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Cradle-to-cradle design (also referred to as 2CC2, C2C, cradle 2 cradle, or
regenerative design
Regenerative design is a process-oriented whole systems approach to design. The term "regenerative" describes processes that restore, renew or revitalize their own sources of energy and materials. Regenerative design uses whole systems thinking ...
) is a
biomimetic
Biomimetics or biomimicry is the emulation of the models, systems, and elements of nature for the purpose of solving complex human problems. The terms "biomimetics" and "biomimicry" are derived from grc, βίος (''bios''), life, and μίμησ ...
approach to the design of products and systems that models human industry on nature's processes, where materials are viewed as nutrients circulating in healthy, safe
metabolism
Metabolism (, from el, μεταβολή ''metabolē'', "change") is the set of life-sustaining chemical reactions in organisms. The three main functions of metabolism are: the conversion of the energy in food to energy available to run c ...
s. The term itself is a play on the popular corporate phrase "cradle to grave", implying that the C2C model is sustainable and considerate of life and future generations—from the birth, or "cradle", of one generation to the next generation, versus from birth to death, or "grave", within the same generation.
C2C suggests that industry must protect and enrich
ecosystem
An ecosystem (or ecological system) consists of all the organisms and the physical environment with which they interact. These biotic and abiotic components are linked together through nutrient cycles and energy flows. Energy enters the syste ...
s and nature's biological metabolism while also maintaining a safe, productive technical metabolism for the high-quality use and circulation of
organic and technical nutrients.
It is a
holistic
Holism () is the idea that various systems (e.g. physical, biological, social) should be viewed as wholes, not merely as a collection of parts. The term "holism" was coined by Jan Smuts in his 1926 book '' Holism and Evolution''."holism, n." OED On ...
, economic, industrial and social framework that seeks to create systems that are not only efficient but also essentially
waste free
Zero waste is a set of principles focused on waste prevention that encourages redesigning resource life cycles so that all products are reused. The goal of this movement is to avoid sending trash to landfills, incinerators, or the ocean. Curre ...
.
[Lovins, L. Hunter (2008)]
Rethinking production
in ''State of the World 2008'', pp. 38–40. Building off the whole systems approach of
John T. Lyle's
regenerative design
Regenerative design is a process-oriented whole systems approach to design. The term "regenerative" describes processes that restore, renew or revitalize their own sources of energy and materials. Regenerative design uses whole systems thinking ...
, the model in its broadest sense is not limited to
industrial design and
manufacturing
Manufacturing is the creation or production of goods with the help of equipment, labor, machines, tools, and chemical or biological processing or formulation. It is the essence of secondary sector of the economy. The term may refer to ...
; it can be applied to many aspects of human civilization such as
urban environment
An urban area, built-up area or urban agglomeration is a human settlement with a high population density and infrastructure of built environment. Urban areas are created through urbanization and are categorized by urban morphology as cities, ...
s, buildings, economics and
social systems
In sociology, a social system is the patterned network of relationships constituting a coherent whole that exist between individuals, groups, and institutions. It is the formal structure of role and status that can form in a small, stable group. ...
.
The term "Cradle to Cradle" is a registered trademark of McDonough Braungart Design Chemistry (MBDC) consultants. The Cradle to Cradle Certified Products Program began as a proprietary system; however, in 2012 MBDC turned the certification over to an independent non-profit called the Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute. Independence, openness, and transparency are the Institute's first objectives for the certification protocols.
The phrase "cradle to cradle" itself was coined by
Walter R. Stahel in the 1970s.
The current model is based on a system of "lifecycle development" initiated by
Michael Braungart and colleagues at the ''Environmental Protection Encouragement Agency'' (EPEA) in the 1990s and explored through the publication ''A Technical Framework for Life-Cycle Assessment''.
In 2002, Braungart and
William McDonough
William Andrews McDonough is an American architect, designer, and author. McDonough is founding principal of William McDonough + Partners, co-founder of McDonough MBDC, and co-author of '' Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things'' ...
published a book called ''
Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things'', a
manifesto for cradle-to-cradle design that gives specific details of how to achieve the model.
The model has been implemented by a number of companies, organizations and governments around the world, predominantly in the
European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been de ...
