Cradle to Cradle Design

Challenge

While your successful new global business is saving the world, making global friends and helping you earn money for college...what are the by-products of all your activity? Can you reduce energy use and waste within your solution design?

Resources

Traditional manufacturing and design creates cradle-to-grave products, which are produced, used and then discarded. Cradle-to-cradle products are designed to have their materials perpetually circulated in closed loops. Maintaining materials in closed loops maximizes material value without damaging ecosystems.

For example, if you are building solar powered cars, what parts can be re-used, what should be re-manufactured? Can the bumpers or some of the body panels be fitted to new cars? What elements of the photovoltaic panels can be re-manufactured? If your product is a consumable, such as a fuel, you may answer this question very differently, however you should be able to discuss what happens to the various components of your product through it’s life-cycle and how they could be re-used or recycled.

Process

BASIC LEVEL In 1 to 2 pages, describe the major resource inputs and waste products as you bring your product or service to market.

GRAB YOUR POINTS!

1. Log into eFolio. Place your work into your team's "GBP & TIP Challenges" folder. Title your entry with [Your Name]-[Challenge title]-[Process Level] (e.g. David Gibson-Title-BASIC) so that we can credit you for your work!

2. Evaluate the Challenge.

GOING BEYOND Add a page or two and invent or envision ways to maximize resources and minimize waste in your solution's supply chain. What components are recyclable or reusable?

GRAB YOUR POINTS!

2. Evaluate the Challenge

GOING CRAZY Add another page or two and discuss cradle-to-grave design vs. cradle-to-cradle design as applied to your team's solution. What happens to your product at the end of its useful life? How are the components/materials re-used to produce new product?

Try out a new and unusual role for this task! (Hey, we're changing our tune on this? No wait. Same song, new verse - hehe) Forget about these main four that we've been using:

Task Leader, (Research Team Leader, Team Leader)
Documentation (writing, editing, putting things together, linking to standards)
Resources (finds and gets stuff)
Evaluation and team reflection role (process monitor role)

Instead, choose one of the Ten Faces and try out a whole new personality!

GRAB YOUR POINTS!

2. Evaluate the Challenge