Cradle to Cradle Certification

Developed by McDonough Braungart Design Chemistry (MBDC), a global sustainability consulting and product certification firm founded by world-renowned architect William McDonough and chemist Dr. Michael Braungart, Cradle to Cradle® Certification is a multi-attribute eco-label that assesses a product's safety to humans and the environment and design for future life cycles.

The program provides guidelines to help businesses implement the Cradle to Cradle framework, which focuses on using safe materials that can be disassembled and recycled as technical nutrients or composted as biological nutrients. Unlike single-attribute eco-labels, the Cradle to Cradle certification program takes a comprehensive approach to evaluating the sustainability of a product and the practices employed in manufacturing the product. The materials and manufacturing practices of each product are assessed in five categories: Material Health, Material Reutilization, Renewable Energy Use, Water Stewardship and Social Responsibility. There are four levels of product certification: Basic, Silver, Gold and Platinum. In order to be certified at a certain level, a product must meet the minimum criteria for that level in all five criteria categories.

For a list of Cradle to Cradle certified products, go to the MBDC website at