safety in numbers

So how exactly do you measure safety? It’s not like floor space or carpet thickness. It’s a condition, a state of being. One way to do it is by identifying and measuring each material that makes up a product, even those with percentages like 0.0001, and determining its possible effects on people and the environment.

What’s in it? The Cradle to Cradle Design Protocol, created by McDonough Braungart Design Chemistry (MBDC | Shaw Green Edge Initiative | 031) looks at all chemical inputs in the materials and manufacturing process—down to 100 parts per million—and evaluates their human and ecological health characteristics. To put this scrutiny in perspective, the Consumer Product Safety Commission allows paint to be labeled “lead free” even if it contains 600 ppm of lead. Following the assessment, materials that were labeled high risk by the Protocol were replaced with ones that are safe.

Our Eco Solution Q fiber and EcoWorx backing are among the first products in the world to successfully pass through the Cradle to Cradle Design Protocol.