Question

The Cradle to Cradle (C2C) concept is a system of thinking based on the belief that industry can be transformed into a sustaining enterprise—one that creates economic, ecological, and social value— through thoughtful and intentional design that mirrors the safe, regenerative productivity of nature and eliminates the concept of waste.

Write a 300-word essay discussing whether you think this concept has business value.  

following criteria:

• will demonstrate understanding of the Cradle to Cradle concept along with appropriate and accurate use of terminology from the book by Michael Braungart and William McDonough.
• will demonstrate critical thinking by using logic, evidence (at least one example) and well-reasoned argument.  
• The essay will be written in appropriate, standard written English.

Answer 1

Scientific literature has been discussing sustainable development in urban fabric for several years. What is and may not belong to sustainable development and how these developments relate to each other is a lot of confusion until today. The same applies to the new approach to Cradle from Cradle.

Even with more than 200 companies involved in the C2C Certified Products Program across the world today and hundreds of product lines comprising thousands of different accredited products, C2C remains a niche market with little impact on the economy as a whole. And so, nearly a decade after the launch of C2C certifications, it's still a pledge that hasn't been kept.

Most companies simply don't recognize the value of C2C certification. The C2C Products Innovation Institute has contracted Trucost, a leading global environmental information and insight agency, to establish an assessment system with defined criteria to assess the impact of c2c on the business. The result is a 145-page report presenting Trucost's analysis of 10 C2C certified products from various companies (and industries), including Aveda, Desso, Ecover, PUMA, Shaw Industries, Steelcase and Van Houtum. And what about the findings? They were generally quite encouraging, showing "a promising account of the positive impact and added value achieved by 10 firms during their certification pursuit."

Although cost reductions are fairly easy to associate with C2C (annual water and energy savings of $2.5 million in Ecovox carpet tile production), when it comes to sales growth, the report notes that "there are many factors affecting the company's performance over time and the effect of certification is likely to be only a part of the larger variability caused by other factors."