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What do all of these products – the Tartan® running track at Stanford University, the brightly colored gDiaper™, Formawall™ exterior building panels at Andrews Air Force Base, Wet Women® Surf Wax, and the new Answer® system workstation – have in common?

They're all certified as Cradle to Cradle™ (C2C) products, safe for both human and environmental health, and designed for easy recovery and reuse of materials. As a way to identify "green" products across a variety of industries from cleaning products to commercial interiors, C2C is an important new sustainability benchmark.

C2C was introduced by McDonough Braungart Design Chemistry (MBDC), a sustainable product and process design consultancy in Charlottesville, VA, to combine all of the aspects of sustainability into one process. Its foundation is an analysis of component materials against 19 human and environmental health criteria. In addition to materials assessment, C2C measures four other sustainability criteria including energy use, water stewardship, recyclability, as well as the manufacturer's record of social responsibility.

Launched just two years ago, C2C already has been called "a landmark in industrial design" by I.D. Magazine (Jan/Feb 2006). Noted interior design and sustainability expert Penny Bonda, FASID, LEED AP, has referred to the standards that C2C sets for sustainable product design as “state of the art.”