Cradle to Cradle 1/2

Cradle to Cradle Design takes its inspiration from nature, in which there is no place for the concept of waste, but in which waste = food.
'Cradle to Cradle' is the antidote to the 'Cradle to Grave' paradigm, where product cycles are not really cycles but mostly half cycles in which products, after their useful life, are put out of sight in landfills.
The purpose of the Cradle to Cradle Design is to restore continuous cycles of biological as well as technical nutrients with long terms positive effects on profitability, the environment and human health.


Cradle to Cradle Design is highly operational: It aims for perfection, it can prove when it has achieved it or how far it has succeeded in its task.
Cradle to Cradle Design is free of "political risk". New environmental requirements cannot constitute a financial threat to the company which has already moved out of the realm of environmental legislation by doing away with the concept of waste.

Founded by Professor Dr. Michael Braungart in 1987, the Environmental Protection and Encouragement Agency (EPEA) Internationale Umweltforschung GmbH works with clients worldwide to apply the Cradle to Cradle methodology to the design of new processes, products and services.

William McDonough; Michael Braungart
Cradle to Cradle, Remaking the Way We Make Things
first edition released in 2002