What Is Cradle To Cradle?
Written by: Natalie Henderson, Marketing @Blueland
September 29, 2019
We know that there are a lot of different safety and environmental certifications out there. At Blueland, we worked very hard to make sure all of our products have been certified for material health by Cradle to Cradle. So what exactly does that mean? We will explain what it means to be Cradle To Cradle (C2C) certified, what the different certification levels are, and what it means for Blueland to have a Material Health Platinum Certification.
What Is Cradle To Cradle?
Cradle To Cradle is a design framework and certification developed by McDonough Braungart Design Chemistry (MBDC). MBDC is a design consultancy that works with companies of all sizes to help them create safe and sustainable products. They focus on products that can be cycled back into the economy through recycling or upcycling. MBDC developed Cradle To Cradle standards and certifications to give companies a framework to reference when developing new products.
Cradle to Cradle is a global non-profit organization dedicated to improving safety, health and sustainability of consumer products.
How Does Cradle To Cradle Assess Products?
They assess products on their environmental and social impact across five categories:
- Material Health: Cradle to Cradle certified products are made without chemicals that could be harmful to people or the environment. This means Cradle to Cradle certified products do not use any chemicals that can be found on the C2C banned chemicals list.
- Material Reutilization: Products must be created in the cycle of reuse, meaning they should be reusable, recyclable, compostable or biodegradable.
- Renewable Energy + Carbon Management: Cradle to Cradle looks for products that are manufactured using renewable energy sources and the manufacturing process has low greenhouse gas emissions
- Water Stewardship: Cradle to Cradle certified products recognize water as a finite resource and are committed to keeping clean water accessible.
- Social Fairness: Business operations are such that they “honor the people and natural systems impacted by the manufacturing process”
What Does A Cradle To Cradle Certification Mean?
There are five levels of Cradle to Cradle certification: Basic, Bronze, Silver, Gold, and Platinum. To be certified for any level, companies have to work with a third-party assessment group. To receive a certification, companies cannot use any chemicals from the Banned Chemical List, they must commit to continuously improving their product, and they must be eligible to meet the C2C product standard. Each level has qualifications that get stricter as you move up in qualification level. To achieve the platinum rating, products must not only meet the platinum requirements for all five categories listed above, they must also meet all the requirements for Gold, Silver, Bronze, and Basic certifications. The platinum certification is the highest level of certification given by Cradle to Cradle. At Blueland, we are proud that our products have been developed to meet the standard to be Certified Platinum for Material Health.
Does Blueland Have A Cradle To Cradle Certification?
We’ve received the Platinum Material Health Certificate from the Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute for our 3 cleaning sprays, hand soap, powder dish soap, dishwasher tablets, and laundry tablets.
You can read more about our certification for our products: cleaning sprays, hand soap, dishwasher tablets, laundry tablets.
