Cradle to Cradle Design.
A circular economy aims to build regenerative economic systems that keep raw materials in a closed loop while minimizing waste generation. Cradle to Cradle design for an ideal circular economy, developed by William McDonough and Michael Braungart, envisages designing products that are not just less harmful but also beneficial. The Cradle to Cradle approach proposes a shift in mindset where sustainability should be a part of the design function and not an afterthought.
Biological & Technical Metabolism
As per C2C design, products are made of two kinds of nutrients — biological and technical. The first step is to design systems that do not mix the both. However, in our daily life we use many products that incorporate both biological and technical nutrients. Such hybrid products should be designed such that the technical and biological nutrients may be easily disassembled and separated. Thereafter, the biological and technical nutrients should be treated in their respective cycles.
A few companies in retail have initiated R&D investments to design clothes comprised entirely of biological nutrients. C&A, the international dutch chain of clothing stores, launched the world’s first C2C T-shirt in 2017. They partnered with their supplier in India to find substitutes for basic materials, stitching, ink, dyes and label that met the durability and quality standards of C&A and still could be sold for around $8. The T-shirt was entirely made out of cotton and it cost about 10% more than a conventional shirt. “If you were to throw this shirt on a compost heap, it would compost in 11 weeks.” — Don Brenninkmeijer, C&A’s Chief Brand, Customer & Sustainability Officer. The next year, C&A launched C2C certified Jeans.
The biggest challenge that these companies face currently is to create affordable C2C products at scale. Another challenge is to incentivize the suppliers and manufacturers to invest in sourcing materials used to create C2C products.
Eco-Effectiveness
“Don’t just be less bad, Be 100% good’ — is the principle underlying Cradle to Cradle design. Eco-efficiency slows down the rate of environmental degradation and reduces pollution, but it can’t substitute for the Eco-effective approach of designing Cradle-to-Cradle solutions.
Take for example plastic. Generally, higher quality plastic found in bottles is mixed with lower quality plastic that can’t be again re-cycled to make bottles and ends up being used to make something cheaper like a road bump. Thus, instead of recycling we end up down-cycling waste. Some companies are working on creating products that can be recycled without degrading quality. EcoWorx, is a C2C certified commercial carpet tile that replaced PVC-backed tiles produced by the Shaw industries. The product comes up with a guarantee for free recycling and reclamation.
Mimicking biological systems
Cradle-to-cradle design is a biomimetic process that seeks to emulate models in nature to develop systems and products used by humans. Cradle to Cradle design derives perspective from the way biological systems have been designed where there is no such a thing as waste. Nature decays and serves as fodder for future growth. Inspired by this process, many companies have been investing in creating biodegradable packaging solutions from waste such as rice husk.
Another good example would be the green rooftops. Green rooftops are an extension of the traditional rooftops that comprise of a lightweight growing medium with plants, filter fleece, a water proofing and drainage system. The green rooftops regulate temperature, improve air quality, and provide insulation for buildings. Many buildings in Europe have implemented green rooftops for its various ecological and economic benefits. Green rooftops are actually a very old concept and one of the world’s oldest green rooftops can be found in Switzerland.
Product-of-Service or Eco-leasing
When we buy a product, we own it completely which is why it’s disposal after usage also becomes the owner’s responsibility. What if on purchasing something, we paid by usage based on the extent of the usage and then returned the product. This way, the company manufacturing the product would be able to get back products which it could then fix and resell or recycle/up-cycle. This could also minimize the waste thrown out by households. Many electronics companies already have ‘Take-back’ initiatives that helps consumers salvage some value and the manufacturers can then recycle the old products. However, there are many day to day inexpensive products that could benefit from this model.
In their book — ‘Cradle to Cradle’, William and Michael, suggest the following steps to putting Eco-Effectiveness into practise — get rid of the obvious bad materials, make informed personal decisions, select from a list of positive choices, and eventually re-invent to create entirely beneficial products. The authors have included ideas for applying the principle of Eco-effectiveness to products, packaging, services, energy — potentially everything we create & use. What I really like about the book is that along with examples of existing solutions it also lays out the thought process to conceptualize radical solutions. This book could be interesting to anyone who is looking to learn more about sustainable intelligent designs.
“This is going to take us all, and it is going to take forever. But then, that’s the point”
— Braungart and McDonough
References
[1] Greenbiz.com. 2020. How C&A Created The World’S First Cradle To Cradle T-Shirt | Greenbiz. Available at: https://www.greenbiz.com/article/how-ca-created-worlds-first-cradle-cradle-t-shirt.
[2] Building Radar. 2020. Green Roofs — Are Green Roofs More Than Just A Trend? Available at: https://buildingradar.com/construction-blog/green-roofs.
[3] Shawcontract.com. 2020. Ecoworx | Shawcontract. Available at: https://www.shawcontract.com/en-in/technical/ecoworx
[4] Braungart, M. and McDonough, W., Cradle To Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things
