Bruce Mau and ethical issues

Following the video link presentation by Bruce on Wednesday I vow to pay more attention to my designs and products being aware of them from "cradle to grave.' I had never thought of this as an entire process . I have thought about where my materials come from increasingly so having heard about the plight of the Aral Sea which has completely dried up through over demand for irrigation of cotton crops ( it seems that even organic cotton production is fraught with dangers to the environment as well ) but had not really considered how they are disposed of . At least with natural fibres , which I have always used , recycling is possible. One solution in my own work for sourcing fabrics is to use recycled cottons for example continuing on the damask tablecloth theme .Also to start to order and try out greener fibres in terms of dyeing and printing .
Discussing these matters over lunch on friday with Ed I discovered there is a fashion sportswear company called Patagonia who donate 1% of profits to the planet , incorporate recycling of their garments and also source cottons from mills that are closing down , ie recycling at source.A true example of eco design .
I found the Bruce Mau manifesto fascinating whilst remaining slightly cynical that this is just words and ideals that are hard to manifest but he does have a positive spin on things and believes we are not helpless we have the tools , possibilities and wealth to make changes !! It is up to each of us to do our bit. A few of my favorite bits in no particular order.

1. Allow events to change you.You have to be willing to grow. Growth is different from something that happens to you. You produce it. You live it. The prerequisites for growth: the openness to experience events and the willingness to be changed by them.
2. Process is more important than outcome.When the outcome drives the process we will only ever go to where we've already been. If process drives outcome we may not know where we’re going, but we will know we want to be there.
3. Love your experiments (as you would an ugly child).Joy is the engine of growth. Exploit the liberty in casting your work as beautiful experiments, iterations, attempts, trials, and errors. Take the long view and allow yourself the fun of failure every day.
4. Drift.Allow yourself to wander aimlessly. Explore adjacencies. Lack judgment. Postpone criticism.
5. Begin anywhere.John Cage tells us that not knowing where to begin is a common form of paralysis. His advice: begin anywhere.