The sustainability principle Cradle to Cradle (cradle = cradle), or C2C for short, which was largely developed by the German chemist Prof. Dr. Michael Braungart and the US architect William McDonough, describes material flows of production goods not linearly ("from cradle to grave"), but as an infinite cycle ("from cradle to cradle"). The goals are to conserve limited resources and avoid waste through consistent recycling, i.e. the complete reuse of the material in the subsequent stages of the cycle.
Cradle to cradle therefore does not mean waste minimization, but the complete detachment from the idea of waste. This radical rethinking is also intended to ensure that natural resources are available to all future generations to the same extent. William McDonough in particular also transferred this principle to architectural and urban planning tasks. Another important goal is to avoid pollutants in products that have a negative impact on the living and inanimate environment.
Cradle to Cradle and C2C are internationally protected trademarks for numerous product types and services. Appropriate products can be certified in several stages, depending on the fulfilment of the requirements set by EPEA.
EPEA Internationale Umweltforschung GmbH: http://epea-hamburg.org/de and http://www.epea.com/
Source: bauwion