,
China and the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
. Cradle-to-cradle design has also been the subject of many documentary films such as ''Waste = Food''.
Introduction
In the cradle-to-cradle model, all materials used in industrial or commercial processes—such as metals,
fiber
Fiber or fibre (from la, fibra, links=no) is a natural or artificial substance that is significantly longer than it is wide. Fibers are often used in the manufacture of other materials. The strongest engineering materials often incorpora ...
s,
dyes—fall into one of two categories: "technical" or "biological" nutrients.
# ''Technical nutrients'' are strictly limited to non-toxic, non-harmful synthetic materials that have no negative effects on the natural environment; they can be used in continuous cycles as the same product without losing their integrity or quality. In this manner these materials can be used over and over again instead of being "
downcycled" into lesser products, ultimately becoming
waste
Waste (or wastes) are unwanted or unusable materials. Waste is any substance discarded after primary use, or is worthless, defective and of no use. A by-product, by contrast is a joint product of relatively minor economic value. A waste prod ...
.
# ''Biological nutrients'' are
organic material
Organic matter, organic material, or natural organic matter refers to the large source of carbon-based compounds found within natural and engineered, terrestrial, and aquatic environments. It is matter composed of organic compounds that have c ...
s that, once used, can be disposed of in any natural environment and
decompose
Decomposition or rot is the process by which dead organic substances are broken down into simpler organic or inorganic matter such as carbon dioxide, water, simple sugars and mineral salts. The process is a part of the nutrient cycle and is ...
into the soil, providing food for small life forms without affecting the natural environment. This is dependent on the ecology of the region; for example, organic material from one country or landmass may be harmful to the ecology of another country or landmass.
The two types of materials each follow their own cycle in the regenerative economy envisioned by Keunen and Huizing.
Structure
Initially defined by McDonough and Braungart, the Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute's five certification criteria are:
*Material health, which involves identifying the chemical composition of the materials that make up the product. Particularly hazardous materials (e.g. heavy metals, pigments, halogen compounds etc.) have to be reported whatever the concentration, and other materials reported where they exceed 100 ppm. For wood, the forest source is required. The risk for each material is assessed against criteria and eventually ranked on a scale with green being materials of low risk, yellow being those with moderate risk but are acceptable to continue to use, red for materials that have high risk and need to be phased out, and grey for materials with incomplete data. The method uses the term 'risk' in the sense of hazard (as opposed to consequence and likelihood).
*Material reutilization, which is about recovery and recycling at the end of product life.
*Assessment of energy required for production, which for the highest level of certification needs to be based on at least 50% renewable energy for all parts and subassemblies.
*Water, particularly usage and discharge quality.
*Social responsibility, which assesses fair labor practices.
The certification is available at several levels: basic, silver, gold, platinum, with more stringent requirements at each. Prior to 2012, MBDC controlled the certification protocol.
Health
Currently, many human beings come into contact or consume, directly or indirectly, many harmful materials and chemicals daily. In addition, countless other forms of plant and animal life are also exposed. C2C seeks to remove dangerous ''technical nutrients'' (synthetic materials such as
mutagenic
In genetics, a mutagen is a physical or chemical agent that permanently changes genetic material, usually DNA, in an organism and thus increases the frequency of mutations above the natural background level. As many mutations can cause cancer i ...
materials,
heavy metals and other dangerous chemicals) from current life cycles. If the materials we come into contact with and are exposed to on a daily basis are not toxic and do not have long term health effects, then the health of the overall system can be better maintained. For example, a fabric factory can eliminate all harmful ''technical nutrients'' by carefully reconsidering what chemicals they use in their dyes to achieve the colours they need and attempt to do so with fewer base chemicals.
Economics
The C2C model shows high potential for reducing the financial cost of industrial systems. For example, in the redesign of the
Ford River Rouge Complex, the planting of Sedum (stonecrop) vegetation on assembly plant roofs retains and cleanses rain water. It also moderates the internal temperature of the building in order to save energy. The roof is part of an $18 million rainwater treatment system designed to clean of rainwater annually. This saved Ford $30 million that would otherwise have been spent on mechanical treatment facilities. Following C2C design principles, product manufacture can be designed to cost less for the producer and consumer. Theoretically, they can eliminate the need for
waste disposal
Waste management or waste disposal includes the processes and actions required to manage waste from its inception to its final disposal.
