Cradle to cradle framework

The cradle to cradle framework is an outline of how design can be used to create sustainable products.
Essentially the idea is to design and manufacture products that reduce and reuse materials, resources and energy.  Cradle to cradle means that you can take the constituent materials and allow them to be be re-used in another process with minimal processing at the end of life (typically the cradle to grave life-cycle).

McDonough Braungart Design Chemistry (MBDC) is a global sustainability consulting and product certification firm that have devised and oversee the Cradle-to-Cradle certification process.  They have four certification levels - check the website for details -->  www.mbdc.com

This certification process is for products and materials, but we can use the concepts to apply this sort of vision to anything we create.

Take the cradle-to-cradle concept into your next project!

A framework for sustainable design

Over at livingprinciples.org they have distilled the decision process that goes into everyday design practice into a framework that anyone can follow.

The "Living Principles for Design" framework takes the four main areas of sustainability - environment, people, economy and culture and shows how these factors can be considered holistically.

In the road map they asks some questions to spark thoughts and consider alternatives in the following main areas.

Environment:

• Behaviours
• Creation
• Durability
• Disassembly
• Supply chain
• Waste
• Impacts

People:

• Impacts
• Conflicts
• Desirability
• Need/Use
• Long view

Economy:

• Systemic view
• Metrics
• Benefits
• Transparency
• Waste reuse

Culture:

• Visions
• Meanings and reactions
• A systemic view
• Diversity

Check out the road map and see if you can integrate these questions into your design process.