David talks about cradle to cradle buildings

David is a passionate (and opinionated) eco mentalist (as my partner would say). He wasn’t just paying lip service to offering an eco garden office by putting in a few energy saving light bulbs and a bit of double glazing, he was talking ‘cradle to cradle’ and something about Japanese wood burning.
I’d heard of a cradle to grave assessment.
Here’s what Wikipedia says: to assess environmental impacts associated with all the stages of a product’s life from raw material extraction through materials processing, manufacture, distribution, use, repair and maintenance, and disposal or recycling.
But cradle to cradle? Back to Wikipedia. There’s a complex explanation that says 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 (i.e. from the birth, or “cradle,” of one generation to the next versus from birth to death, or “grave,” within the same generation.)
There’s also a certification website — it sounded good.
I’ve always tried to be as eco-friendly as I could; my friends make fun of me about it. “Look away Sue, we’re going to throw this in the bin”. I do all the usual stuff and really agonise over purchases that may adversely impact on the planet. I had to think long and hard about taking down the still functional garage to build an office but here was an opportunity to do it in the most environmentally friendly way possible. It would add value to the house and solve our kitchen problem. I was sold.
But what on earth is Japanese wood burning? More research required.
