Eco - Eco Profiles

POSTED: Sunday, Sep. 21, 2008

Profile: For WWU student, sustainable design makes smart shopping simple.

Name: Kate Richard.
Age: 22.
Residence: Bellingham.

Occupation: Western Washington University student.

Mode of transport: 1991 Honda Accord and late-'80s Peugeot road bike.

Average fuel bill: Approximately $10 a week.

Eco-cheat: "Ziplock bags — they are so convenient."

Turning point: "When I couldn't get away from the topic. Sustainability … has been a main focus of conversation, school lectures and advertising."

First step: Using bike for transportation.

Favorite green Web site: http://gliving.tv/fashion.

Pet peeve: "When people drive huge trucks and SUVs just because they can."

Personal eco victory: "Getting past the overwhelmed feeling and realizing that … people are becoming more aware, and that in itself is a huge step in the right direction."

Best tip on living sustainably: "Make a conscious effort to leave a positive impact on the environment. It's the little things that add up."

As a child, Kate Richard and her family lived in Salem, Ore., but moved to a new home about every two years.

"We would design and build a new house while living in small rentals in between," Richard recalls.

This taught Richard, now a senior in the industrial design program at Western Washington University, about rebuilding and repairing instead of simply replacing. She put this knowledge to good use early on with Habitat for Humanity.

"It seemed obvious to volunteer in an area where I had experience," she says. "Being able to give house keys to a deserving family is really great to be a part of." Richard recently designed Sense, a computer that can be placed in retail locations that lets shoppers check the sustainable details of an item by scanning its barcode.

The design landed her a finalist spot and $10,000 in Dell's ReGeneration: International Green Comput-ing Technology Design Competition. "I feel like the materials and manufacturing processes I choose to use in my designing will have a lasting impact," she says. Even Richard's hobby of making resin pendants with discarded computer parts incorporates this green fore-thinking.