cradle to cradle

"Much we currently regard as ‘sustainable design’ is a modification of the ‘Cradle to Grave’ model that has played a part in creating the environmental problems that we currently face."

Braungart learned some essential lessons directly from aboriginal people: Waste is a key resource. Waste refines nutrition. Waste enhances high-tech products. "Smart Designs Look to the Future (It’s a whole new industrial revolution, our future won’t be just a load of old rubbish)" is the title of an entire exhibition by Braungart and McDonough in the British Science Museum in London. Due to this success, the products are displayed in important design centers worldwide.

Braungart argues that the drive to use less energy or pollute less is essentially futile because it simply changes the timescale over which we see significant environmental degradation. Through all his activities, he has developed tools to design eco-effective products and business systems.

With his vision of the Cradle to Cradle design he distinguishes between two types of Cradle to Cradle: Products which can be conducted safely either as products for consumption into biological systems or as products for service into technical systems for the next production generation.