The Five Steps to Reinventing the World,
Step 3: The Passive Positive List

(excerpt from an article in September/October 2001 Green@Work Magazine)

by William McDonough and Michael Braungart

In the step-by-step process of eco-effective design there comes a moment when a company must begin to make significant changes in product design today while continuing to manufacture and sell existing products tomorrow. It's a conundrum faced by many innovative companies as they work to develop a new generation of safe, healthy products without missing a beat in the marketplace. In this, the third of a five-part series, we'll take a look at how business leaders can embrace change and prosperity by examining product design within the framework of today's manufacturing and marketing systems.

In our first two columns we described the initial transitional steps toward eco-effective products. The first step aims to remove from a product a specific chemical widely known to be harmful, such as lead or chlorine. The second step begins a more comprehensive review in which a customer or manufacturer makes a list of preferred, readily available materials based on scientific experience. An architect, for example, might choose wood harvested by sustainable methods and certified by the Forest Stewardship Council.

Moving along the Five Steps path, designers begin to examine all of a product's materials rather than simply removing the most onerous substances or adding a few elements that are "less bad." At Step Three on the path you examine the palette of materials used in an existing product while it continues to be manufactured. Design adjustments are made in the context of current industry standards and market pressures. The goal is to replace problematic substances so production can continue.

A textile undergoing this step, for example, would be produced with typical specifications while you performed a detailed inventory of all of its elements. Next, you would thoroughly assess the effects of the product, evaluating everything from its chemistry to the local circumstances surrounding its use. Your inquiry would also include the development of a list of ingredients that could replace those found to be unsafe. A form of triage would follow, in which you would prescribe attention and treatment to dangerous substances like a nurse directing care to the most seriously injured.

Part of the screening of materials includes identifying known or suspected carcinogens found on lists offered by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) or German Maximum Workplace Concentration (MAK). The lists also include other problematic substances such as asbestos, benzene and vinyl chloride. During triage those substances would all be flagged and placed on our X-list, which calls for urgent removal and replacement.

Next, look for substances that are not as urgent as X-list items. These are placed on the Gray List, which includes substances we may currently have no viable substitutes for, but which are necessary for the continued manufacture of valuable products. Cadmium, for instance, is a Gray List item. It is highly toxic, but is widely used in photovoltaic solar collectors and household batteries. If cadmium is safely sequestered into solar collectors in a system in which the manufacturer retains ownership of the product, this may be a safe, temporary use of cadmium. We would, however, flag cadmium as an item we'd like to replace in the future.

Once a product has been inventoried and assessed, safe materials can begin to replace flagged substances during the manufacturing process. A company that manufactures polyester fabric, for example, can keep its machines humming as it replaces the input of carcinogenic polymers with those that do not contain substances of serious concern. Often during Step Three, substitute materials are chosen from a list of ingredients-the Passive Positive List-that are more benign than harmful chemicals, but not quite perfect for long-term use. There may also be opportunities to choose ingredients from our Positive List, which includes substances selected for their safe, valuable, even enriching qualities. You'll hear more about the Positive List when we discuss Step Four, the initial design phase of new eco-effective products.

The process of replacing dangerous materials to create safe, high quality products can be challenging. Compiling information from reluctant suppliers can sometimes be like pulling teeth. And when information is available, you just might find that the product your company is built on contains a carcinogenic material. That's when you begin the process of transformation-immediately. The change will be difficult; it will cause growing pains. But growing pains can galvanize real creativity and leadership. They can initiate the design of high quality, highly competitive products. And they can give your company an edge as it leads the way to a future of sustaining prosperity.

Previous Monthly Features:

May 2001, "The Five Steps to Reinventing the World" (Step 1: Free of...)

June 2001, "Positive Design Decisions in an Imperfect Market" (Step 2: Personal Preference)

July 2001, "Textile Mills Lead Another Revolution"

August 2001, "Synthetic Materials for Eco-Effective Design"