Read Apply Your Knowledge: Solutions to Environmental Issues at the end of Chapter 5, Section 5.3, in your text. In a two-page paper (not including the title and ref pages) you must:
- Select a community with which you are familiar.
- List the three most significant environmental issues facing the community. Cite your sources when referring to websites or articles.
- Describe how these environmental issues affect the health of individuals in the community. Cite your sources.
- Describes and identifies the major causes of these health problems.
- Provide several significant steps that could be taken at a corporate level to reduce the impact of the environmental problem.
You must use at least one scholarly source in addition to the text and your paper must be formatted according to APA guidelines as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center. Note: Title must appear on the first page of text; headings must be used in all APA essays; and, the final heading of your paper must be the word: Conclusion.
This is section 5.3 out of the text below:
5.3
Cradle-to-Cradle Design and Analysis
As issues related to the environment become increasingly important to stakeholders, these individuals search for methods, processes, and frameworks to guide their action. The design philosophy known as “cradle-to-cradle design thinking” exemplifies one such framework.
Cradle-to cradle design asks adherents to model business and industry on natural processes so that the outputs from one process become the inputs for another and no resources are wasted. Consider, for example, how the leaves that fall from a tree become the compost that fuelthe tree’s growth. (This book expands on this concept in Chapter 6, which discusses how corporations use cradle-to-cradle design to reduce environmental footprints.)
The term cradle-to-cradle (sometimes called Cradle2Cradle) is a registered trademark of McDonough Braung art Design Chemistry and embodies the same philosophy as regenerative design. Walter R. Stahel originally developed the basic principles in the 1970s, but in 2002 Michael Braung art and William McDonough published a book called Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things. This book has become an important work in the design industry, and many companies and organizations around the world implement its tenets as part of their CSR and sustainability journey(McDonough & Braung art, 2002).
The core principle of cradle-to-cradle plays on the common phrase “cradle-to-grave” (more on this in Chapter 6). The cradle-to-cradle model suggests that any product or design should be considerate of life and future generations and should minimize waste. Waste represents a form of death, but recycling and creatively reusing products keeps resources alive for many generations. Cradle-to-cradle design represents an advanced systems theory model because it compels people to look holistically at an entire life cycle,from the inputs, throughputs, and outputs of the product, business, orsystem.
The Cradle-to-Cradle Process
The cradle-to-cradle process involves four basic steps. The first involveslooking at material health and identifying the composition of the materialsused in the manufacturing process. This forces the designer to ask if he orshe is using hazardous materials, pigments, or compounds that might persistin the environment and cause harm. It also forces the designer to considerthe upstream source of products and whether that source is sustainablyraised, harvested, extracted, or otherwise procured.
The second step is to look at material reutilization and ask how much of thematerial used to make a product can be recovered or recycled at the end of the product’s life. Again, the cradle-to-cradle process suggests that every product should be recyclable and convertible into a new product. There are increasing examples of this practice in current industry, such as manufacturing recyclable cars or outdoor deck material created from recycled milk bottles.
The third step involves assessing the amount and source of energy required for production. In this step, for example, designers consider usingat least 50% renewable energy to make any part or subassembly for the product.
The final step in this process involves considering any actual waste created, such as water pollution, wasted paper, water used in manufacture, scrap material or clippings, or air pollution. In this step, designers and manufacturers look at the social implications of waste and the ways people use and discard products, to ensure social responsibility once the products leave the factories (Sacks, 2009).
Biomimicry
The cradle-to-cradle design is part of a family of ideas that suggest natureand evolution can inspire human effort and innovation. Over time, naturalenvironments have adapted in ways that provide “answers” to humanproblems, but answers that humans have historically overlooked.
