Designing without waste - management of resources - the theory

cradle to cradle design definition on wikipedia
Cradle to Cradle the book on amazon


Better design - the theory

The Designers Accord
Philip Starck's NEW design idea saying luxury (toilet brushes) was yesterday - start with a white paper to design now for a better tomorrow (see his TED talk) - Please Philip Starck, practice what you preach!


Better understanding - theories and information for self-taught individuals

Uchannel.org University lectures made public
fora.tv University lectures made public
TED.com short and more entertaining but very inspirational talks
Diverse podcasts suscribed on iTunes such as Swiss television or radio station postings, magazines like the Economist or GOOD, green organizations etc.




Inspirational businesses - the practice

Following are the ones that are most mediated i.e. popular (successful) today - they are not necessarily the most sustainable examples but doing a good effort to do so:

Treadless.com for customized prints on Amrican Apparell T-shirts or
moo.com for customized prints on namecards and their vegetable based ink prints option and their very friendly language.
FREITAG bags for reusing waste, option of mass customization, limited art editions and being a successful Swiss design business - my role model in terms of design really! Except in my dream I would add a social design part (i.e. a production line in a poorer nation employing women seeking work i.e. income and education for themselves and their children.)
Muji.com for its simplicity in design, very useful product range and its minimal packaging.
Apple.com for its leader role in terms of design and usability and its elaborate marketing strategies.
Zappos.com for their personal costumer assistance, top notch service and 24/7 open ears and easy going, humble CEO Tony Hsieh.
Terracycle.net for not having to pretend they were green but have always been from the start reusing waste for good products making it mainstream available in superstores.


Inspirational people - they keep encouraging me to do what I'd love to do

Following are the ones that are most popular and I only know via articles, books and videos. Unfortunately, I have never got the chance to meet them in person (yet):
- Sir Ken Robinson (for what he says about creativity and modern life)
- Sir Richard Branson (for how he improves and does business)
- Malcom Gladwell (for how he explores interesting questions and shares them)
- Seth Godin (for what he says about modern marketing)
- Matt Harding (for sharing his dance and travels around the world)
- James Nachtwey (for his bravery and showing us the sad sides of our world)
- Ghandi (for being different)
- all the mothers and fathers on this world trying to make it the best home for their children.


Well known people I admire for what they have done in the field of making better consumption possible:
- Anita Roddick (The Body Shop)
- Howard Schultz (co-founder of Starbucks)
- Graham Hill (treehugger.com)
- Bono, MJ (making optimal use of the power of music)

Of course there are many, many more companies and people that are not as mediated and well known (yet). This site would become too long if I put them all here.




The ingrediences for my re*creations come from:

Tetra Pak. Learn about their remarkable environmental efforts here.
Elopak (PurePak). Learn about their environmental efforts here.
Migros. Learn about their environmental efforts here.
Hawe-Folien. A family owned company in Bern, Switzerland.
HP. Ink for the prints. Learn about their environmental efforts here.
Apple. MacBook and iPhone as tools for everything internet and online. Learn about their environmental efforts here.