Cradle-to-cradle design
Cradle-to-cradle design (C2C) is an innovative approach to product manufacturing that emphasizes sustainability throughout the entire lifecycle of a product. Coined by architect William McDonough and chemist Michael Braungart in their 2002 book, "Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things," the concept seeks to mimic natural processes where resources are continuously reused without waste. Unlike the traditional "cradle to grave" model, which often leads to significant waste and environmental impact, C2C promotes a "closed-loop" system where materials are either biodegradable or recyclable.
The C2C framework categorizes materials into biological nutrients, which can re-enter the ecosystem, and technical nutrients, which are reused in manufacturing processes. To ensure adherence to C2C principles, products must meet stringent criteria such as using renewable energy, conserving water, and promoting fair labor practices. The Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute, founded by McDonough and Braungart, provides guidelines and certification for companies aiming to implement C2C practices.
While proponents argue that C2C design reduces waste and supports social equity, critics question the feasibility of fully implementing all principles in every manufacturing context. Overall, C2C design represents a significant shift towards environmentally responsible practices in various industries, including fashion and electronics, aiming for a sustainable future.
On this Page
Cradle-to-cradle design
Cradle to cradle design, or C2C, is a business concept that looks at how products are made. C2C considers a product's manufacturing process, starting with where the product materials come from and ending with how the product will eventually be recycled. William McDonough, an architect, and Michael Braungart, a chemist, coined the term in their 2002 book Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things. McDonough and Braungart took the C2C concept from nature after reviewing how natural environments use, maintain, and reuse resources. They originally applied the concept to the manufacturing industry, particularly to the materials used for buildings. However, the C2C approach has since been used in a variety of industries, including the fashion and electronics industries. In 2010, McDonough and Braungart founded the Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute, a nonprofit organization that establishes standards for C2C design.
Brief History
The term cradle to cradle comes from the concept of "cradle to grave," which is a process that looks at environmentally responsible ways to obtain materials, make products, and dispose of those products. Founders McDonough and Braungart wanted to take the concept of cradle to grave further. They felt that the manufacturing industry could reuse materials in the same way that nature does.
McDonough and Braungart wrote Cradle to Cradle after twenty years of reviewing environmental sustainability processes in the manufacturing industry. The authors formed the company MBDC in 1995 to advocate for environmentally responsible design and manufacturing processes. They discovered that waste was still being created while following the cradle to grave concept, even when products were manufactured responsibly. The authors decided that the only acceptable waste to be released into the environment was waste that could be used as food, either by animals or by plants through decomposition. This idea requires products made following the C2C design to be recycled into other products.
In 2005, McDonough and Braungart established the Cradle to Cradle Certified™ Products Program. This program gave designers and manufacturers requirements to help them decide what materials and processes they should use to make their products.
In 2010, McDonough and Braungart realized that they needed to take further steps to encourage businesses to use the C2C design and encourage the public to buy C2C-created products. They formed the Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute. This institute provides funding through donations to help companies follow the C2C design concept. The institute also gives businesses ideas on where they can obtain healthy material resources, explains how companies can have their products certified as C2C, and describes how consumers can find C2C products. In addition, the institute provides certification for material resources. Manufacturers can look at the institute's Material Health Registry to find sources for the materials they must use while manufacturing products to make sure they follow the C2C process.
Since 2010, many international companies have used the program. For example, Method, a UK detergent company, uses the C2C process. In 2013, PUMA, a German footwear company, designed a lined of C2C certified sneakers and outerwear called Incycle. Other well-known brands that use the C2C process include hair care company Aveda, carpet manufacturer Shaw Industries, and gDiapers, a hybrid diaper company.
Overview
The C2C design is an environmentally friendly response to the popular manufacturing design model of "planned obsolescence." Planned obsolescence means that products are designed as cost-effectively as possibly. Unfortunately, these products become obsolete quickly, either because they break or because they are technologically out of date. They then end up in landfills, and consumers are forced to buy new products to replace them. McDonough and Braungart wanted to address what they felt was an environmental crisis being caused by the planned obsolescence model.