This includes the collection, transport, treatment and disposal of waste, together with monitorin ...
such as landfills.
Definitions
*''Cradle to cradle'' is a play on the phrase "cradle to grave", implying that the C2C model is sustainable and considerate of life and future generations.
*''Technical nutrients'' are basically
inorganic
In chemistry, an inorganic compound is typically a chemical compound that lacks carbon–hydrogen bonds, that is, a compound that is not an organic compound. The study of inorganic compounds is a subfield of chemistry known as ''inorganic chemist ...
or synthetic materials manufactured by humans—such as plastics and metals—that can be used many times over without any loss in quality, staying in a continuous cycle.
*''Biological nutrients'' and materials are
organic material
Organic matter, organic material, or natural organic matter refers to the large source of carbon-based compounds found within natural and engineered, terrestrial, and aquatic environments. It is matter composed of organic compounds that have c ...
s that can decompose into the natural environment, soil, water, etc. without affecting it in a negative way, providing food for bacteria and microbiological life.
*''Materials'' are usually referred to as the building blocks of other materials, such as the dyes used in colouring fibers or rubbers used in the sole of a shoe.
*''
Downcycling
Downcycling, or cascading, is the recycling of waste where the recycled material is of lower quality and functionality than the original material. Often, this is due to the accumulation of tramp elements in secondary metals, which may exclude the ...
'' is the reuse of materials into lesser products. For example, a plastic computer case could be downcycled into a
plastic cup, which then becomes a park bench, etc.; this eventually leads to
plastic waste
Plastic pollution is the accumulation of plastic objects and particles (e.g. plastic bottles, bags and microbeads) in the Earth's environment that adversely affects humans, wildlife and their habitat. Plastics that act as pollutants are catego ...
. In conventional understanding, this is no different from
recycling
Recycling is the process of converting waste materials into new materials and objects. The recovery of energy from waste materials is often included in this concept. The recyclability of a material depends on its ability to reacquire the p ...
that produces a supply of the same product or material.
*''Waste = Food'' is a basic concept of
organic waste
Biodegradable waste includes any organic matter in waste which can be broken down into carbon dioxide, water, methane or simple organic molecules by micro-organisms and other living things by composting, aerobic digestion, anaerobic digesti ...
materials becoming food for bugs, insects and other small forms of life who can feed on it, decompose it and return it to the natural environment which we then indirectly use for food ourselves.
Existing synthetic materials
The question of how to deal with the countless existing ''technical nutrients'' (synthetic materials) that cannot be recycled or reintroduced to the natural environment is dealt with in C2C design. The materials that can be reused and retain their quality can be used within the technical nutrient cycles while other materials are far more difficult to deal with, such as plastics in the Pacific Ocean.
Hypothetical examples
One potential example is a shoe that is designed and mass-produced using the C2C model. The sole might be made of "biological nutrients" while the upper parts might be made of "technical nutrients". The shoe is mass-produced at a manufacturing plant that utilizes its waste material by putting it back into the cycle, potentially by using off-cuts from the rubber soles to make more soles instead of merely disposing of them; this is dependent on the technical materials not losing their quality as they are reused. Once the shoes have been manufactured, they are distributed to retail outlets where the customer buys the shoe at a reduced price because the customer is only paying for the use of the materials in the shoe for the period of time that they will be wearing them. When they outgrow the shoe or it is damaged, they return it to the manufacturer. When the manufacturer separates the sole from the upper parts (separating the technical and biological nutrients), the biological nutrients are returned to the natural environment while the technical nutrients can be used to create the sole of another shoe.
Another example of C2C design is a disposable cup, bottle, or wrapper made entirely out of biological materials. When the user is finished with the item, it can be disposed of and returned to the natural environment; the cost of disposal of waste such as landfill and recycling is greatly reduced. The user could also potentially return the item for a refund so it can be used again.
