On Friday September 28th, 2018 we hosted a scientific discussion with guest speaker, Natacha Louis. Mrs. Louis, a doctoral candidate, engaged us into her research topic, When less bad is not good enough: Designing objects today with a view for tomorrow by adopting a cradle to cradle approach.
She discussed the growing worldwide problem of waste in our landfills and how she educates and encourages young students to use a Cradle to Cradle approach. This approach contrasts with Cradle to Grave as it creates millions of tons of garbage (that we don’t have room to store). Cradle to Cradle is a design concept inspired by nature. Products are created according to the principles of an ideal circular economy. First, we rethink the way we are using resources, then we optimize their usage to create minimal waste. According to the Environmental Protection Encouragement Agency Internationale Umweltforschung GmbH (2018), there are two nutrient cycles: the biological cycle, which turns materials into compost; and the technical cycle which uses left-over materials to reprocess into new products.
Teaching sustainability in the classroom will help students understand its importance for the preservation of our planet. It will make for better citizens, but also get them thinking critically about global issues that need help solving.
To find out more about the Cradle to Cradle approach, check out their website: http://www.c2c-centre.com/home or the Environmental Protection Encouragement Agency website: https://www.epea.com/cradle-to-cradle/
Interested in joining our conversation? We will be hosting other scientific talks in the 2019-2020 school year.
