Monika Griefahn

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You are here: Home / Cradle to Cradle

Cradle to Cradle

Cradle to Cradle is a design concept guided by nature. With Cradle to Cradle, as in nature, there is no such thing as waste. In nature all things are products of a metabolic process and useful for other processes. Leaves of a tree are nutrients for the tree itself and other plants. Among leaves there are places to hide for mice or to hibernate for hedgehogs. Or think of a cherry tree: an abundance of blossoms creates new cherry tree generations. Every product, no matter how useless it may seem, is beneficial in nature.

Products designed according to the Cradle to Cradle design concept work exactly the same way. Therefore they are an important answer to the most urgent challenges of our times. They envisage their redesign into circular nutrient cycles in which value, once created, remains of worth to both man and nature. They are part of the lifecycle.

A shirt for example, whose production processes contain only eco-friendly components and which is biodegradable, can simply be composted and is a biological nutrient. Materials can also rotate in a technical nutrient cycles. Designed in a way that they can be disassembled, every carefully chosen material can be a follow-up product in a technical nutrient cycle. Thinking in these new ways of design, every television set or every washing machine can be reborn as a new apparatus.

The aim of the Cradle to Cradle design concept is to improve the quality of products so that they:

  • have an improved consumer quality for the user
  • pose no health risk for anyone who comes into contact with them
  • are of both economic and ecological benefit

The Cradle to Cradle design concept is based on three innovative principles:

  • Everything is designed to be a nutrient of something else (waste = food)
  • Everything is produced by renewable energy from current solar income
  • Everything contributes to diversity – be it conceptual, cultural or biological

The Cradle to Cradle design concept is an idea of the German chemist Prof. Dr. Michael Braungart and the American architect William McDonough. Its basis is the Intelligent Product System (IPS) that Braungart’s company EPEA (Environmental Protection and Encouragement Agency) developed from 1987 to 1992. Currently, hundreds of enterprises around the world offer products designed after the Cradle to Cradle design concept – among them many are from the Netherlands, the United States of America, Taiwan, Denmark, Austria, Switzerland and Germany. Even local authorities or institutions use it in their procurement.

More info at Cradle to Cradle NGO

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Insights

Save the Date: Cradle to Cradle Congress 2025


On March 13 and 14, 2025, the Cradle to Cradle celebrated its annual congress at the TU Berlin with about 1000 guests. Please read more about the congress in my blog article here. And save the date for the 2026 edition: The congress will take place on September 17-18, 2026.


eFuels

Synthetic fuels are one of the decisive factors for the energy transition away from fossile fuels. That is why I am committed to the further development and practical use of eFuels and became a member of the Sounding Board of the eFuel Alliance in May 2021.
English website of the eFuel Alliance


Climate committee

Constituent session: Photo: City of Buchholz / Helms

Until 2025 I was chairwoman of the advisory board of the climate committee at my former place of residence in Buchholz in the Nordheide. The city has set itself the goal of becoming climate neutral and there is still a lot to do to achieve this. The committee advises the municipal  administration on fundamental questions of climate policy.
To the article on the Buchholz website (in German)



Right Livelihood Award

They stand up against violence and climate change and address the most pressing questions of our time: The 2024 recipients of the Right Livelihood Award are: Joan Carling of Philippines, Issa Amro/Youth Against Settlements from Palestine, Anabela Lemos/Justiça Ambiental! from Mozambique und Forensic Architecture from the UK. Read more about the “Alternative Nobel Prize” here.


Federal Order of Merit

After the award ceremony, Olaf Lies, Monika Griefahn and Rainer Rempe stand together. Photo: Frank Ossenbrink

After the award ceremony, Olaf Lies, Monika Griefahn and Rainer Rempe stand together. Photo: Frank Ossenbrink

Our CEO Dr. Monika Griefahn received the Federal Order of Merit. Please read more about her biography and about the award ceremony in our blog.


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