Going Green: How Nature & Design Can Change The World

Green Design Can Change The World

Design is a signal of intention, and it plays a crucial role in ensuring a greener future for all. Often times, products are created with the intention to be used until discarded thus generating unnecessary waste. Have you heard of the concept of cradle-to-cradle design? The cradle to cradle model essentially follows the idea that organic and synthetic materials can be used in continuous cycles without losing integrity or quality. Cradle to cradle is sustainable design at its finest and starts with sustainable production and materials, which then lead to a recycled afterlife.

All of the products our company creates are made using cradle to cradle design methods, which are sustainable in nature, materials, and production. Our products fall into two categories: biological and technical. The Bios Urn is a biological product in that it is produced entirely out locally sourced recycled materials, and is organic in its composition and overall structure. None of the components which accompany the Bios Urn cannot be recycled, and its main purpose is to reduce waste rather than create it. It decomposes into the natural environment, without affecting surrounding life in a negative way. The Bios Incube is a technical product, which has been produced using synthetic materials. It has been constructed out of materials which can be reused over and over many times, without a loss in quality – thus creating a continuous cycle. The Bios Incube can also be recycled or upcycled to create other products of similar materials without the integrity of the product being compromised.

¨Imagine this design assignment:Design something that makes oxygen, sequesters carbon,fixes nitrogen, distills water, accrues solar energy as fuel,makes complex sugars and food, creates microclimates,changes colors with the seasons and self-replicates.¨ – William McDonough, creator of the Cradle to Cradle design concept (in reference to the potential of trees)

When in doubt, look to nature.

In order to model a company or project that is rooted in sustainability, it´s essential to look to nature´s own processes in order to mimic and apply them. We believe in creating and growing things that we enjoy, and that add to this world. When we created the Bios Urn and Bios Incube, we knew it was crucial that all of our projects fall in line with our company´s ethos: to create things which promote growth, and which reintroduce man back into the natural cycle of life.

The cradle to cradle framework for production seeks to create things which are waste free, in that all material inputs and outputs can be recycled and reused.