MGE2: A framework for cradle-to-cradle design

Abstract

Design and ecology are critical issues in the industrial sector. Products are subject to constant review and optimization for survival in the market, and limited by their impact on the planet. Decisions about a new product affect its life cycle, consumers, and especially the environment. In order to achieve quality solutions, eco-effectiveness must be considered, therefore, in the design of a process, its product development and associated system. An orderly methodology is essential to help towards creating products that meet both user needs and current environmental requirements, under paradigms that create environmental value. To date, the industry has developed techniques in an attempt to address these expectations under Cradle-to-Cradle (C2C), which is loosely structured around the conceptual frameworks and design techniques. The present work describes a new framework that encompasses all stages of design, and enables interaction under a set of principles developed for C2C. Under this innovative new paradigm emerges the Genomic Model of Eco-innovation and Eco-design, proposed as a methodology for designing products that meet individual and collective needs, and which enables the design of eco-friendly products, by integrating them into the framework of the ISO standards of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), eco-design, eco-labeling, and C2C certification.

Sustaining Natural Dye Plants with Post-Consumer Textile Waste

“…These are critical initial measures for assessing the ''gene'' and ''phenotype'' characteristics of the materials for proposed use in a circular fashion supply chain. 57 Fabrics that had notable color release, slow moisture uptake, or that displayed significant degradation in the immersed hydroponic nutrient and water solution were eliminated.…”

“…The characteristics are expressed in a material's ''genes''-its chemical composition-and ''phenotype''-its observable features. 57 For fashion, fiber content, added dyes, and chemicals are examples of the ''genes,'' while the physical material appearance such as color and texture are the ''phenotype.'' Ideally, secondhand materials would be categorized as biological or technical nutrients.…”

“…The characteristics are expressed in a material’s “genes”—its chemical composition—and “phenotype”—its observable features. 57 For fashion, fiber content, added dyes, and chemicals are examples of the “genes,” while the physical material appearance such as color and texture are the “phenotype.” Ideally, secondhand materials would be categorized as biological or technical nutrients. One hundred percent natural, biodegradable materials would be “biological nutrients.” One hundred percent synthetic materials would be classified as “technical nutrients” that can re-enter a supply chain as a pure, new product in a second or third life.…”

Nature-Inspired Design: Biomimicry and Cradle to Cradle

“…Cradle to Cradle Design models human industry on these natural principles. It envisions a world powered by the sun where growth is good, waste nutritious, and productive diversity enriches human and natural communities ( Figure 3) (Reay et al, 2011;Toxopeus et al, 2015;Peralta-Álvarez, et al, 2015).…”

“…This new concept considers artifi cially created materials, obtained in other industrial processes, as nutrients that circulate perpetually in the healthy metabolism of the living world. This creates an infi nite lifecycle of non- living matter, modelled on the living world, where the biosphere is equated with the technosphere (Peralta-Álvarez, et al, 2015;Toxopeus et al, 2015). C2C Design is a system of thinking based on the belief that human design can have a more eff ective approach by learning from nature and incorporating its patterns.…”