One man's trash is another man's treasure

My sister was an extremely picky eater as a child and this made the majority of our meals as a family extremely unpleasant.  Every night the same scenario would repeat itself, my sister would hate the meal and refuse to eat it and my mother would become extremely irritated.  The stubborn nature of both my mother and sister often caused the two to engage in nightly dinner stand-offs that could last for hours.  Usually after an hour my mom would realize this was a battle that she could not win and eventually dismiss my sister from the dinner table.  My mother would make her way to the kitchen sink to wash the full plate of food and in disgust she would look over at my sister and say, “you know kids in China are starving and would love to eat this!”  The idea of my sister wasting food truly irritated my mother.  However, if you were to ask the opinion of a manufacturer that utilized the cradle to cradle system of design I’m certain you would get  a completely different response.

Cradle to cradle design is a production process where the concept of waste doesn’t exist.  In the cradle to cradle production process every resource and material is fully utilized by manufacturers and producers.  Each product is designed with the intent to provide the planet with some form of nourishment.  In the very beginning of the production process the manufacturer and/or producer determines each products fundamental purpose.  Products have more than just a functional purpose, rather products are designed to feed the earth’s biological or technical metabolism.  The concept of my design is based on the technical cycle of the cradle to cradle model.  The technical cycle is a closed loop system where materials are circulated and reused.  Materials are designed to be products of service that can be enjoyed by a variety of consumers.

The eco-leasing and “rent-a-solvent” concepts described by McDonough and Braungart helped me form the basis of my design concept.  My concept incorporates the technical metabolism that largely focus on reusable service based products.  Instead, of purchasing apparel products all products would be leased to customers.  For example, if a consumer wanted a blue blouse from the GAP she would go to the company’s retail store.  Products would be displayed on fixtures and mannequins and grouped by size.  Once desired product is selected the customer will proceed to the cash register to complete the leasing transaction.  The GAP employee would put the name of the customer in the company’s database that’s designed to track and monitor the company’s inventory.  The customer pays a leasing fee for the product that she will have for a defined period of time.  Once the specified period ends she will be expected to return the item to the retail store.  The company database would have the customers credit card information on file.  This is a measure that’s taken by retailers to ensure that customers return the leased items on time.  If the customer fails to return the item the retailer will charge the customer until the item is returned.  Consumers also have the option of going on retailers website in order to browse the products leased by the retailer.  The website allows consumers to reserve specific items based on the products availability.

Manufacturers are largely responsible in constructing sustainable products that are high in quality.  The transportation process that’s often used by retailers to transport products can have many detrimental affects on the environment.  To avoid the depletion of the environment retailers hire local manufacturers to produce and design products.  Localized production will boost local economies and retailers profits will steadily increase due to the reduction of costs.  According to McDonough and Braungar, consumers enjoying buying new products because it makes them feel more powerful and unique.  This is a significant barrier that poses a threat in the future adoption of systems using the cradle to cradle design. The following quote by Albert Einstein was featured in the beginning of the cradle to cradle application video, “the significant problems we face cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at when we created them.”  I found this quote to be powerful as well as inspirational.  Ultimately this quote helped me determine the distinct roles that would be assigned to manufacturers in my design concept.  The role of manufacturers is developing new and creative ways to reuse the worn out materials from previously leased products.  Manufacturers creative utilization of materials will give retailers a creative edge while also giving consumers the opportunity to lease products with unique characteristics.  The video and the excerpt from McDonough and Braungar’s book both reiterate the importance of being fully aware of every aspect of a product.  My design concept is intended to look at the different angles of a product as well provide waste free materials as a means to enrich a products technical metabolism.