cradle to cradle design william mcdonough

In 1995 they founded McDonough Braungart Design Chemistry, a firm to assist companies in implementing sustainable design protocols. They were immediately interested in working together to create a better world for each other, and in 1991 they coauthored The Hannover Principles: a set of design guidelines for the 2000 World's Fair that were issued at the 1992 World Urban Forum and United Nations forum of the Earth Summit.

They began discussing toxicity and design. William McDonough and Michael Braungart met at an Environmental Protection Encouragement Agency reception in New York City. The book uses historical examples such as the Industrial Revolution along with commentary on science, nature, and society. Technical nutrients are materials that remain within closed-loop industrial cycles.

Biological nutrients are materials that can re-enter the environment. This vision of upcycling is based on a system of 'lifecycle development' initiated by Braungart and colleagues at the Environmental Protection Encouragement Agency in the 1990s: after products have reached the end of their useful life, they become either 'biological nutrients' or 'technical nutrients'. The book discourages downcycling, but rather encourages the manufacture of products with the goal of upcycling in mind. It suggests that the ' reduce reuse recycle' methods perpetuate this cradle-to-grave strategy, and that more changes need to be made. It calls for a radical change in industry: a switch from a cradle-to-grave pattern to a cradle-to-cradle pattern. It is a manifesto detailing how to achieve their Cradle to Cradle Design model. Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things is a 2002 non-fiction book by German chemist Michael Braungart and US architect William McDonough.

Cradle to cradle design william mcdonough