When designers and engineers (and others in manufacturing andprocurement) deliberately turn to nature for examples of how to addressdesign problems, the results are sometimes referred to as biomimicry. Biomimicry is when products imitate nature. Examples of this practiceinclude Ford Motor Company designers who studied how geckos stick towalls and ceilings to invent and test nontoxic adhesion alternatives. Thefollowing are additional products that reflect ways in which nature caninspire industry:
- Deformable glass, which mimics the strength found in seashellsthrough something called hierarchical ordering.
- Biodegradable adhesives, which are based on waterproof adhesivesfrom mussels.
- Self-cleaning paint, which is inspired from the waxy bumps found inlotus leaves that carry water and dirt away from the plant.
- Anti-fouling (prevents growth of organisms)and wicking (pullsmoisture away) surfaces, which uses ridges like that of a pitcher plantto get water and have slick leaves.
- Antibacterial surfaces, which are inspired by shark scales.
- Products such as packaging foam, bricks, and leather grown frombacteria, which use little energy (Terrapin Bright Green, 2016).
Kyodo/AP
An example of how biomimicry can contribute to innovation isfound in the Sharp Corporation’s use of butterfly wingmovement to design an electric fan propeller.
The biomimicry movement has grown nationally and internationally.Biomimicry has its own institute, a research community, and manyadvocates, including leaders and designers in large companies. One of theforemost practitioners is Amory Lovins, an American physicist, writer,environmental scientist, and chair/chief scientist of the Rocky MountainInstitute, which uses principles of biomimicry (and other scientificThe cradle-to-cradle design is part of a family of ideas that suggest natureand evolution can inspire human effort and innovation. Over time, naturalenvironments have adapted in ways that provide “answers” to humanproblems, but answers that humans have historically overlooked.
When designers and engineers (and others in manufacturing andprocurement) deliberately turn to nature for examples of how to addressdesign problems, the results are sometimes referred to as biomimicry.Biomimicry is when products imitate nature. Examples of this practiceinclude Ford Motor Company designers who studied how geckos stick towalls and ceilings to invent and test nontoxic adhesion alternatives. Thefollowing are additional products that reflect ways in which nature caninspire industry:
- Deformable glass, which mimics the strength found in seashellsthrough something called hierarchical ordering.
- Biodegradable adhesives, which are based on waterproof adhesivesfrom mussels.
- Self-cleaning paint, which is inspired from the waxy bumps found inlotus leaves that carry water and dirt away from the plant.
- Anti-fouling (prevents growth of organisms)and wicking (pullsmoisture away) surfaces, which uses ridges like that of a pitcher plantto get water and have slick leaves.
- Antibacterial surfaces, which are inspired by shark scales.
- Products such as packaging foam, bricks, and leather grown frombacteria, which use little energy (Terrapin Bright Green, 2016).
Kyodo/AP
An example of how biomimicry can contribute to innovation isfound in the Sharp Corporation’s use of butterfly wingmovement to design an electric fan propeller.
The biomimicry movement has grown nationally and internationally.Biomimicry has its own institute, a research community, and manyadvocates, including leaders and designers in large companies. One of theforemost practitioners is Amory Lovins, an American physicist, writer,environmental scientist, and chair/chief scientist of the Rocky MountainInstitute, which uses principles of biomimicry (and other scientific principles) to advance its mission to support the efficient and restorativeuse of resources. Everyone associated with the institute works toward avision of sustainability (Rocky Mountain Institute, 2016).
These examples of biomimicry reveal how CSR and sustainability goals canhelp companies innovate. For some, biomimicry represents an advancedway to approach innovation. For others, it offers an exciting way to fully”walk the talk” in terms of learning from nature, improving because ofnature, and honoring nature while running a busines
.
Hammond, S. C., & Christensen, L. J. (2016).Corporate and Social Responsibility: Road Map For a Sustainable Future.Retrieved from https:/www.ashford.edu (Links to an external site.)
Links to an external site.Hammond, S. C., & Christensen, L. J. (2016). Corporate and Social Responsibility: Road Map For a Sustainable Future.Retrieved from https:/www.ashford.edu
(Links to an external site.)
