Information on Cradle to Cradle
Cradle to Cradle -Taofes / C2C activities / I want to do C2C
waste = food
In their 2002 book, Cradle to Cradle - Remaking the Way We Make Things, William McDonough (MBDC) and Michael Braungart (EPEA) have written down a visionary approach to an economy which eliminates the concept of waste. The ‘old’ manufacturing models, dating back to the Industrial Revolution and still dictating production today, creates enormous amounts of waste and pollution. Why not challenge the belief that human industry must damage the natural word? In fact, why not take nature itself as our model for making things? A tree produces thousands of blossoms in order to create another tree, yet we consider its abundance not wasteful but safe, beautiful and highly effective.
See also the internationally oriented documentary waste = food by Rob van Hattum (VPRO) which won the Silver Dragon at the Beijing International Science Film Festival 2006.
Design strategy
Cradle to Cradle Design takes its inspiration from nature, in which there is no place for the concept of waste, but in which waste equals food (nutrients). In nature materials are used, discarded, re-shapen and used again in endless cycles. In the C2C terminology a product is designed as a Product of Consumption, a Product of Service, or a combination of both.
Products of Consumption typically dissipate into the environment through the course of their use. They are made of so called biological nutrients so their degradation products can support the biological systems; they are absorbed by and further nourish organisms and ecosystems. The materials used come from and return to the biological cycle.
Products of Service are typically stable during their use. They are made of so called technical nutrients. After use, they are available again after mechanical or chemical dismantling for the next generation of industrial products. The materials used might originate from nature (mining, oil, etc.) but after their first transformation they are part of the technical cycle and do not return to nature.
When products are designed as as combination of both, they have to be dismantled properly before they can fulfil their own cycle, and start again as nutrients.
Recycling?
You could say recycling is a method that fits perfectly within the Cradle to Cradle approach, however, current day recycling does not live up to the standards set by C2C. A lot of current day recycling is actually a kind of downcycling from a material point of view.
Take the example of plastics. The first use of plastic is often in a high quality, expensive product like a flat screen tv. When this gets discarded, the plastic (and other materials) are recycled, the plastic is melted and used in another plastic product. During this recycling step, it loses quality, and the then low-grade plastic can only be used in a product with less value, for instance a car bumper. When recycled again (after a car collision or when the car is discarded and dismantled), the material again loses quality during ‘recycling’. Eventually, after a number of steps, the only way left to use the plastic is to burn it and use the energy it produces.
The Cradle to Cradle approach is about pure material recycling and takes this even further to what is called ‘upcycling’. The materials used in a certain product do not lose it’s quality when recovered and can be used again in products with same quality. It is also possible to actually improve the quality of a material when recovering it, so it can be used in a higher-grade product. This is called upcycling.
Some guidelines
Design according to Cradle to Cradle challenges you to develop a product or a building that is beneficial for the economy (profit), for the ecology (planet) and social life (people). Considering main environmental themes, the following guidelines and goals are formulated.
Cradle to Cradle on material use:
- all materials should be non-toxic;
- all materials should be recyclable in either the biological cycle or the technical cycle;
- all materials and constructions should be easy to part into single, original materials (easy to assemble and disassemble);
- design closed loops from extraction to production to use to reuse;
- only use materials from sustainable sources.
Cradle to Cradle on energy use:
- use renewable energy;
- a building can generate it´s own energy (for instance through solar power, solar heating, passive solar heating and lighting).
Cradle to Cradle on water use and waste water generation:
- don’t mix waste or waste water from different sources; it makes reuse more complex;
- use natural sources like rainwater, if possible in combination with passive climate control such as green roofs;
- water is also a limited resource: use natural sources with respect of the capacity and use alternative sources such as rainwater;
- buildings and production facilities can even clean water through on site filtering and natural processes, making the water that leaves the premises cleaner then the water that was taken in.
How it all started
The foundation of Cradle to Cradle Design was initially outlined in Dr. Braungart's publication of the "Intelligent Product System" and in McDonough's and Braungart's The Hannover Principles: Design for Sustainability , both published in 1992. In 1993 Dr. Braungart's Intelligent Product System (IPS) won Germany’s prestigious Océ van der Grinten award for science in the service of environmental protection. The Hannover Principles were adopted by the World Congress of the International Union of Architects (UIA) in 1993, and are frequently cited as a seminal expression of sustainability.
You can find a copy in PDF format here:
Intelligent Product System
The Hannover Principles
Cradle to Cradle -Taofes / C2C activities / I want to do C2C