CSI................. i mean CSR

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)

According to our UK government, corporate social responsibility (CSR) is about how business takes account of its economic, social and environmental impacts in the way it operates – maximising the benefits and minimising the downsides.”

Many companies endorse to the principles of SCR but on closer examination we find that, in practice, all they have done is to open discussion forums. These companies include such giants as Intel and Epson. The latter merely stating that part of their CSR policy was to make their product “easy to use”. 

One company, Smile Plastics, has based its entire business strategy on the recycling of plastic products. It offers a wide range of plastic products which are innovative, attractive and, above all, socially responsible. One such product is rigid plastic sheets made from recycled mobile phone cases. The batteries and electronic components are removed and the plastic cases used to form the basis of counter tops or tables. Instead of disguising the origin of the recycled materials by finely shredding melting and mixing, this company makes a point of making the distorted shapes of the old mobile cases clearly visible in the material as shown below.     

Their other innovations include shredded bank of England notes suspended in clear plastic made from corrugated conservatory roofing sheets and reject car headlamp lenses. They also make sheeting and solid shapes from children’s discarded plastic wellington boots or old bottles.

Their website http://www.smile-plastics.co.uk  makes for fascinating reading with images of materials and products made from them.

According to Colin Williamson of smile plastics, “ Every ton of plastics that we recycle saves on average about 1.5 tons of CO₂ “

I consider it my personal responsibility as a designer to embrace the principles of CSR and endeavor to minimize the impact of my designs upon the environment. Using and specifying recycled materials minimizes use of energy and the production of greenhouse gasses.