The Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute has announced the winners of the 5th Cradle to Cradle Product Design Challenge, including MyEcoWall, a mobile acoustic wall made from Ecovative mushroom material and Scout, a children’s jacket that “grows” with the child. The Challenge is the fifth in an initial series of six circular design challenges that incentivize and inspire the design community to envision viable product design solutions for the circular economy using Cradle to Cradle product design principles.
“The Cradle to Cradle Certified Product Standard is poised to become the verification and quality standard for materials and products made for the circular economy. The Cradle to Cradle Product Design Challenge thus offers designers and students the opportunity to explore the application of Cradle to Cradle Certified materials and design principles with the circular economy in mind,” said William McDonough, co-founder of the Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute and co-author of Cradle to Cradle and The Upcycle.
“As the volume of Cradle to Cradle Certified materials continues to proliferate, the Challenge also creates space for innovators to expand circularity by exploring ways to use verified, high-quality biological and technical materials to create next-generation Cradle to Cradle products.”
To date, the Challenge series has received more than 466 entries from 406 designers in 30 countries. The fifth challenge attracted 94 entries from 141 designers in 17 countries, with five entries taking coming out on top:
Circularity by Design: How to Influence Sustainable Consumer Behaviors
Join us Thursday, December 5, at 1pm ET for a free webinar on making circular behaviors the easy choice! Nudge & behavioral design expert Sille Krukow will explore the power of Consumer Behavior Design to drive circular decision-making and encourage behaviors including recycling and using take-back services. She will share key insights on consumer psychology, behavior design related to in-store and on-pack experiences, and how small changes in the environment can help make it easy for consumers to choose circularity.
Designers in the Best Use of Cradle to Cradle Certified Materials category will receive expert commentary and design critique from William McDonough.
“Continued engagement from the global design community in this fifth challenge demonstrates a collective appetite for opportunities to reconsider the way we design and make products from a place of abundance, while eliminating the concept of waste,” said Lewis Perkins, President of the Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute. “As the winners of this latest Challenge demonstrate, the competition gives designers and students a chance to develop innovative solutions to challenges they see in the world. We are proud to educate, inspire and empower the next generation to participate in this way.”
Before entering the Challenge, applicants are required to complete a free two-hour online course, Designing Cradle to Cradle Certified Products for the Circular Economy, developed in collaboration with Autodesk and Arconic Foundation, a nonprofit corporate foundation dedicated to advancing science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education and sustainable design and manufacturing skills training worldwide.
The sixth Cradle to Cradle Product Design Challenge will open for entries in September 2017.
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Published Jun 20, 2017 1pm EDT / 10am PDT / 6pm BST / 7pm CEST