what being a Cradle to Cradle business means

We recently had the honor of being endorsed as a Cradle to Cradle^SM company by some pretty inspiring people – green architect Bill McDonough and environmental chemist Dr. Michael Braungart, who literally wrote the book on green product design (called Cradle to Cradle). This endorsement comes after a few years of working with these two, and shows that running a company in an environmentally intelligent way is just as important as making a green product. What does that mean? It means we’ve been recognized for being a green and sustainable company in ALL that we do - not just the products we create. We’ve been recognized in being green as a whole (rather than just having green products) and that we don’t take part in practices that aren’t environmentally sustainable. Everything we do meets the C2C standards even if  we don’t choose to certify every single one of our products.

So why did method get named a Cradle to Cradle^SM company? Well, all the work we’ve been doing with Dr Braungart’s team at EPEA to assess each and every material that go into our products means that everything we make literally has the C2C principles built into them.

But this recognition is because Michael and Bill also saw that how we do things as a company strives to be truly good for the environment: from how we make and ship our product, to the office we work in, to the environmental innovations we create with our suppliers and partners, we are seeking to drive change in the system of how things are made.

This reminds us that a green product is a reflection of a green company – of the vision and goals of the people working there, and not a one-off to satisfy a trend that some forecaster observed. Everything we make at method reflects the belief that we can create a better functioning, more beautiful, and greener product, and change the way that industry works in the process.

Adam goes to TED

One of our co-founders, Adam Lowry just got back from attending the TED conference down in Southern California. When he got back, we asked him how the experience was.

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Late last week I got to go to the TED conference for the first time.  TED stands for “Technology, Entertainment, and Design”, and is basically a conference about the bleeding edge of everything. The attendees are a who’s who of business, film, television, and design, so I was super excited when I got the invite.

   
In a nutshell, some of my favorite highlights were: 

• chatting with Al Gore face to face about how to combat global warming using the power of consumers
• having dinner with Robin Williams and laughing hysterically as he put on impromptu show for our table
• seeing the looks on peoples’ faces when Bill Gates released live mosquitoes into the crowd during his talk about malaria

In the technology area, I was blown away by Bonnie Bassler’s ability to determine how bacteria talk to each other, and engineer that speech to get them to do almost anything.  Watch out, because this is one we’re going to bring to method.  Using antibacterials means using chemicals that kill bacteria - all bacteria, including those that are actually good for you and help you stay healthy.  The next generation is probiotic products, where you use bacteria to get the job done instead!

There were other fascinating talks by Ed Ulbrich on how he created Benjamin Button out of Brad Pitt; Dan Ariely on why people cheat; and Eat, Pray, Love author Elizabeth Gilbert on creative genius.  And many, many others….

It’s not often with today’s crazy schedules that we get to take time out to get truly inspired, and that’s exactly what I was last week.  My head is brimming with innovative ideas to bring to method’s products, the way we do business, and how we create good in this world through that business.  Just wait, even bigger things to come!!!

Happy World Wetlands Day

Did you know today is World Wetlands Day? Though most of us haven’t heard of this day, February 2 marks the celebration of the signing of the UN-sponsored Convention on Wetlands back in 1971 in Ramsar, Iran, which created the Ramsar list of globally protected wetlands. Since World Wetlands Day began, government and non-government agencies and citizens alike take February 2 to raise public awareness on the values and benefits our wetlands bring to us. This years theme is “Upstream Downstream: Wetlands connect us all.”

So what are wetlands anyway? They are invaluable ecological assets, providing fish and wildlife habitats, protecting and improving water quality, and helping store floodwaters – they effectively give environments the ability to withstand and rebound from floods, drought, and other disruption. They’re also among the most productive and diverse ecosystems, comparable to rain forests and coral reefs. Wetlands play an important role in our ecology since they provide dense nutrients and are ideal habitat for fish, amphibians, insects, birds and mammals. Who knew swamps were so useful?  Knowing how our upstream/downstream activities help or harm our wetlands is vital to protecting these ecosystems.

The EPA is taking a big part in this fight to protect our wetlands. To learn more and find out how you can help, visit the EPA website.