MBDC Cradle to Cradle Certified
The concept of ‘cradle-to-cradle’ design for consumer products was pioneered by designer William McDonough and chemist Michael Braungart. Their design firm, MBDC, certifies products which meet their criteria.
The concept of cradle-to-cradle replaces the previous paradigm of ‘cradle-to-grave,’ in which products are simply dumped in landfills at the end of their 'life.' As each day makes clearer, cradle-to-grave design and production is inefficient and unsustainable. Efficient ecological systems have no waste; economic systems should mirror this efficiency. MBDC creates and certifies products which flow through cradle-to-cradle cycles. A given product’s materials are perpetually circulated in closed loops. Maintaining materials in closed loops maximizes material value without damaging ecosystems.
Within the certification process, MBDC evaluates a material or product’s ingredients and the complete formulation for human and environmental health impacts throughout its lifecycle and its potential for being truly recycled or safely composted. Certification of a finished product also requires the evaluation of energy-use quantity and quality (i.e., relative proportion of renewable energy), water-use quantity, water-effluent quality, and workplace ethics associated with manufacturing. Criteria fall into the following five categories:
- Materials
- Material Reutilization/Design for Environment
- Energy
- Water
- Social Responsibility
If a candidate material or product is found to achieve the necessary criteria, it is certified as a Silver, Gold or Platinum product or as a Technical or Biological Nutrient (a classification available for homogeneous materials or less complex products).
To learn more about MBDC and Cradle-to-Cradle design visit their website http://www.c2ccertified.com/ and read Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things by Michael Braungart and William McDonough.
