Through my involvement with the World Green Building Council, I recently attended a lecture by Cradle to Cradle co-author Michael Braungart. What a treat! Having read the book, the concepts were not completely new to me, but it was amazing to attend and listen to the innovative ideas straight from the horse’s mouth. So this week, I’ll briefly review the concept of cradle-to-cradle design, and what it means for homes.
The Cradle-to-Cradle principles
The idea behind cradle-to-cradle (or C2C) philosophy is that products should be designed from the beginning to not only reduce harmful chemicals and carbon footprint, but to actually serve as nutrients to the environment. That means that every product can be completely recycled, either biologically or in industry, with no harmful side effects. In addition, C2C products actually give back to the environment, cleaning the surrounding air, for example, or increasing positive bacteria, while reducing the presence of harmful bacteria. The point is to follow nature’s design. Take ants, for example, which make up more biomass on the earth than humans. They live and breathe and actually produce nutrients as waste products, which regenerate soil and habitats for other living beings. Why, as human beings, can’t we find a way to design our products to do the same? Trees are another example–they drop “waste” products, in the form of leaves, by the megaton, but this serves as regeneration material for the environment in which they live. And they clean the air, of course! MBDC, the cradle-to-cradle organization founded by Braungart and his co-author William McDonough, has been involved in building projects to create buildings which actually clean the air–venting out air that is cleaner than the intake.
What we breathe
Off-gassing of building products is the biggest cause of poor indoor air quality. Depending on where you are in the world, the indoor air you breathe at work and at home is typically 3 to 10 times worse than the air you breathe outside. Off-gassing is also responsible for the high quantities of toxic chemicals found in breast milk (up to 200 times the legal limits for water), a topic which Braungart is actively researching. This emphasizes the need for products in the home that follow the cradle-to-cradle concept–that is, fully bio-degradable or fully recyclable, with no harmful chemicals added. Cradle-to-cradle organization MBDC develops, analyzes and certifies products like building materials and furnishings that are completely free of harmful chemicals.
Over the next few weeks, we at GreenHomeImprovement.com will be highlighting C2C products that can be used safely in home building. These products are made from all natural materials, and produced in such a way that helps clean our world.
For more information, check out the book, Cradle to Cradle. And check out our products page to see new C2C innovation suitable for homes.