It's Not Easy Being Green: Two Designers Exploring Sustainability Worldwide is a new publication by Aart van Bezooyen and Paula Rache that brings together six months of making new friends, photographing local impressions and collecting materials.
Together with almost 60 designers, entrepreneurs and change-makers from Brazil, Argentina, Chile, New Zealand, Australia, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Singapore, Malaysia and Japan they are sharing personal experiences, project examples and local culture to inspire and enable a more sustainable future.
Aart and Paula started the project in 2011 to get a better understanding of the fuzzy concept of sustainability and its role and importance for design. During 184 days, they were exploring a dozen countries to discover sustainable solutions in materials and design worldwide. During their journey they offered inspiring lectures and hands-on workshops to teach and learn about the local issues and practices of designers.
"The book is a MUST for everybody who considers herself or himself a designer of the future," commented Zuzanna Skalska, a recognized trend researcher who is one of the first readers. With this book Aart and Paula are bringing together the people, places and things they discovered during their travels to share their experiences. Personal contributions from the designers, entrepreneurs and change-makers they met are combined with local impressions and inspiring items discovered along their way. With designers making skateboards out of bamboo, researchers improving packaging products, children doing green studies in the jungle and surprising ways of (re)using materials, this book is an encouraging sustainable snapshot of what is happening in the world today.
Proceeds from the book will go to the Viva con Agua, a charity organization that supports people with clean drinking water worldwide.