News from MBDC for December 2002:

"There is no denying that the outcome of World War II was achieved with military power. But immediately after the war, American might was harnessed to building democratic values and institutions.... Today, we might try waging peace on the scale of the Marshall Plan with the widespread application of intelligent design, a concerted international effort to develop products, industrial processes and social systems that support sustainable economic strength, cultural diversity and environmental health. From this perspective, sustainable design can be seen as one of the essential paths to peace and security."

In this month's feature story, Bill McDonough and Michael Braungart draw lessons from history and offer ideas for applying intelligent design to one of today's most pressing (but timeless) issues. Read their thoughts on how new business and design strategies might be implemented to support peace and security.

http://www.mbdc.com

Shaw Aiming for Cradle to Cradle Design of Carpets

Shaw Industries, the world's largest carpet manufacturer, has begun working with MBDC to optimize their products and processes using the principles of Cradle to Cradle Design. Shaw is already a leader in providing sustainable carpet products--their Eco Solution Q nylon yarn and EcoWorx backing together offer a 100% recyclable product. And through Shaw's e.g. environmental guarantee program, the company retrieves used carpet for recycling.

You can read about Shaw's vision of cradle to cradle carpets in a contribution by Steven Bradfield, Shaw Contract Group's VP of Environmental Development, published recently in Environmental Design + Construction magazine.

Read Steven Bradfield's "Sustainability in Contract Carpets" in "Perspectives 2002," Environmental Design + Construction, Nov/Dec 2002.

Scientists Study Biological Metabolism in Soil

"Unravelling the Mysteries of Below-Ground Biodiversity Key to Eco-Friendly Agriculture, Higher Yields and Other Vital Environmental Benefits"

Announcing what will be the largest effort ever to collect and catalog the underground organisms so vital to a healthy biological metabolism, the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) and Global Environment Facility recently began a new research project studying biodiversity in the soil in tropical locations. According to the project's manager, Professor Mike Swift of the Nairobi-based Tropical Soil Biology and Fertility Institute of CIAT, "A major aim of the project is to determine the optimum trade-off between biological and industrial approaches to management of the soil."

As we discussed in our July 2002 web feature story ("New Bio-Based Products...but wait, there's more!"), supporting the health of the biological metabolism is key to creating sustainable solutions for the future. Research like this new study should help.

Read the UNEP press release.
Read MBDC.com's July 2002 feature story.

Please stay in touch, and share the message of Cradle to Cradle Desgin with your friends and colleagues by inviting them to subscribe to the newsletter, too.

Phil

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Phil Storey
MBDC, Manager of Communications
phil.storey@mbdc.com