Here are some pointers that will come in useful when brainstorming for ways to make your company's products 'green'.

• Design for life cycle - life cycle refers to the concept 'from cradle to grave'. Think about all the material and energy inputs of a product at every stage of its life, including the extraction of raw materials (cradle), manufacture, transport, use and disposal (grave);
• Energy consumption - minimise the energy usage during the production stage. Design the product to achieve high energy efficiency;
• Recyclability - consider using recycled, recyclable, biodegradable materials in the product and/or the packaging;
• Use minimal toxic materials - limit the level of toxic materials, such as toxic heavy metals, in the product
• Dematerialisation - try to reduce the amount of materials by critically looking at the product design. For example, is there any room for reducing the size of packaging, or to reduce the number of bolts and nuts?
• Increase product lifetime - make the product more durable or upgradeable.
• Design for disassembly - design products that are easier to disassemble, easier to upgrade and repair, and more readily meet the EU WEEE Directives.
• 'Think outside the box' - very often the production process and product design is based on common practice. So, do ask 'why' to see if you might be able to improve common practices.

You should also make sure that your suppliers supply you with environmentally friendly components. Click here to know more about how to 'green' your supply chain.

Useful tools:

• TDC Research (2005). Riding on the Green Manufacturing Trend. Hong Kong: Trade Development Council - a guidebook focusing on the market trends, green product requirements and the opportunities for Hong Kong companies on the major overseas markets
• 'Green Manufacturing' of the Trade Development Council - provides latest news, online video clips of previous events, related events and useful links on green manufacturing.
• The Hong Kong Green Manufacturing Alliance - a non-profit organisation that facilitates Hong Kong industries' compliant with overseas green regulatory requirements and helps industries to adopt green manufacturing principles in order to enhance their competitiveness
• Centre for Sustainable Design, Faculty of Design at the Surrey Institute of Art & Design, University College, UK - facilitates discussion and research on eco-design and broader sustainability considerations in product and service development. It also provides links to a wide range of research performed by The Centre for Sustainable Design.
• Green Design Network, Industrial Development Bureau, Ministry of Economic Affairs, Taiwan - provides links to, both local and overseas activities, legislation requirements and case studies on designing environmentally friendly products.
• United Nations Environmental Programme, "Extended Producer Responsibility" and "Eco-design" - provide basic introductions to the concepts discussed here and links to other information sources on extended producer responsibility and eco-design.
• Design for Environment Guide, National Research Council Canada - with an overview, strategies and step-by-step action plan on the implementation of Design for Environment (DfE).