Materials and people are alike. They come in many shapes and sizes. Their diversity makes for the richness of their realm, and reducing them to one attribute by applying a label is likely a hasty conclusion. No one is forever kind nor beautiful. Neither can we say that materials are undoubtedly healthy or smart. Relativizing is essential: it depends on the context and any generalisation and shortcut is detrimental to reaching our goals with care and honesty (see Transparency Is The New Green).

When it comes to sustainability, we, at Hyloh, strongly believe that there are NO sustainable materials. There are sustainable attributes that can be assigned to materials and their use — in context — that can lead us toward a lesser environmental (and/or social) footprint than others.
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Everything is made from something. Materials form us, as well as the world we see and feel around us: our flesh from water and tissues, our clothing from fibers, our furniture from wood, our plates from ceramic, our windows from glass, our homes from concrete, even the batteries that power our digital world. Given the physical nature of materials, they are central to many fields of science such as ecology, physics, geology and archaeology where whole periods in history have been named after them: Stone, Bronze, Iron!

At their most basic level, materials are matter: chemical elements organised in the periodic table, some of which are yet to be discovered… Each material has unique chemical and physical attributes which determine their performance and contribute to our perception of them. Materials are the common thread that connects design, engineering, manufacturing, sourcing, marketing, retailers and people.
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As awareness and importance grows around climate change, pollution, biodiversity loss, human and resource exploitation, and the circular economy, we are no longer accepting loose environmental claims and empty promises from corporations and governments.

Greenwashing is the process of conveying a false impression or providing misleading information about how environmentally sound a company’s products or services are. This term greenwashing was coined by environmentalist Jay Westerveld in 1986, back when consumers were only able to receive news from television, radio and print media — the same outlets that corporations regularly flooded with a wave of highly-priced, slickly-produced commercials and print ads. They often presented themselves as caring environmental stewards, even as they were engaging in environmentally unsustainable practices.
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Our collective efforts to be more sustainable have not (yet?) been effective in minimising climate change. Nor have they reduced inequality. Are we missing something? Should the People-Planet-Profit trifecta be challenged? Prosperity has been suggested as a replacement for ‘profit’, as well as a fourth concept proposed by academics and experts: Purpose, or by humanitarians: Peace and Partnerships. As creatives, we decided to get more alliteratively poetic and add one more P word to the definition of sustainability: Pleasure — satisfaction, delight or joy.

Why Pleasure?

Firstly because sustainability is often anticipated as some kind of constraint, a request to be better with less — without additional time, resources or budget. 
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Sustainability is about making sure that future generations have what they need.
Our current practices of design and consumption, as well as population growth and widespread urbanization, have resulted in a depletion of resources, climate change and excessive amounts of waste. We lost our balance long ago. Humans looked at Nature as a bottomless reservoir, and kept on taking and taking.

We, at Hyloh, want to remain positive about what can still be done. We believe humanity is on the verge of unprecedented paradigm shifts (see Culture Shifts Create New Material Codes), and hope to modestly contribute to change and be able to witness it in full swing.
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The phrase “think globally, source locally” was first used for economic reasons: used in relation to establishing localized supply chains, manufacturing and sales when entering international markets because it is cost-prohibitive to ship finished goods internationally. This is essentially advocating for the duplication of operations in each locale. Even though Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) does not indicate that transportation accounts for the most impact in relation to a product, a shift away from shipping globally by sourcing locally, should ideally not result in impact transfer. The outcomes of engaging locally however can be very positive.

Increased international travel as well as the internet, both synonymous with globalization, expose people to new ideas and ways of life, promoting empathy, inclusivity and an appreciation for diversity. Globalization has also encouraged an exchange of foods, resources, design, language, materials and culture.
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As new generations emerge and we see social, cultural, and technology shifts, it is inevitable that our perception of materials will evolve in parallel.

Materials are everywhere, transformed into the products and spaces that surround us, and enabling the experiences of modern life. A material’s purpose is often two-fold; the first is the functionality, performance and capabilities of the composition and form. The second is the aesthetic and sensorial aspects, which convey the subjective by engaging our senses (sight, smell, sound, touch and taste.)

The material codes that exist in our past, present and future are a combination of technology advancements and cultural shifts. Let’s take plastic for example. What an amazing invention it was, providing new capabilities, characteristics and methods for manufacturing, changing the face of many industries, and enabling many more.
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