A manifesto for a radically different philosophy and practice of manufacture and environmentalism"Reduce, reuse, recycle" urge environmentalists; in other words, do more with less in order to minimize damage. As William McDonough and Michael Braungart argue in their provocative, visionary book, however, this approach perpetuates a one-way, "cradle to grave" manufacturing model that dates to the Industrial Revolution and casts off as much as 90 percent of the materials it uses as waste, much of it toxic. Why not challenge the notion that human industry must inevitably damage the natural world, they ask.In fact, why not take nature itself as our model? A tree produces thousands of blossoms in order to create another tree, yet we do not consider its abundance wasteful but safe, beautiful, and highly effective; hence, "waste equals food" is the first principle the book sets forth. Products might be designed so that, after their useful life, they provide nourishment for something new-either as "biological nutrients" that safely re-enter the environment or as "technical nutrients" that circulate within closed-loop industrial cycles, without being "downcycled" into low-grade uses (as most "recyclables" now are). Elaborating their principles from experience (re)designing everything from carpeting to corporate campuses, the authors make an exciting and viable case for change.
Amazon.com Review: Paper or plastic? Neither, say William McDonough and Michael Braungart. Why settle for the least harmful alternative when we could have something that is better--say, edible grocery bags! In Cradle to Cradle, the authors present a manifesto calling for a new industrial revolution, one that would render both traditional manufacturing and traditional environmentalism obsolete. Recycling, for instance, is actually "downcycling," creating hybrids of biological and technical "nutrients" which are then unrecoverable and unusable. The authors, an architect and a chemist, want to eliminate the concept of waste altogether, while preserving commerce and allowing for human nature. They offer several compelling examples of corporations that are not just doing less harm--they're actually doing some good for the environment and their neighborhoods, and making more money in the process. Cradle to Cradle is a refreshing change from the intractable environmental conflicts that dominate headlines. It's a handbook for 21st-century innovation and should be required reading for business hotshots and environmental activists. --Therese Littleton
excellent, even oustanding Great book, in perfect condition and as I saw on screen that s how i received at home.
Seeing ourselves as all being part of the great cradle to cradle cycle is an important step forward. For those to are ecologically minded, a key part of creating any new product is to produce a life cycle assessment (LCA), which is also known as a cradle-to-grave analysis, working from manufacture (`cradle') to use and disposal (`grave'). The LCA investigates all of the environmental impacts of that product and attempts to minimise that damage. One of the key premises of McDonough & Brangart's book, is that minimising damage just isn't good enough. Instead, the authors propose that we change our entire design processes so that reuse and nourishment are built right into the process. Instead of minimising waste, we create value. Cradle to Cradle goes beyond the notion of having recycling as the final step in a process flow, and instead builds on the idea that waste need not exist at all. We can design our lives and products around the notion of nourishment - from the way we live to (primarily) how we design and produce goods. The natural world provides the template for what the authors suggest, from the regenerative world of the insect, to the cherry tree, to the use of natural nutrients such as solar and wind power. They suggest that the key to working within, rather than against, nature is to respect biodiversity, respect the elegance and abundance of what is around us, and begin our design process with the notion of there is no such thing as waste.
The writing style itself is clear, simple, and suitable for all ages and knowledge levels. Different readers will take different things from the book. It is addressed to those that do design for a living, and for those who are professionals in industry, this book will serve as a manual for development. But all of us are engaged in creation and consumption in one way or another (the machine I'm using to type this on, or the reams of paper my kids draw on to take two general examples) and the choices we make on how we will conduct those activities, and seeing ourselves as all being part of the great cradle to cradle cycle is an important step forward.
The book spends some time discussing the whole notion of dangerous design principles, including the way in which "downcycling" only defers the problem as products become more and more unstable (and environmental problematic) as they are recycled. Although I've yet to see plastic books become a trend, the book itself is an example of how a product can be manufactured in a way that will be infinitely valuable. It's made out of synthetic paper which doesn't use wood pulp or any dangerous inks or substances, and is both waterproof and pleasurable to read, with nice thick pages and clear ink. The book goes into quite a lot of detail about what it would mean to design products that weren't less bad, but rather 100% good. The authors look at architecture and how we can design buildings that take into account the diversity of their settings, and the natural needs of their inhabitants.
The book concludes with "Five Steps to Eco-Effectiveness", a neat summary of how to put the philosophical principles discussed in the book into practice. Some of these, such as "Step 2: Follow informed personal preferences" may seem a little unusual, advocating that we use our aesthetic sense, our observations and our own sense of pleasure (yes, pleasure) to guide our design decisions. While others, such as "Step 4: Reinvent" may seem almost too broad for the average reader. However, the book is full of so many specific examples, primarily from industry, that it's easy to picture what they are advocating working in practice. After all, the book itself is not only beautifully and safely designed to fit the "cradle-to-cradle" philosophy, it is also written in a way that is easily read, linguistically elegant and appealing, and sound in its advice. As a writer, I can see the sense in taking on this wholistic approach to environmentalism, ditching the hysteria and the mass of finger-pointing practices which look green but which don't actually make much of a difference, and taking on this approach in a whole body sense. It's powerful stuff and the impact is starting to happen, perhaps a little too slowly, but, as the authors say, "it's going to take forever...that's the point."
Magdalena Ball is the author of Sleep Before Evening.
PERFECT! This book was in perfect condition when I received it and the really cool thing about it is that its WATERPROOF which means you can read it pretty much anywhere-in the shower, underwater, at the beach or even in a fish tank! The book gives you scary insight on how we are destroying our earth and killing ourselves slowly and simultaneously!!!
Dangerously encouraging consumer complacency Apparently corporations are all going green. Even Ford will become perfectly sustainable. Now they abuse their employees & produce thousands of fossil-fuel-burning cars out of a "green" facility built with materials extracted from where, a green, sustainable mining operation?
This book has some good points & quotes, but in the end it's another propaganda piece for greenwashing corporations.
Remake the Way You Think Such an inspiring book! McDonough and Braungart offer much more than just passion for creating a green world--they tell us how to do it. Through their experience innovating new systems with companies like Ford, Herman Miller, DuPont, and many more, they bring serious intelligence to a movement that often feels like another fad. Current enthusiasm aside, Green is here to stay, and we need to start understanding the things we talk about.
Put on your creativity hat and prepare to be dazzled.
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