Cradle to Cradle | Learning from each other

It has been almost ten years since William McDonough and Michael Braungart published Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things. Their philosophy has changed the way we think about sustainability. Instead of doing things “less bad”, the American architect and German chemist suggested we start creating systems that are essentially waste free. They envision a world in which materials are being endlessly reused in the biological or technical cycle.

The Cradle to Cradle philosophy has been met with great enthusiasm.  Worldwide more than 100 companies have been successful in developing one or more Cradle to Cradle certified products. In the Netherlands, too, the idea of Braungart and McDonough has gained foothold. The city of Venlo has announced it will use the Floriade 2012 as a test case for the Cradle to Cradle concept. Almere has the ambition of building 60.000 homes following the C2C design. For the execution of these projects governments are cooperating with businesses that have started “to cradle” in the past few years. In the Netherlands, about 20 companies have developed C2C products or are in the process of doing so.

The implementation of C2C in a business is a tremendous challenge. It goes beyond the development of a new product line; embracing the C2C philosophy requires an integral change in the entire organization. Not surprisingly, businesses were facing many questions and dilemmas when they started out with this new and innovative concept. In 2009, the ministry of VROM (now I&M) in collaboration with Agentschap NL (then Senter Novem) started a Cradle to Cradle Learning Community, a platform for businesses that were actively involved with C2C or otherwise leading in the field of sustainability.

Together with Agentschap NL, The Terrace has been facilitating the meetings of the Learning Community during the past two years. Pierre Hupperts has talked with seventeen companies from various sectors about the challenges and opportunities that C2C brings to the table. The issues discussed ranged from marketing and communication to sustainable procurement, from closed loop systems to organizational change. All these topics are part of the sustainable innovation that C2C requires.

On May 24, the C2C pioneers will share insights from their experiences in a learning event called Cradle to Cradle pays off! In Waalwijk. The Terrace has been working on a book about the C2C learning community, which will be presented during the event. In this book, companies share the lessons they have learned since the start of the Learning Community in 2009. They have experienced that the journey to become a C2C company pays off for business and for a brighter future.

For more information about our involvement in Cradle to Cradle, click here.


By Jacobien Crol