Cradle to Cradle

MBDC is a product and process design firm dedicated to transforming the design of products, processes, and services worldwide. MBDC employ Cradle to Cradle Design using strategies that are "eco-effective" (rather than the widely promoted "eco-efficiency") to create products and systems that contribute to economic, social, and environmental prosperity.

The firm was founded in 1995 by William McDonough and Michael Braungart to promote and power "the Next Industrial Revolution" through intelligent design. In their book, Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way we Make Things, the authors present a manifesto calling for a new industrial revolution, one that would render both traditional manufacturing and traditional environmentalism obsolete. Recycling, for instance, is actually "downcycling," creating hybrids of biological and technical "nutrients" which are then unrecoverable and unusable. The authors, an architect and a chemist, want to eliminate the concept of waste altogether, while preserving commerce and allowing for human nature. They offer several compelling examples of corporations that are not just doing less harm--they're actually doing some good for the environment and their neighborhoods, and making more money in the process.