Sustainability 2.0, perhaps. A new trend gaining momentum in the sustainability movement is the so-called ‘Cradle-to-cradle’ approach to design and manufacturing.  In her enlightening post on GreenerDesign, Sarah Fister Gale suggests that while manufacturers have spent millions investing in greener practices and products, that’s not enough. Unless a product’s full life-cycle is considered, “landfills will continue to overflow with these ’sustainably-designed’ products whose usefulness have come to an end.”

William McDonaugh and Michael Braungart popularized the concept in their book, Cradle To Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things, in which they argue for a “transformation of human industry through ecologically intelligent design.” It’s sometimes surprising to see which industries are more effectively making that transformation.

The auto industry, for example, has embraced elements of this approach. Gale points out, “Ford has strict requirements for recyclability in vehicle designs,” with the ultimate goal of dismantling, sorting and repurposing “up to 95 percent of any vehicle at the end of life.”

Paradoxically, manufacturers of some renewable energy technologies, like solar panels, wrestle with sustainability issues upstream (manufacturing process) and downstream (repurposing process). Solar panels typically last 20-25 years. Beyond that, the toxicity of the materials currently used pose an environmental hazard. The Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition, an industry watchdog group, recently recommended industry-wide changes in production and encouraged the development of more benign materials.

For an interesting overview, read Sarah Fister Gale’s piece here.