The C2C Certified Celle chair from Herman Miller
William McDonough and Michael Braungart have taken Cradle to Cradle certification into the public domain with the launch of the Green Products Innovation Institute (GPII). Until now, the data and processes behind the transformative C2C certification program were privately held by McDonough Braungart Design Chemistry (MBDC). MBDC has donated their 20 years of C2C intellectual property rights to GPII in the hopes expanding it’s breadth and reach globally. You can read details about how GPII will structure delivery and assessment of the C2C protocols here and here.
GPII will provide an open, public database of product chemical data and will also list alternative “positive” chemicals, processes and systems companies might use to protect people from toxins. After 20 years of work MBDC has processed more than 300 C2C certifications and while many of these products are truly remarkable (like the 99% recyclable Celle chair from Herman Miller pictured above) there can be no doubt that the launch of GPII is an attempt to influence a vastly greater number of products, industries and countries.
You can bet we will hear more about this development during William McDonough’s Opening Keynote on September 29th at our annual conference, Urban Green Expo.
