Safe & Circular

Since choosing safe materials should be considered throughout the design process, rather than as an afterthought, each method corresponds to one of its key stages: understand, define, make, and release. Start your safe and circular materials journey now by exploring one of the methods: 

 

Materials Journey Mapping:
Explore how materials choices can influence a design to fit a circular economy.

 

Product Redesign Workshop:
Explore the implications of safe and circular materials strategies on the design process through a redesign workshop.

 

Materials Selection:
Choose the right materials for your new circular design.

 

Moving Forward with Materials: 
Explore the next steps for making safe and circular material choices a driver for innovation in your design process.

Information & Inspiration

Get informed and inspired by engaging with the following resources:

 

PODCAST

Safe & Circular by Design: Making Positive Materials Choices
In this podcast, produced as part of the 2018 Disruptive Innovation Festival, experts from the Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute together with the Ellen MacArthur Foundation unravel what every designer needs to know about the safety of materials for product design.

 

VIDEOS

Learn about why materials matter, why screening isn't enough, what regrettable substitutions are, and how safe & circular material choices are made by designers. 

 

CASE STUDIES

Find out about companies, including G-Star RAW, Mecho, Tarkett, that are leading the way by incorporating safe & circular materials choices into their product design and development, and prioritizing these strategies in their businesses. 

Resources to Support your Safe & Circular Journey

Looking to apply Safe & Circular Material Choices to your products?

Start explorong this by choosing a product or collection and reflect on new opportuinities by using the Safe & Circular Strategy Cards. 

Get a group of colleagues together and go through the Safe & Circular Product Redesign Workshop together. 

Kick off the conversation using the Safe & Circular Product Redesign Presentation, and use this as a guide as you proceed through the workshop.  

When you have more visibility on the chemical composition of a material, you can start screening it using the MaterialWise tool that will provide crucial information about known hazards.

Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute

The Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute is a non-profit organization whose mission is to turn the making of things into a positive force for people, the economy, and the planet. Founded by William McDonough and Dr. Michael Braungart, the Institute administers the Cradle to Cradle Certified Product Program, a guidance system for assessing and continually improving products based upon five sustainability characteristics: material health, material reuse, renewable energy, water stewardship and social fairness. The Institute is headquartered in Oakland and Amsterdam, NL.

Ellen MacArthur Foundation

The Ellen MacArthur Foundation's mission is to accellerate the transition to a circular economy. The Foundation works with business, government and academia to build a framework for an economy that is restorative and regenerative by design. 

The Circular Design Guide is a collaboration between the Ellen MacArthur Foundation and IDEO. The guide challenges traditional design methods and delivers new approaches, introducing users to circular economy concepts as well as techniques updated for this new economic framework. 

MAVA

Funded by the MAVA Foundation, this collaborative project between Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute and Ellen MacArthur Foundation emphasises the fact that not all materials are fit for a circular economy. However, there are ways to design them out. 

MAVA was born of the passion, vision and adventure of founder, Luc Hoffmann. Their approach has broadened, embracing sustainable economy, green finance and responsible resource use as well as pure conservation.