Cradle to Cradle design uses modern chemicals and manufacturing techniques in a way that recycles toxic chemicals in a closed system, away from living things. It recycles organic in its own system, away from toxic chemicals.
Thus it uses both aspects of modern manufacturing much more safely and efficiently. The only way this can be done with the vast majority of products is from the design phase. They must be designed to be taken apart at the end of their life, and recycled in this way.
The individuals who came up with this method, architect William McDonough, and chemistMichael Braungart, run a company to help others redesign their products to conform with this model and get certified once they do. https://www.c2ccertified.org/
As we’ve seen, it’s very possible to enjoy a high quality of life without toxic chemicals being used in virtually every product. Part of the reason we use so many is that our society is so fast paced and competitive that companies consider that they don’t have time to research non-toxic solutions and keep the attention of people who are constantly assaulted with “the newest shiny object” in an effort to keep rampant consumerism going.
Taking a step back from this frantic consumerism and assault on our senses and as designers, asking “what is really important to me?” can help us achieve a high quality of life in harmony with the ethics of permaculture.
Appropriate technology is a vast subject. There are thousands of Lo-TEK or low tech solutions for living that tend to be much healthier for us as well as for nature.
How could we recover lost technology? How could we incorporate non-polluting, accessible technology into our lives to better achieve the three permaculture ethics and improve the quality of our own lives?