Week 4: Response to Gullingsrud, Allie and Lewis Perkins. “Designing for the Circular Economy: Cradle to Cradle Design®.” Eds. Connie Ulasewicz and Janet Hethorn. Sustainable Fashion What’s Next? – Hanna Rinderknecht-Mahaffy

In their text, Gullingsrud and Perkins discuss the five attributes that define the cradle to cradle certification. The five attributes are, Material Health, Material Reutilisation, Water Stewardship, Renewable Energy and Carbon Management, and Social Fairness. I think these attributes are good measures for cradle to cradle sustainability, because they address multiple aspects of sustainability, including ethical material production/usage and sustainable resource usage. I found the Fashion Positive section particularly interesting, because it outlines how these 5 attributes can be employed by companies and designers to create positive methodological advancements for a cradle-to-cradle approach. The authors outline how sustainability should be a way to do “more good” instead of “less bad.” I appreciate this perspective, because even in my own life, I find the shear magnitude of the environmental impacts of the fashion industry to be somewhat overwhelming, and it can be difficult to know what areas to focus on. The author’s break-down of a cradle to cradle approach through positive design methods is an encouraging solution to an extremely large problem. 

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