In the age of greenwashing and eco-everything, it's becoming increasingly hard to standardize and fairly assess what constitutes a green product. The USDA has attempted to do this for food with its organic labeling system and the architecture world has its LEED certification for buildings, though even these systems have faced significant controversy over the years. But what about common household products, from toiletries to furniture?
This week witnessed the historic launch of nonprofit Green Products Innovation Institute, founded on the principles of cradle-to-cradle design, or C2C, coined by architect William McDonough and chemist Dr. Michael Braungart. (For a succinct and compelling introduction to this philosophy, see McDonough's excellent 2005 TED talk.)
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Author: Maria Popova is the editor of Brain Pickings, a curated inventory of miscellaneous interestingness. She writes for Wired UK, GOOD Magazine and Huffington Post, and spends a shameful amount of time on Twitter.