Waste = food
It is possible to break the spiral of depleting natural resources, of wastage and of pollution. The answer is Cradle to Cradle, Braungart and McDonough’s revolutionary philosophy. They argue in favour of a completely new premise for the design and development of products based on safe and fully reusable raw materials. Waste can become food in an endless loop.
Starting from this basic principle, Braungart and McDonough explain how products can be designed right from the start so that after their useful life has ended they can serve as ‘food’ for new products. The Cradle to Cradle design concept is based on safe and clean raw materials. It must be possible for Cradle to Cradle products, once they are scrapped, to be fully dismantled so that their elements can be returned to biological or technical metabolisms.
Cradle to Cradle: the three basic questions
The three basic questions to ask to discover whether a product has been developed according to the Cradle to Cradle design concept are:
1. Can it be eaten?
2. Is it biodegradable or can it be recycled without losing quality?
3. Can it be burnt to generate energy?
- If every consumer poses these questions when buying a product, industry will have to come up with a solution to satisfy market demand.
- If every designer poses these questions before designing a product, the trend will be set for a future full of clean, sustainable products.
- If every manufacturer ensures that their products meet these conditions, they will meet the criteria for Cradle to Cradle certification (see www.mbdc.com).
Products
Drawing from their experiences designing and redesigning a whole raft of items – from carpets to completely new cities in China – Braungart and McDonough present fascinating and convincing arguments for putting eco-effectiveness into practice.
Trailblazing
Cradle to Cradle is a trailblazing concept with a future. Waste equals food in the sense of providing the raw materials for new products. In the Cradle to Cradle concept products are produced such that they are fully recyclable. Cradle to Cradle products are biodegradable or can be 100% reused as raw materials for new products. In everlasting loops and without loss of quality. Downcycling makes way for upcycling in the Cradle to Cradle concept.
Usable in perpetuity
Braungart and McDonough have recorded their ideas convincingly in their book Cradle to Cradle. They view mankind in a positive light; how else can you change the world? Although reducing and compensating for our ecological footprint* forms part of their thinking, the Cradle to Cradle concept is mainly about creating a natural climate that produces ‘perpetuity’. If people, like ants, learn to convert all the materials they consume into food cycles, they can rid the world of the problems of over-population and depleting resources.
Biological and technical metabolisms
In the Cradle to Cradle philosophy everyone can produce and consume to their heart’s content. Everyone can ‘manage’ their nutrients. Products will no longer be scrapped, but – thanks to the deliberate Cradle to Cradle design – can be returned to biological or technical metabolisms. This calls for a partnership between producers of intelligently designed and Cradle to Cradle produced products and their users. The better a product sells and is consumed or used, the quicker the biological and technical metabolisms can absorb scrapped products again as nutrients.
Eco-effective
In their book, Cradle to Cradle, Braungart and McDonough challenge the world to design products more intelligently and to set up clean and fully eco-effective production processes. This will enable product materials to be returned to biological or technical metabolisms and remain reusable in perpetuity. The Cradle to Cradle concept symbolises a world of dynamism, positivism, energy, respect for our planet and boundless opportunities. A world in which waste becomes food and nothing is ever lost.
Environmentally-friendly product design
Most environmental organisations in Europe are trying to call a halt to environmental pollution based on an end-of-pipe philosophy. Yet a radical new angle could offer a much more effective solution. The US is well ahead of Europe when it comes to environmentally-friendly product design.
Design for Reincarnation
Destroying waste in incinerators represents a major threat to true life cycle science. A large proportion of valuable nutrients are lost in incinerators that should actually be absorbed into the technical or biological metabolisms. ‘Design for Reincarnation’ can offer solutions because raw materials can then be reused in perpetuity. Hence the name Design for Reincarnation, or design for renewed use, if you prefer. Take, for instance, plastic that can be ground down after use to serve as a raw material for new products.
* The ecological footprint is a measure for, on the one hand, the 'energy land', expressed in hectares of plants, needed to replace the CO2 released through direct or indirect use of energy by means of photosynthesis and, on the other, the actual global use of land needed for our food, traffic, buildings and other agricultural land (definition obtained from: www.pgsim.nl).