According to B Corporation, a US nonprofit laboratory that specializes in environmentally sustainable materials, C2C is a process of manufacturing in which the products are developed for "closed-loop" systems. A closed-loop system means that the process has no beginning or end. In other words, all materials used in the process are reused by being recycled into other products, or they become biodegradable waste.
To tell the difference between materials that could be discarded as waste and materials that must be recycled, the C2C design looks at whether those materials are considered "biological nutrients" or "technical nutrients." Biological nutrients go back into the organic cycle. Animals, insects, plants, or other organisms can use them. Technical nutrients are materials that do not biodegrade. In the C2C design model, technical nutrients are returned to the manufacturing process to be turned into other products. For example, the plastic material used in a computer could be recycled into a water bottle. This process continues to keep those technical nutrients from entering landfills.
Products that receive C2C certification must follow five key principles. First, the material health of the product must be certified as valuable materials that are either biological nutrients or technical nutrients that can be recycled. Second, that product must ensure that it continues the loop of biological and technical nutrients. Next, the operations that create the product must use 100 percent renewable energy. This means that the plants that make the product must be completely powered by energy sources such as solar or wind power. Also, the production process must make an effort to conserve water. Finally, the products must be made using socially fair processes. The workers who create the products must be treated and paid fairly for their work. These principles are also followed for the Material Health Certification offered by the institute.
Critics of C2C argue that all the key principles cannot possibly be followed in all manufacturing processes. For example, when materials are transported to a facility, the truck, train, or airplane that transports them will probably run on fossil fuels. Likewise, when products are shipped, companies cannot always guarantee that the shipping process uses renewable energy. Furthermore, C2C design uses its own certification. This certification is different from the certification required by international standards in manufacturing, which involves independent research. Because of this, products cannot be certified by the International Standards Organization, an organization that sets technical standards for many industries, if those products are C2C certified.
Despite criticism, those who believe in the C2C design model claim that it has many benefits. They argue that companies that use the C2C model prove that they are sustainable businesses. Additionally, users of the C2C model state that the process eliminates waste that could harm the planet. Finally, because the C2C model promotes social fairness, it provides fair treatment for a company's employees and for the community in which the company is located.
Bibliography
"About the Institute." Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute, www.c2ccertified.org/about. Accessed 6 December 2017.
Aharonovitch, Lea. "Eco Design Basics on Cradle to Grave vs Cradle to Cradle." Green Prophet, 30 Dec 2008, www.greenprophet.com/2008/12/cradle-grave/. Accessed 6 December 2017.
Bertoli, Andrea. "What Is Cradle to Cradle Manufacturing?" Green Living Ideas, 31 Aug 2015, greenlivingideas.com/2015/08/31/cradle-to-cradle-manufacturing/. Accessed 6 December 2017.
"Cradle to Cradle Design—Criticism and Response." Liquisearch.com, www.liquisearch.com/cradle-to-cradle‗design/criticism‗and‗response. Accessed 6 December 2017.
McDonough, William. "MBDC." McDonough.com, www.mcdonough.com/organizations/mbdc/. Accessed 6 December 2017.
McDonough, William, and Michael Braungart. Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things. North Point Press, 2002.
"PUMA Launches InCycle, the Brand's First 'Cradle to Cradle Certified [CM] Basic' Collection of Biodegradable and Recyclable Products." PR Newswire, 12 Feb. 2013, www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/puma-launches-incycle-the-brands-first-cradle-to-cradle-certifiedcm-basic-collection-of-biodegradable-and-recyclable-products-190798571.html. Accessed 6 December 2017.
Tyrnauer, Matt. "Industrial Revolution, Take Two." Vanity Fair, May 2008, www.vanityfair.com/culture/2008/05/mcdonough200805. Accessed 6 December 2017.