"People were starting to talk more about sustainability, but I felt it lacked a human factor. Can we really call $5,000 bamboo coffee tables sustainable?" Since founding the humanitarian design network Project H Design in January 2008, Emily Pilloton has been involved with dozens of projects tackling social and environmental problems. They range from developing water transportation devices for use in Africa, to helping homeless people in San Francisco design things to sell, and repairing school furniture in rural Mexico. Even as a product design student, Ms. Pilloton felt skeptical about conventional approaches to design and is now trying to redefine sustainable design.
