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For example, the average mass-produced piece of polyester clothing and a typical water bottle both contain antimony, a toxic heavy metal known to cause cancer under certain circumstances. Let’s put aside for the moment the issues of whether this substance represents a specific danger to the user. The question we would pose as designers is: Why is it there? Is it necessary? Actually, it is not necessary: antimony is a current catalyst in the polymerization process and is not necessary for polyester production. What happens when this discarded product is “recycled” (that is, down-cycled) and mixed with other materials? What about when it is burned along with other trash as cooking fuel, a common practice in developing countries? Incineration makes the antimony bio-available – that is, available for breathing.

That polyester shirt and that water bottle are both examples of what we call products plus: as a buyer you got the item or service you wanted, plus additives that you didn’t ask for and didn’t know were included and that may be harmful to you and loved ones. (Maybe shirt labels should read: product contains toxic dyes and catalysts. Don’t work up a sweat or they will leach onto your skin.) Moreover, these extra ingredients may not be necessary to the product itself.

Excerpted from Page 37-38 of  ‘Cradle to Cradle’ by Michal Braungart and William McDonough