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Cradle to Cradle
Book

Cradle to Cradle

Remaking the Way We Make Things

North Point Press, 2002 plus...

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Editorial Rating

8

Qualities

  • Innovative

Recommendation

This is an extraordinary and unlikely book. It is not printed on paper, but on a waterproof polymer with the heft of good paper and more strength, a substance that reflects the right amount of light, yet holds the ink fast. It seems like an impossible fantasy, but so does much of what the authors propose about design and ecology. They speak with the calm certainty of the ecstatic visionary. Could buildings generate oxygen like trees? Could running shoes release nutrients into the earth? It seems like science fiction. Yet, here is this book, on this paper. The authors make a strong case for change, and just when you’re about to say, "if only," they cite a corporation that is implementing their ideas. However, it’s hard to believe their concepts would work on a large scale, in the face of powerful economic disincentives. The authors do aim some of their criticism at obsolete marketing and manufacturing philosophies, but, says getAbstract.com, the overall critique is well worth reading.

Take-Aways

  • The industrial system is a masterpiece of bad design - it’s ugly and poisonous
  • We need a new industrial revolution and a new design for industry.
  • Instead of cradle-to-grave design, where materials are used and then wasted and discarded, focus on cradle-to-cradle design built on the cyclical reuse of resources.

About the Authors

Time magazine recognized William McDonough, architect, as a "Hero of the Planet" in 1999. He has also received the Presidential Award for Sustainable Development, the U.S.’s highest environmental honor. Michael Braungart, chemist, founded the Environmental Protection Encouragement Agency (EPEA) in Hamburg, and formerly directed the chemical section of Greenpeace. He has received numerous awards, honors and fellowships.