Redwood Cradle to cradle Innov_ex 09

Cradle to cradle and the complexities of using leather

Michael Redwood

– Visiting Professor in Business Development in Leather, British School of Leather Technology

– Leather consultant and advisor on strategy and innovation

– www.mikeredwood.com

LEATHER

A KEY MATERIAL THROUGH THE AGES APPRECIATED FOR ITS PERFORMANCE AND ITS BEAUTY IN TERMS OF TOUCH,

FEEL, LOOK, AND SMELL

21st Century Leather

• A high performance material of choice rather than necessity

• Has manufacturing issues

• Change is needed rather than just trying harder or “meeting legal requirements”

• Cradle to Cradle offers the right sort of basic approach

Talking mostly nonsense

• chrome is bad and vegetable good for tanning

• organic tannages

• tanning without chemicals

• leather which is naturally biodegradable

Articles from leather

• Leather is only as good as they way it is used

• end of life of footwear and leathergoods important

• Europe consumes 4 pairs per capita and the US 7: a lot of landfill!

• Recycling to Africa is highly controversial

• Solution begins with Design stage considering

– Appropriate life

– End of life

Questions to ask ourselves

• Instead of trying to be less bad can we be good?

• Should we really all cut our hair so we use less shampoo?

• Should we stop eating in Mexican restaurants to reduce methane produced?

• Is a cherry tree bad because it produces too much blossom?

• Is C2C a better way?

The new industrial revolution

• Braungart design philosophy:

•"Don't just change small things, reinvent everything!"

Reinvent everything

Have fun doing it