Practical Sustainable, Circular Design and Ethical Business Tools
A collection of mainly free sustainability, circular economy and business model tools, templates, workshops and resources to support environmental, social, ethical and circular design. For businesses, start-ups and growing awareness. If you’d like advice or support with any then just get in touch. Also, check out my different offers pages for workshops and packages around the ones I use or have developed.
Design Focused Toolkits, processes and frameworks
- Design with Intent – Requisite Variety – Dan Lockton
- EAST Framework – Behavioural Insights Team
- DIY – Development Impact and You – Social Impact toolkit (Nesta)
- Experience flow – PHILIPS
- Human-Centred Design Toolkit – IDEO
- Empathy Mapping
- Horizons Tool – Innovate UK and Forum for the Future
- AEIOU Framework – User research framework by Doblin
- Double Diamond, Design Methods – Design Council
EcoDesign & Sustainability
- EcoDesign Strategy Wheel – Delft
- 5 steps to Ecodesign – Granta
- Ask Nature – Opensource search tool looking at Nature’s designs
- Embodied Energy and Carbon – ICE Database – Circular Ecology
- The Natural Step toolkit and backcasting thinking
- BSI – Sustainability Standards Navigator
- Global Goals SDGs – World’s Largest Lesson teaching resources
Circular Economy
- Circular Design Guide – EMF and IDEO
- OSCEdays – Open Source Circular Economy – community platform
- Circular Design Guide – Nike
- Circular Design – Unschools
- Circle Economy – The Circular Product Design Framework
- Circulab – toolbox
- C2C – Cradle to Cradle Framework – MBDC
- C2C Certification and standards
- Circular Office Guide – Business in the Community
- Materiom – Open Source Material Recipes for a CE
- Upstream Innovation (Packaging ) – Ellen MacArthur Foundation
Ethical Technology Design and Guidance
- Design Justice – Network and Principles
- Ethical Explorer – Ethical Tech design
- Centre for Humane Technology – Humane Technology requires that we understand our most vulnerable human instincts so we can design compassionately to protect them from abuse
- Omidyar Network
- Climate Action Tech – Developing skills and action on sustainability for those in tech
- Sustainable Website Design, Digital Declutter– Guidance from Wholegrain Digital
- Open Sustainability tech – Wiki
Product Design Engineering Tools and Guidelines
(some may be related to standards and regulations or voluntary versions)
- French Reparability Index – Useful for guidance even if not in the required product category
- Reparability Guidance – UK
- EcoDesign of Energy Using Products – Great Britain and Northern Ireland Guidance
- Sustainable Products policy and Ecodesign – EU Guidance covering EcoDesign Directive and Energy Labelling
- Design For and From Recycling – PolyCe Project, Guidelines for Electrical and Electronic Equipment Products
- Kickstarter Sustainability – Product Development Guidance
Mapping
- Recycle Now Locator – search what to do with different items in the UK
- Zero Waste Near Me – look where you can buy bulk and products without plastic packaging
- re3cyclopedia – App for the Reading, Bracknell, Wokingham recycling partnership on recycling
- Terracycle – Company specialising in the collection of under recycled waste steams via private collection points
- Recorked UK – UK wide cork recycling programme
- Open Apparel Registry – an open global map of apparel facilities (Fashion)
- AppyMaps – a growing map of social enterprises
- CEC Circular Cities Mapping – A global database of Circular Economy associated organisations
Certifications
- B Corp
- Social Enterprise UK
- 1% percent for the planet
- Living Wage
- Fairtrade
- Soil association
- Vegan
- Organic
- Eco Label
- C2C Certified – Cradle 2 Cradle, Safer and more sustainable products
- FSC – Forest Stewardship Council
- Green Web Foundation
- Quiet Mark
- Well Mark (for healthy buildings)
- Endometriosis Friendly Employers scheme
- Climate Perks – paid travel days for employees taking the sustainable option
Regulations and Standards
- RoHS – Restriction of Hazardous Products
- CE marking on manufactured products required in EU
- REACH – Registration Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals
- Producer Responsibility Regulations
- ISO 14000 – Environmental Management
- ISO 14044:2006 – Life Cycle Assessment
- BS8001 – Framework for implementing the principles of the Circular Economy in organisations
- Science-based targets – setting and measuring Net Zero targets and tracking commitment
- Green House Gas Protocol – Standards to measure and manage emissions
Sustainability Audits & Calculators
- Open LCA – open-source Life Cycle Analysis tool
- Website Carbon Calculator – free website page carbon calculator
- Carbon Trust – Energy usage, SME foot printing tools and more
- WWF Environmental Footprint Calculator – Your footprint is a way of showing your carbon emissions, compared to other people and other countries. It’s your impression on the planet.
- Global Footprint Network – Measure your Ecological Footprint
- Water Footprint Calculator – The water footprint measures the amount of water used to produce each of the goods and services we use
- Earth Overshoot Day – When we have used more from nature then our planet can renew in the whole year
- Julie’s Bicycle – Event & Festival sustainability
Impact & Evidence
- Measuring Impact – WBCSD
- Standards of evidence – Nesta
Business Modelling and Processes
- Business Model Canvas (Strategzer) – BMC
- Social Business Model Canvas
- Value Proposition Canvas (Strategzer) – VPC
- Team Canvas – For aligning teams
- Purposely – Tool for developing and embedding purpose in your company articles
- 16 Personalities – A free personality test to help you reflect on your strengths and potential weaknesses
- DFSS – Design For Six Sigma & DMAIC
- A3 thinking
Leadership
- Theory U – Leading from the future as it emerges
- Regenerative / Generative Leadership
Share thoughts