Finished products
* Rohner Textile AG Climatex-textile
*
Biofoam, a cradle-to-cradle alternative to
expanded polystyrene
*
Sewage sludge treatment
Sewage sludge treatment describes the processes used to manage and dispose of sewage sludge produced during sewage treatment. Sludge treatment is focused on reducing sludge weight and volume to reduce transportation and disposal costs, and on red ...
plants are facilities that may create fertiliser from sewage sludge. This approach is
green retrofit
A green retrofit is any refurbishment of an existing building that aims to reduce the carbon emissions and environmental impact of the building. This can include improving the energy efficiency of the HVAC and other mechanical systems, increasi ...
for the current (inefficient) system of organic waste disposal; as
composting toilets
A composting toilet is a type of dry toilet that treats human waste by a biological process called composting. This process leads to the decomposition of organic matter and turns human waste into compost-like material. Composting is carried ou ...
are a better approach in the long run.
*
Aquion Energy large scale batteries
*
Ecovative Design packaging and insulation made from waste by binding it together with
mycelium
Mycelium (plural mycelia) is a root-like structure of a fungus consisting of a mass of branching, thread-like hyphae. Fungal colonies composed of mycelium are found in and on soil and many other substrates. A typical single spore germinates ...
Implementation
The C2C model can be applied to almost any system in modern society:
urban environment
An urban area, built-up area or urban agglomeration is a human settlement with a high population density and infrastructure of built environment. Urban areas are created through urbanization and are categorized by urban morphology as cities, ...
s, buildings,
manufacturing
Manufacturing is the creation or production of goods with the help of equipment, labor, machines, tools, and chemical or biological processing or formulation. It is the essence of secondary sector of the economy. The term may refer to ...
,
social systems
In sociology, a social system is the patterned network of relationships constituting a coherent whole that exist between individuals, groups, and institutions. It is the formal structure of role and status that can form in a small, stable group. ...
, etc. Five steps are outlined in ''Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things'':
#Get "free of" known culprits
#Follow informed personal preferences
#Create "passive positive" lists—lists of materials used categorised according to their safety level
##The X list—substances that must be phased out, such as
teratogenic
Teratology is the study of abnormalities of physiological development in organisms during their life span. It is a sub-discipline in medical genetics which focuses on the classification of congenital abnormalities in dysmorphology. The related t ...
,
mutagenic
In genetics, a mutagen is a physical or chemical agent that permanently changes genetic material, usually DNA, in an organism and thus increases the frequency of mutations above the natural background level. As many mutations can cause cancer i ...
,
carcinogenic
A carcinogen is any substance, radionuclide, or radiation that promotes carcinogenesis (the formation of cancer). This may be due to the ability to damage the genome or to the disruption of cellular metabolic processes. Several radioactive subs ...
##The gray list—problematic substances that are not so urgently in need of phasing out
##The P list—the "positive" list, substances actively defined as safe for use
#Activate the positive list
#Reinvent—the redesign of the former system
Products that adhere to all steps may be eligible to receive C2C certification. Other certifications such as
Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) and
Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method (BREEAM) can be used to qualify for certification, and vice versa in the case of BREEAM.
C2C principles were first applied to systems in the early 1990s by Braungart's
Hamburger Umweltinstitut (HUI) and
The Environmental Institute
The Environmental Institute (O Instituto Ambiental (OIA)) is a non-profit organization devoted exclusively to building and managing Integrated Biosystems that purify sewage water in urban areas and for small farms and agro-industries in South Ameri ...
in Brazil for biomass nutrient recycling of effluent to produce agricultural products and clean water as a byproduct.
In 2005, IE Business School in Madrid launched the Center for Eco-Intelligent Innovation in collaboration between Dr.
Gregory Unruh William McDonough to study the implementation of cradle-to-cradle design approaches in pioneering businesses. The academic research of companies lead to the elaboration of
the Biosphere Rules
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...
, a set of five principles derived from nature that guide the implementation of circular models in production.
In 2007, MBDC and the EPEA formed a strategic partnership with global materials consultancy
Material ConneXion to help promote and disseminate C2C design principles by providing greater global access to C2C material information, certification and product development.
As of January 2008, Material ConneXion's Materials Libraries in New York,
Milan
Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...
,
Cologne
Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 million inhabitants in the city proper and 3.6 millio ...
