Cradle to Cradle

Cradle to Cradle Design (C2C) is a biomimetic approach to the design of system.

It models human industry on nature's processes in which materials are viewed as nutrients circulating in healty, safe metabolism.

It's economic, industrial and social framework that seeks to create systems that are not just efficent but essentially waste free.

The model is not limited to industrial design and manifacturing; it can be applied to many different aspects of human civilization such as urban environment, buildings, economics and social system.

The phrase "Cradle to Cradle" itself was coined by Walter Sathel in the 1970's, and the current model is based on a system of "lifecycle development".

In the Cradle to Cradle model, all material used in industrial or commercial processes -such as metals, fibres, dyes- are seen to fall into one of two categories: "technical" or "biological" nutrients. 

Technical nutrients are strictly limited to non-yoxic, non-harmful synthetic materials that have no negative effects on the natural environment; they can be used in continuous cycles as the same product without losing their integrity or quality.

Biological nutrients are organic materials that, once used, can be desposed of in any natural environment and decompose into the soil, providing food for small life forms without affecting the natural environment.