WIDN blog

Maybe you had to be there, but this is German chemist Michael Braungart’s charming and slightly wacky take on the environmental crisis. He makes a good point: we aren't destroying the planet, we're destroying ourselves.

Braungart, who co-wrote the book Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things (2002), with U.S. architect William McDonough, was speaking at an event arranged by leading carpet manufacturer Desso and office furniture company Ahrend at the German Gymnasium in Kings Cross last night, and he was certainly compelling, not to mention very funny.

According to Braungart, Cradle to Cradle (C2C) is a ‘manifesto calling for the transformation of human industry through ecologically intelligent design’.

Desso's Pallas range of carpet times is C2C certified

‘Zero emissions is not enough’, says Braungart. Being ‘less bad’ will no longer do. According to Braungart, we need to learn how be good, how to ‘upscycle, rather than recycle’.

Desso currently markets two products that fulfill the Cradle to Cradle criteria, and aims to have a complete C2C production line by 2020.

Desso CEO Stef Kranendijk explains how it differs from ordinary recycling: ‘The essence is that products are developed with the underlying thought that they can also be taken apart again. The loose parts subsequently need to be able to be used as raw materials for new products, without losing any of their value.’

In January 2009, Ahrend introduced Next Life, a new service focused on extending the useful life of interior products through refurbishment and ultimately the re-use of the material, which is in line with the Cradle to Cradle philosophy.

If you’d like to know more about Cradle to Cradle, then click here.