,
Bangkok
Bangkok, officially known in Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estimated populati ...
and
Daegu,
Korea
Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...
, started to feature C2C assessed and certified materials and, in collaboration with MBDC and EPEA, the company now offers C2C Certification, and C2C product development.
While the C2C model has influenced the construction or redevelopment of smaller sites, several large organizations and governments have also implemented the C2C model and its ideas and concepts:
Major implementations
* The Lyle Center for Regenerative Studies incorporates holistic & cyclic systems throughout the center.
Regenerative design
Regenerative design is a process-oriented whole systems approach to design. The term "regenerative" describes processes that restore, renew or revitalize their own sources of energy and materials. Regenerative design uses whole systems thinking ...
is arguably the foundation for the trademarked C2C.
* The
Government of China
The Government of the People's Republic of China () is an authoritarian political system in the People's Republic of China under the exclusive political leadership of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). It consists of legislative, executive, m ...
contributed to the construction of the city of
Huangbaiyu based on C2C principles, utilising the rooftops for agriculture. This project is largely criticized as a failure to meet the desires & constraints of the local people.
* The
Ford River Rouge Complex redevelopment, cleaning of rainwater annually.
* The
Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO-KNAW) planned to make its laboratory and office complex completely cradle-to-cradle compliant.
* Several private houses and communal buildings in the Netherlands.
* Fashion Positive, an initiative to assist the fashion world in implementing the cradle-to-cradle model in five areas: material health, material reuse, renewable energy, water stewardship and social fairness.
Coordination with other models
The cradle-to-cradle model can be viewed as a framework that considers systems as a whole or
holistic
Holism () is the idea that various systems (e.g. physical, biological, social) should be viewed as wholes, not merely as a collection of parts. The term "holism" was coined by Jan Smuts in his 1926 book '' Holism and Evolution''."holism, n." OED On ...
ally. It can be applied to many aspects of human society, and is related to
life-cycle assessment. See for instance the LCA-based model of the
eco-costs, which has been designed to cope with analyses of recycle systems. The cradle-to-cradle model in some implementations is closely linked with the
car-free movement
The car-free movement is a broad, informal, emergent network of individuals and organizations, including social activists, urban planners, transportation engineers, environmentalists and others, brought together by a shared belief that large and ...
, such as in the case of large-scale building projects or the construction or redevelopment of urban environments. It is closely linked with
passive solar design
In passive solar building design, windows, walls, and floors are made to collect, store, reflect, and distribute solar energy, in the form of heat in the winter and reject solar heat in the summer. This is called passive solar design because, unl ...
in the building industry and with
permaculture
Permaculture is an approach to land management and settlement design that adopts arrangements observed in flourishing natural ecosystems. It includes a set of design principles derived using whole-systems thinking. It applies these principle ...
in agriculture within or near urban environments. An
earthship is a perfect example where different re-use models are used, including cradle-to-cradle design and permaculture.
Constraints
A major constraint in the optimal recycling of materials is that at civic amenity sites, products are not disassembled by hand and have each individual part sorted into a bin, but instead have the entire product sorted into a certain bin.
This makes the extraction of
rare-earth elements
The rare-earth elements (REE), also called the rare-earth metals or (in context) rare-earth oxides or sometimes the lanthanides (yttrium and scandium are usually included as rare earths), are a set of 17 nearly-indistinguishable lustrous silve ...
and other materials uneconomical (at recycling sites, products typically get crushed after which the materials are extracted by means of magnets, chemicals, special sorting methods, ...) and thus optimal recycling of, for example metals is impossible (an optimal recycling method for metals would require to sort all similar alloys together rather than mixing plain iron with alloys).
Obviously, disassembling products is not feasible at currently designed civic amenity sites, and a better method would be to send back the broken products to the manufacturer, so that the manufacturer can disassemble the product. These disassembled product can then be used for making new products or at least to have the components sent separately to recycling sites (for proper recycling, by the exact type of material). At present though, few laws are put in place in any country to oblige manufacturers to
take back their products for disassembly, nor are there even such obligations for manufacturers of cradle-to-cradle products. One process where this is happening is in the EU with the
Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive
The Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive (WEEE Directive) is the European Community Directive 2012/19/EU on waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) which, together with the RoHS Directive 2011/65/EU, became European Law ...
