Designers are a strange breed. They're true believers in the power and values of their medium. They're also pack mules for often bitsy, pedantic work which involves attention to detail and structure on a scale few other people could approach. When another concept bumps into the design philosophy, it has an uphill battle proving its credentials to people who can literally take apart ideas as they read them. Sustainability, a blanket term for a process, has been picked up by designers very quickly. They appreciate the holistic approach in sustainability as much as they appreciate good
injection moulding techniques.
Sustainability is in fact a design process by nature. The concept starts where good design starts, and source, and follows through to a clearly defined end product. That's textbook design best practice, and it's making a lot of sense to designers looking at product cost factors, life cycles, and the other parts of design few people even know exist.