Entry 6

In my most recent research I discovered the terms biological and technical nutrients. These refer to the components that make every product on earth. Cradle-to-cradle aims to separate these components after a product is broken down. The goal is to cycle technical nutrients so that no new technical nutrients are added to the system. A technical nutrient is anything non-biological like plastic. A biological nutrient like cotton can be reused or recycled through the environment. This is the basis of the cradle to cradle framework; recycling and reusing nutrients to create new products. In order for this to succeed no nutrients can be downcycled because that eventually becomes waste. Downcycling is the opposite of upcycling. Downcycling reuses material from a valuable product to make a less valuable product. Essentially it loses its value over time ultimately becoming waste. Downcycling is a part of cradle-to-grave systems. Biological and technical nutrients follow a life-cycle. A broken product is disassembled into biological and technical components as waste. Technical resources are then combined with new organics in an assembly facility to create new technical products. Organic waste undergoes biological degredation providing mineral and organic nutrients for crops. New crops are harvested and refined for direct consumption or use in technical products. This can be seen in the following diagram. By reusing these waste nutrients a regenerative economy is created. A regenerative economy allows both the environment and economic systems to flourish. The most important part of this system is its ability to control waste.