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Good question. Each of these approaches makes a contribution to eco-design in a different way. One proposes a set of standards, another is a framework for long-range planning, and the third a collection of strategies and tools for specific decision-making.

Cradle to Cradle^SM (C2C) Protocol is a set of standards for environmentally benign products and systems. These standards are rooted Cradle to Cradle thinking, which is the long-understood principle that nature wastes nothing — everything is food for something else. Authors William McDonough and Michael Braungart propose that if we recycle everything with diligence and precision, we create “a positive paradigm where growth is good.” 

The C2C Protocol is a set of standards as well as an assessment method for ensuring safe material chemistry and recyclability in products. This assessment method appears to be focused on contained chemistry – what the product contains when it is offered for sale – rather than emissions and other impacts throughout all the phases of material extraction, conversion and shipping of a product. A typical Life Cycle Assessment, in comparison, is much more comprehensive than this.

C2C Protocol sets some important targets for materials and recyclability. One concern, however, is that it “certifies” social responsibility (a requirement for sustainable development) based only on proving fair labour practices. Social responsibility is far more complex than this. I also think that it is inadequate to suggest that a plan for recycling the components in a product means that the product will actually be recycled. That said, the early work done by McDonough and Braungart when they were engaged as consultants to companies like Interface Carpets, helped those companies and others re-think their approach to the market in more sustainable terms.

The Natural Step (TNS) is a framework based on four system conditions that were developed through rigorous international scientific consensus. Consequently, the TNS system conditions are clear and compelling. The C2C Protocol and The Natural Step are in opposition on some key points. The C2C Protocol advances continued productivity so long as we responsibly recycle products, but TNS, grounded in the precautionary principle, does not allow removing materials from the Earth’s crust, and does not allow the creation of toxic, persistent chemicals and compounds.

TNS is structured to help businesses and governments engage in proactive planning for an economically and environmentally stable future. They offer visual tools, such as the Funnel Diagram, to describe how continued pressure on resources will inevitably lead to economic difficulties. TNS also offers long range planning methods, such as Back-Casting, that are useful and easy to understand.

Okala is a set of tools to help designers make environmentally sound decisions about their product or system. It is a practical guide, advising its adherents how to do it, how to brainstorm ecological strategies, and how to make decisions related to sustainability. Where the C2C Protocol prescribes which strategies should be focused on, Okala provides a range of strategies that can be chosen from depending on the opportunity and constraints around a product. It also helps designers to make decisions as to which of the strategies was most effective in reducing the environmental impact of a product.

Decision-making is supported by a life cycle assessment (LCA) methodology. LCA is an assessment technique that is developed through an international, peer-reviewed scientific process supported by the International Standards Organization (ISO). An LCA gives much more comprehensive information about the environmental impacts of a decision than the C2C protocol assessment does. LCA also supports the TNS framework by assessing the consequences of chemical production and emissions, and resource destruction.

Doing an LCA doesn’t tell you what the product or system should do, as a protocol does. It only allows you to compare decisions; is the aluminium handle better than one made from acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS)? How much benefit is there if I used a recycled material in this product? What if we truck it across the country rather than ship it overseas?

In summary these three approaches should be complementary. Protocols or standards are extremely important — if we don’t set ambitious targets we will never reach them. But we need more protocols to choose from, particularly those that can be related to easily available LCA data (frankly, it is difficult to reconcile the fact that in order to be certified by C2C, one must pay for an assessment by their private method). TNS offers an important big picture planning and forecasting framework. And finally, the range of strategies offered by Okala, together with single-score LCA, are practical tools for making specific decisions along the way.