Hyper-green products go 'cradle to cradle'

Imagine consumer products made from healthy and safe materials that, at the end of their life, are taken apart and either turned into raw materials for new products or returned to the earth as compost. These products are manufactured using renewable energy and marketed with socially responsible strategies.

In this world, you can flush the dirty diapers down the toilet, spray household cleaners without fear of poisoning your houseplants (or family) and wax your surfboard without feeling guilty about the fish.

In essence: Shopping can be good again.

“Ideally, cradle to cradle will become the mantra for product design. No company will enter a product development process without using these criteria,” said William McDonough, eco-evangelist, designer and co-author of the manifesto “Cradle To Cradle.”

The secret is products designed with the cradle-to-cradle mantra in mind. And these hyper-green products are coming to a shopping mall near you.

Even boosters admit the first wave is a small, mismatched group of certified products: All-purpose cleaner, baby diapers, office chairs, workstations, surfboard wax and whiteboards  that have slowly entered the market as just a small blip on the radar screen of eco-savvy consumers.

But some trend watchers predict these hyper-green products will multiply and move mainstream as more people become environmentally aware.

What makes cradle-to-cradle products different from other green products is independent third-party certification. Consumers can now look for the C2C-certified logo, which began appearing on products about six months ago.

McDonough Braungart Design Chemistry, founded in 1995 by McDonough and Michael Braungart, has certified about 60 cradle-to-cradle products over the past two years and about 30 applications are pending, said Steve Bolton, manager of business development at the firm.  A Web site featuring new product announcements, forums and a blog is set to launch by December.

The trend has gained traction over the past six months, especially since the cradle-to-crade idea received receiving recognition from the U.S. Green Building Council. An international meeting set for next year will raise the movement's profile. A new international partnership has been formed with McDonough Braungart Design Chemistry; Material Connexion, a network of material specialists; and EPEA, an independent scientific research institute.

“I can see it coming,” said Lloyd Alter, developer, architect and writer for Treehugger, a Web site dedicated to all things green. “There is no standard for what green is. All of these (other) products are being called green. What is critical about cradle to cradle is that it is a demonstrative standard. It is rigorous but achievable.”

The beauty is that anything can be certified — cars, chairs, clothes, office supplies and, yes, diapers. An Australian couple, Jason and Kim Graham-Nye, earned cradle-to-cradle certification for their product, gDiapers, to gain “legitimacy and credibility with our customers,” said spokeswoman Kate French. Their diapers consist of a washable cotton outer pant and plastic-free flushable refill.

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