This past week we talked about closed loop or cradle to cradle design.

Closing the loop in design means changing the life cycle of a product to where there is no waste.  Usually products are made, get used and then disposed, but with a closed loop system the disposed can be fed back into the cycle to create more things.  The materials can either be up cycled or down cycled.  This is environmentally responsible and also saves money and energy.

I think that this is a cool idea but it will only catch on when people start caring less about making money and start caring more about the environment.  In the long run it is cheaper for companies to keep producing the same way than to buy new equipment and materials.