The ideas William McDonough and Michael Braungart pose in Cradle to Cradle are revolutionary to say the least. The book is kind of a layout for a whole new way of thinking about human interaction with nature and the carbon footprint we leave. Using nature as the blueprint, McDonough and Braungart observe how insects, animals and plants have been living together in harmony since the beginning of time. Humans on the other hand have been rapidly depleting our resources, poisoning our land and water and destroying our environment all in the name of advancement and consumerism. The book sets out to explain how we can learn to live in harmony with our surroundings, taking our cradle to grave mentality and turning it into a cradle to cradle mentality.
Chapter one focuses on how we've come to our cradle to grave way of thinking. The chapter starts by explaining how the Industrial Revolution would look if someone were to design it today. It talks about how that design would include all the waste the Industrial revolution has produced and how that may look on paper. It goes on to explain that the people responsible for the Industrial Revolution didn't have these intentions in mind but that all the waste was an unfortunate by product. Chapter one also explains how we are considered consumers but how we don't actually consume things. Humans use products and then throw them in a fake "away". The chapter explains that we as humans don't actually throw thing away because there is no away. Trash goes somewhere. "Away" is usually a landfill which continually get bigger and bigger until there is a need for a new landfill. "Away" can also be an incinerator which pollutes the air with toxic chemicals. Some things are so toxic they can't be incinerated or thrown in a landfill so they have to be buried, basically locked away, so as not to harm people. one of the most interesting subjects in chapter one is the idea of how we rip out native vegetation and replace it with vegetation that is not native which then needs to be fertilized in order to grow. The problem is these fertilizers run off into our water supplies, wetlands, lakes and streams. The reason I found this interesting is, I worked for a landscaping company whose work consisted, mainly of new built subdivisions. It always amazed me that companies were tearing down trees, woodlands or farmlands to pop up these cookie cutter homes and then we would come in and replace the vegetation. Frank Lloyd Wright, who was a major environmentalist, said when asked why he chose to build a house into a hill as opposed to on it, that if he build the home on the hill you loose the hill. This kind of thinking draws many parallels with the ideas in Cradle to Cradle. With a little thinking we can build in a way where we don't have to strip away.
Chapter two deals with the idea of how being less bad, is not a solution. two really interesting points in chapter two deals with our over consumption. The first was from a 1973 book by Fritz Schumacher titled Small Is Beautiful: Economics as if People Mattered. In it Schumacher states, "The idea of unlimited economic growth, more and more until everybody is saturated with wealth, needs to be seriously questioned. The problem with unlimited growth is there are limited resources so the idea of unlimited growth is a fantasy. The second point is how recycling is just a band-aid to the problems of over consumption. This is the main theme of chapter two. Recycling is more popular that ever but the problem is that recycling doesn't actually recycle as much as it downcycles. Not all recycled products can be reused as the product if came from. Steel from car frames, for instance, when melted down cannot be used to make new car frames. The reason is because in order to melt down the steel other metals from the car are getting melted down as well. The Steel becomes weaker so now the metal has to be used for something else. eventually the steel will become unusable. The same goes with plastics and paper. There are only so many cycles these materials can go through before just ending up in the land fill. Even though recycling is not a bad idea, there needs to be better ideas of how to cut back on consumption and waste. One question chapter two made me think of when discussing the subject of commerce and companies that pollute. In the book they talk about monstrous hybrids. Companies are forced to comply to regulations to control pollution but these regulations are a one size fits all way of dealing with the problem. The question I pose is could this be one reason companies move factories to third world countries? Out side of the benefit of cheap labor, moving these companies to small countries gets the pollution off our shores and then companies don't have to deal with the regulations.
Eco-effectiveness is the subject of chapter three and they return to the subject of the book and the materials and design incorporated in it. In the introduction, the authors explain that the book is not a tree. The book was designed in a way so it can be completely recycled instead of downcycled. First the book is made from a non-toxic plastic which is sturdy enough to be reused as a book. The ink is a non-toxic in that can be removed with a non-toxic washing process. The glue holding the pages together is like wise, non-toxic. the book is also waterproof which would be doubly beneficial if you wanted to read the book at the beach. The book is a good example of eco
Chapter four deals with the problems of waste and how we can return our wastes into the earth as opposed to discarding them. The chapter explains we have had to develop synthesized fertilizers in order to grow crops. these fertilizers become runoff and pollute our waters. Our products are designed to be replaced. In our consumer culture companies depend on people continually buying products. For this reason products are designed to last just long enough for consumers to want a new one. The old products get discarded and become waste. The chapter talks about a products life cycle and how we can rethink the designs so the materials can be reused. I found this chapter interesting for two reasons one, the idea that we continually buy products only to replace them is one I find hard to understand. Even though I'm guilty of this I find it ridiculous. I'm an Apple fan but, every time Apple introduces a new ipod, people feel they need it, even though they may already have one. My current ipod is a second generation ipod. It still has a scroll wheel, a black and white screen and is big. It works, and so I don't feel I need to buy a new fancy touch screen one. Consumers do feel they have to replace it though and we throw the others away.
Chapter five starts with a great point about tearing down our natural surroundings only to be replaced with things that were never meant to be there. It goes on to discuss how we have to learn to live with all the diverse species surrounding us. This chapter reminded me of the bio-mimicry video we watched. In that video it is explained that species can live in harmony, even thrive off of each other, and we should use that as a blueprint in living in harmony with our surroundings. This chapter also revisited the problem of removing native vegetation only to be replaced with vegetation that was never meant to grow there so we artificially fertilize it, forcing it to grow. Once it does grow however, we then cut and prune it back essentially hindering the growth it has been forced to do.
The book finishes by explaining how to put eco-effectiveness into practice. One of the examples they use was when designing a factory for Herman-Miller William McDonough wanted to give the factory a feeling of being outdoors. They designed it with trees in the interior and skylights that would light the factory up like being outdoors. The employees in the factory were much happier and job performance reflected that. The chapter explains the five steps to eco-effectiveness. 1. get "free of" known culprits. Explaining that getting rid of harmful chemicals is the first step in becoming more eco-effective. 2. Follow informed personal preferences. The authors explained about how William sent lists to manufacturers whose products they were considering, wanting them to list everything that was used in the production of the product. Then making informed decisions based on the materials and processes involved in making them. 3. Creating a "passive positive" list. Now that the materials and processes have been categorized they could start to determine what materials would be toxic or contain toxic chemicals that could off gas into the air. 4. Activate the positive list. They explain this is where the idea of being less bad turns into being good, by using materials that are non-toxic, non polluting and can be completely recycled. Finally step 5. Reinvent. Using what they now know the designers can rethink the design in a way to be truly eco-effective.
The overall theme of Cradle to Cradle, is one of learning how to coexists with our environment. Humans for centuries have used up our resources without regenerating them. This book is a good first step into rethinking how we live, work, consume, dispose and regenerate our resources. William McDonough & Michael Braungart have given people a blueprint on how to be eco-effective. In our society of over consumption and waste, it is about time we start using it.
