WASTE NOT, WANT NOT

With his signature round glasses and quiet demeanour, CL Lam cuts an unassuming figure amidst the crowd that had converged at White Box in Publika Solaris Dutamas to learn more about Design for Asia (DFA) – an annual awards event that highlights designers and brands from around the world that have achieved business success through design that reflects or impacts the Asian lifestyle. Organised by the Hong Kong Design Centre – a publicly funded, non-profit organisation established in 2001 – DFA also serves as an international platform where budding talents can showcase their green, eco-centric, sustainable and environmentally sound projects.

As to what the Green & Associates Creative Director was up to in Publika, Lam reveals that he had arrived in Kuala Lumpur to take part in a series of DFA Awards Designer Dialogues, organised in different Asian cities, with the theme of “Design for Future”. Lam was invited as a guest speaker as he was not only regarded as a trailblazer for green design in Asia, but also that his intriguing OOObject project had been presented the Grand Award and the Sustainability Award during DFA 2014.

Despite numerous achievements, Lam admits that his foray into the sustainable design business would not have happened had it not been for a misunderstanding: “When I first set up Green & Associates in 1994, we were manufacturing gifts and premium products. But the clients who approached us kept requesting for eco-designs and recycled products. We eventually realised that it might have something to do with the word ‘green’ in our company’s name.”

Lam decided then to embrace the green principle and change the company’s direction. “In 2005, we came up with a stationery line called V-15 but it wasn’t that successful. Back then, our approach was to collect recyclable materials before producing the items like a normal manufacturer, which was what even our competitors could do, so we weren’t breaking new ground.”

It was this minor setback that made Lam revise the company’s business strategy and start focusing on what he referred to as the “logical collection” of waste that involved securing the materials directly from the source.  And with China’s reputation as the “factory of the world”, there is no shortage of by-products and waste material for Lam’s company to feed on.

By 2009, Green & Associates would return to the sustainable design scene with the launch of OOObject – a medley comprising of home accessories and lifestyle products derived from everyday waste.  As word of the collection began to spread, Lam realised the company needed to expand its researching technology and branch out overseas to thrive. After testing and developing a number of designs backed by scientific data, OOObject would eventually make its way to Europe followed by China and Hong Kong.

Currently, the company’s impressive list of clientele includes Muji, Merci, Habitat and Pacific Coffee. “We’ve worked with companies from various industries ranging from retailers, food and beverage, airlines, cosmetics and even property. Our clients will select the materials for us to work with, and our role is to come up with the best approach to ensure that nothing goes to waste. It’s a very technical process that involves coming up with multiple ways to make a system efficient and viable.”

As Lam recalls, “There was this cosmetic company that approached us requesting for something unique and tailor-made. The industry, as a whole, consumes a lot of natural resources. For example, did you know it takes about 50,000 individual pieces of lumber to make cosmetic brushes? When we found out that the ends of these lumber pieces would be lopped off and discarded, we decided to transform them into a special type of brush.”

It is this innate ability to see the potential of waste that drives Lam to come up with the various creative designs showcased in the OOObject collection. Using the skills acquired during his 10-year stint as an industrial designer, his resulting works are not only aesthetically pleasing but also pique the user’s curiosity about the original source.

Currently, Green & Associates employs about 100 people at a factory in Dongguan, China. When not leading the team of designers, engineers and marketing people, Lam will seek out experts from different fields of study and non-government organisations to gain more ideas. As recycling technology continues to develop, the company seeks to push the boundaries of design even further with plans to introduce a range of fabric made from unconventional materials such as recycled milk, coffee grounds and pineapple fibre. “The material is where it all starts, so we must observe and conduct the proper research or else the results won’t be good enough for the market.”

Walking the talk, Green & Associates takes into account the methods used in the collecting, designing, producing and packaging process, which is all done within an 800km radius of a project site. “There is no single correct solution,” Lam says, but it certainly helps in reducing the company’s carbon footprint while also serving as an example of what can be done to improve the way the country manages waste.

“We are not trying to change the world; we are merely trying to educate the public with our findings. In Asia, not many people are concerned about going green, whereas it’s a different story in Europe as they have more awareness. Whenever we meet with our clients there, they will always bring in an expert to ask us all kinds of questions. They are aware that they need to be careful about using the ‘green’ label as their consumers are familiar with the meaning behind the various recycling symbols.”

As a way to increase public awareness on its home turf, Green & Associates is working with non-government organisations to launch new products and campaigns. Besides a long-term partnership with the World Wide Fund for Nature in Hong Kong, the company has also taken part in a recent project with the Make-A-Wish Foundation, which involved asking members of the local community to donate 30,000 plastic bottles to be upcycled into cheerful Christmas baubles and raise funds for the foundation. “That might seem like a lot, until you find out that over 1.37 million plastic bottles are discarded in Hong Kong every single day,” says Lam.

Despite the challenges that lie ahead, Lam is optimistic the small steps Green & Associates made will pay off in the long run. Since sustainable business demands sustainable consumers, the fact the OOObject collection has sold over two million products worldwide means there are segments of today’s buy-and-throw-away society who are being influenced into rethinking about waste management. This surely represents a step in the right direction.