. Also, the European Training Network for the Design and Recycling of Rare-Earth Permanent Magnet Motors and Generators in Hybrid and Full Electric Vehicles (ETN-Demeter) makes designs of electric motors of which the magnets can be easily removed for recycling the rare earth metals.
Criticism and response
Criticism has been advanced on the fact that McDonough and Braungart previously kept C2C consultancy and certification in their inner circle. Critics argued that this lack of competition prevented the model from fulfilling its potential. Many critics pleaded for a public-private partnership overseeing the C2C concept, thus enabling competition and growth of practical applications and services.
McDonough and Braungart responded to this criticism by giving control of the certification protocol to a non-profit, independent Institute called the Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute. McDonough said the new institute "will enable our protocol to become a public certification program and global standard".
The new Institute announced the creation of a Certification Standards Board in June 2012. The new board, under the auspices of the Institute, will oversee the certification moving forward.
Experts in the field of environment protection have questioned the practicability of the concept.
Friedrich Schmidt-Bleek, head of the German
Wuppertal Institute
The Wuppertal Institute for Climate, Environment and Energy (official German name: ) is a German research institution for sustainability research focusing on impacts and practical application. It explores and develops models, strategies and in ...
, called his assertion that the "old" environmental movement had hindered innovation with its pessimist approach "pseudo-psychological humbug". Schmidt-Bleek said of the Cradle-to-Cradle seat cushions Braungart developed for the
Airbus 380
The Airbus A380 is a large wide-body airliner that was developed and produced by Airbus. It is the world's largest passenger airliner and only full-length double-deck jet airliner.
Airbus studies started in 1988, and the project was annou ...
: "I can feel very nice on Michael's seat covers in the airplane. Nevertheless I am still waiting for a detailed proposal for a design of the other 99.99 percent of the Airbus 380 after his principles."
In 2009 Schmidt-Bleek stated that it is out of the question that the concept can be realized on a bigger scale.
Some claim that C2C certification may not be entirely sufficient in all
eco-design approaches. Quantitative methodologies (LCAs) and more adapted tools (regarding the product type which is considered) could be used in tandem. The C2C concept ignores the use phase of a product. According to variants of life-cycle assessment (see: ) the entire life cycle of a product or service has to be evaluated, not only the material itself. For many goods e.g. in transport, the use phase has the most influence on the environmental footprint. For example, the more lightweight a car or a plane the less fuel it consumes and consequently the less impact it has. Braungart fully ignores the use phase.
It is safe to say that every production step or resource-transformation step needs a certain amount of energy.
The C2C concept foresees its own certification of its analysis and therefore is in contradiction to international publishing standards (ISO 14040 and ISO 14044) for
life-cycle assessment whereas an independent external review is needed in order to obtain comparative and resilient results.
See also
*
Appropriate technology
Appropriate technology is a movement (and its manifestations) encompassing technological choice and application that is small-scale, affordable by locals, decentralized, labor-intensive, energy-efficient, environmentally sustainable, and loca ...
*
Ellen MacArthur Foundation
Dame Ellen Patricia MacArthur (born 8 July 1976) is a retired English sailor, from Whatstandwell near Matlock in Derbyshire, now based in Cowes, Isle of Wight.
MacArthur is a successful solo long-distance yachtswoman. On 7 February 2005, ...
*
List of environment topics
The natural environment, commonly referred to simply as the environment, includes all living and non-living things occurring naturally on Earth.
The natural environment includes complete ecological units that function as natural systems without m ...
*
Modular construction systems
*
Planned obsolescence
In economics and industrial design, planned obsolescence (also called built-in obsolescence or premature obsolescence) is a policy of planning or designing a good (economics), product with an artificially limited Product lifetime, useful life o ...
the opposite of durable, no waste design
*''
The Blue Economy''
*
Upcycling
Upcycling, also known as creative reuse, is the process of transforming by-products, waste materials, useless, or unwanted products into new materials or products perceived to be of greater quality, such as artistic value or environmental value ...
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Cradle To Cradle Design
Sustainable design
Environmental design
Industrial ecology
Sustainable building