The Future and Cradle To Cradle Recycling - By: Michael Arms

We call for and practice the three R's - "reduce, reuse, recycle" to lessen the negative impact of our wasteful lifestyle and consumerist products on nature, after which we step back, satisfied in the thought that when we recycle we're doing the right thing. And why not? We've just helped reduce the volume of waste that's going to be deposited in our landfills (or worse, in the oceans), we've done a fantastic job in helping protect the environment.

But, are we really making the right choice when we recycle?

Recycling, as it is being done today, is in truth "downcycling" or "cradle to grave" recycling. This idea is explained brilliantly by architect William McDonough and chemist Michael Braungart in their 2002 ground-breaking work, “Cradle to Cradle: Remaking The Way We Make Things.” The stuff we create out of recycled materials are either inferior in quality (due to materials degradation or contamination) or use only very little of the old material (the rest dumped as dangerous waste in our landfills).

There is no such profligacy in nature. How many cones does a pine tree must produce in order for a new pine tree to flourish? A thousand, probably tens of thousands. All for a single juvenile pine tree. Are those hundred other cones or seeds that failed to become new trees wasted? Of course, not. They all go back to the ground and biodegrade to become fertilizers to help in the pine tree's following spring cycle. Nature shows sustainable cycles, such as that of the pine tree, everywhere. Nothing in nature is wasted, every seed or cone ultimately helps to sustain the cycle that gets replicated a great number of times.

What if we can adopt the earth's way of sustainability and absolutely no waste in our industrial manufacturing processes? What if every product that we make can be reutilized, recycled, or completely reduced to its organic components? Cradle to cradle is an attempt to rebuild "the way we make things" to mirror exactly the highly efficient process of sustainability in nature. How? Consider incorporating sustainability into every product. Engineers, architects, and designers will have to include end-of-life product handling while the product is still in the conceptualization stage. Is the machinery reusable? Are all the parts recyclable? Are the parts, paints, and coatings biodegradable?

In our current understanding, we tend to fall for “lesser of two evils” kind of choices. Plastic bags or paper bags for shopping? Coal or palm oil for power generation? Obviously, both options in either of these two sets have disastrous impacts on nature, the distinctions being just a matter of levels of severity. For the longest time, we’ve boxed ourselves into this mirage of limited alternatives.

Cradle-to-cradle recycling challenges this very notion of limited choices. When sustainability is introduced and added in the very design of the product, the options become limitless for us. The authors see cradle to cradle recycling as the “next industrial revolution” and this visionary approach may just be the solution we all need to address the world's waste problems.

Paper bag or plastic bag? Why not an “edible bag?”

Cradle to cradle recycling is a visionary approach to solving the problem of waste and pollution. It mirrors sustainability in nature, itself. This "thinking outside of the box" could very well become the "next industrial revolution."

Michael Arms contributes articles to the Pacebutler Recycling and Environmental blog and maintains several Squidoo lenses on recycling and the environment. Pacebutler Corporation is one of several US based companies which buy used cell phones directly from US cell phone users. You can also donate cell phones to your preferred charity or non-profit through Pacebutler.