Cradle to Cradle themes

The Cradle to Cradle® design concept is founded upon three fundamental principles:

Waste equals Food (materials)

The processes of every single organism in a living system contribute to the health and well-being of the system as a whole. The leaves of a tree, for example, its “waste”, fall to the ground where they are broken down and become nutrients for other organisms. Microbes feed off this organic "waste" and, as a result, return many valuable nutrients to the soil that the tree can profit from. The “waste” of one organism is thus nutrients for another. Plans made by humans that attempt to replicate this nutrient cycle – cycles in which waste no longer occurs – form the very the foundation of the material flow systems that are a fundamental component of the Cradle to Cradle® method of production.

Use current solar income (energy)

The first industrial revolution obtained its energy predominantly from the reservoirs of the past. Fossil fuels were used that had been created millions of years ago. Nuclear energy places great strains and very dangerous responsibilities on many future generations. Systems that are driven using solar energy are systems that are using today’s energy without having to put the futures of our children and their children at risk. It is most certainly within the capabilities of today’s technology to profitably incorporate the use of and reliance on solar energy into the design of production systems. The direct capture of solar energy is one possibility. Wind energy, created as a result of sunlight causing thermal differences in the atmosphere, is a further source. Biomass and other energy sources also form creditable possibilities.

Celebrate diversity (a.o. water)

Natural systems function and flourish through complexity. Compared to the standard solutions of the industrial revolution and to the uniformity so highly prized by globalization, nature supports an almost unending abundance of variety and diversity. How we go about manufacturing products must be similarly tackled with the same flair for diversity and variety. To concentrate on only the one criterion is to create instability and imbalance in a wider context and represents what we term an “ism”, an extreme, or completely detached, solution that is outside the actual structure of the problem. A theory then.

These three principles are reflected in the three themes the Cradle to Cradle Islands project focuses on: Materials, Energy and Water.

Materials

Theme coordinator: EPEA, Michael Braungart

• Design of an Eternal Island Holiday House that is energy producing, made with local materials, easy transportable and degradable;
• Set up of an innovative Research Centre on Bioplymers to adapt for instance environment polluting plastics into new in water dissolvable environmental friendly products and to make use of local available resources like algae;
• Local production with these innovative materials, e.g. tourist products like custom tailored swim suits, toys for kids, etc; 
• Develop data base on Cradle to Cradle® ideas, strategies, methods;  
• Develop alternative building materials and designs based on Cradle to Cradle® principles;  
• Provide understanding of waste and resource issues in island tourism;
• Provide research into coastal industries waste and the impact on tourism, developing Cradle to Cradle® principles to reduce waste and improve resource effectiveness;  
• Cradle to Cradle® solutions for the local marinas and surrounding buildings (development of Cradle to Cradle® docks, Cradle to Cradle® buildings, use of solar and wind energy, water treatment); 
• Develop alternative tourism models based on Cradle to Cradle® principles.

Energy

Theme coordinator: TU-Delft/Cartesius, Han Brezet

• Testing and applying the concept of ‘blue energy' (mixing salt water and fresh water in order to produce electricity);
• Feasibility for increased use of solar, wind, wave and tidal energy;
• Designing and testing sustainable product services for island mobility, e.g. electric  scooter; 
• Secure and improve sustainable transport between and on the islands; sustainbale mobility on islands, and alternative transport connection; 
• Link energy savings with the modernisation of housing; 
• Design of Eternal Island Holiday House that is energy producing;
• Introduction of alternative car engines; 
• Test a variety of alternative green technologies regarding renewable energy, waste recycling and resource concervation, e.g. heat exchange system and vacuum toilets; 
• Remote islands hybrid renewable energy solutions.

Water

Theme coordinator: Wetsus, Heleen Sombekke

• Innovative supply of drinking water by desalination of sea water;
• Sanitation and separation of household water in several streams;
• Purification and re-use of the effluent of waste water treatment plants;
• Storage of rainwater underground during winter times to realize sustainable water supply in summer;
• Use of other sources and new ways for drinking water production (salt brackish,  groundwater,  etc.) 
• Improve water cycles; 
• Sustain fresh water reservoirs; 
• Protection against storm tides and rising sea level impacts;  
• Optimisation of drinking water extraction.