustainability. They’re doing it. And the savings add up. From dimming overlit hallways to reprogramming HVAC systems that run all weekend for empty buildings, students are surfacing blind spots that administrators often overlook. In some districts, their findings are influencing energy policy. Elsewhere, the audits have inspired school boards to hire sustainability coordinators—often alumni of the student programs themselves. There’s something poetic about a school funding new books or laptops from money saved by students who found out the vending machines didn’t need to be plugged in 24/7. Why This Matters More Than Ever With education budgets tightening and utility costs rising, every dollar saved is a dollar that can go back into classrooms. And here’s where it gets interesting from a family finance perspective, too. If you’re a parent setting aside money for post-secondary savings, every bit of school efficiency helps. Fewer energy costs might mean more programming, better STEM facilities, or even bursaries. That raises a broader point: when families save for their children’s future, they often look into RESPs (Registered Education Savings Plans). And many wonder—is a RESP deduction available on my taxes? While contributions themselves aren’t deductible, the gains grow tax-free, and students often pay little to no tax when they withdraw the funds during school. A Movement Worth Replicating These audits aren’t just an exercise in environmentalism. They’re leadership labs. Students learn how to spot inefficiencies, speak up in board meetings, and make a business case for change. They don’t just flip switches—they shift mindsets. And they carry these habits into adulthood. The result? A generation growing up not only with climate anxiety, but also with tools to tackle it.