"Cradle to Cradle" Umbrella? What's That?

"Cradle to Cradle" Umbrella? What's That?

As part of our Umbrella Inside Out competitions, we are asking for an umbrella conceived with a Cradle to Cradle (C2C) sensibility. Some of you might be wondering what the heck that means. Luckily, TreeHugger has written a lot about C2C. You can find an introduction to the revolutionary text here. This is the gist:

McDonough (architect) and Braungart (chemist) propose an industrial revolution, but this time, a green one. Taking cues from biomimicry, they propose that WASTE = FOOD, and suggest that things should be made from one of two types of materials: biological nutrients, which decompose naturally, and technical nutrients, which are designed for upcycling (little to no quality lost during recycling).

Last year, McDonough Braungart Product Certification (MBDC) was introduced. This management system recognizes products that conform to MBDC's C2C principles. The system offers a flexible "menu" of certification levels that should meet the needs of all manner of product designers. You can read lots about it in this post. Here, you can find out about the first projects to qualify for MBDC Certification.

More from the archives: Lloyd highlights some choice McDonough quotes, McDonough is named Esquire's "Big Thinker of the Year", and, finally, learn why the man likes a green sandwich. Want to buy the book? We have it.