Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the way we make things by William McDonough & Michael Braungart
North Point Press, NY-USA, 2002
I would describe 'Cradle to Cradle' as a landmark in the field of Sustainability, written by architect and designer, William McDonough and German chemist Michael Braungart. This book got me introduced to sustainability more than a year ago and now, I own a personal copy that I love to read after intervals. The book puts across the idea of using nature as a model to design things and adopt the 'cradle to cradle' system in contrast to the traditional 'cradle to grave' system of our industrial manufacturing. The language is simple and the authors explain their position through daily-life examples that are easy to comprehend.
The 'book' itself is designed based on the 'Cradle to Cradle' concept. The product is completely recyclable, not made out of trees and is water-proof. The book is a bit heavy than it looks – It is printed on a synthetic paper made made out of plastic resins and inorganic fillers. The whole idea is to reprocess the book once it is done with, to transform it into a new book – so that the system functions in a loop – cradle to cradle.
Apparently, being less bad is not good for the environment and neither is down-cycling (the authors clearly state that down-cycling is not re-cycling: Down-cycling degrades the product with every use increasing its toxic content). They say that, design is the basic intention of human-beings and with inventions like paints that give out VOCs or carbon emitting vehicles, the intention seems to be 'destruction of the planet'. They propose to play the infinite game of 'Cradle to Cradle' where the waste from one product becomes food for another. The Stone-Age did not end because humans ran out of stone – so why can't we go through this age without exhausting earth's resources.
This book is not one of those usual books on sustainability that talk only about reduce, reuse, recycle and regulate. In fact, the authors' thoughts suggest that we can grow bigger while maintaining the planet's resources. The book is based on the principle that - “Waste equals food”. They give an interesting example of 'leased services' where the producer takes full responsibility of truly re-cycling any product he produces. The authors rate many of today's design solutions as badly designed systems and products that are manufactured without taking into consideration their life-cycle.
The ideas of making oxygen emitting roofs or buildings that produce more energy than they consume or making products that turn into soil after use are interesting. There are many such examples and arguments based on an array of perspectives – scientific, design oriented, business, historical and philosophical.
This book is a must read for designers, architects, manufacturers, business people, environmentalists and anyone who cares about the planet and our future.
North Point Press, NY-USA, 2002
I would describe 'Cradle to Cradle' as a landmark in the field of Sustainability, written by architect and designer, William McDonough and German chemist Michael Braungart. This book got me introduced to sustainability more than a year ago and now, I own a personal copy that I love to read after intervals. The book puts across the idea of using nature as a model to design things and adopt the 'cradle to cradle' system in contrast to the traditional 'cradle to grave' system of our industrial manufacturing. The language is simple and the authors explain their position through daily-life examples that are easy to comprehend.
The 'book' itself is designed based on the 'Cradle to Cradle' concept. The product is completely recyclable, not made out of trees and is water-proof. The book is a bit heavy than it looks – It is printed on a synthetic paper made made out of plastic resins and inorganic fillers. The whole idea is to reprocess the book once it is done with, to transform it into a new book – so that the system functions in a loop – cradle to cradle.
Apparently, being less bad is not good for the environment and neither is down-cycling (the authors clearly state that down-cycling is not re-cycling: Down-cycling degrades the product with every use increasing its toxic content). They say that, design is the basic intention of human-beings and with inventions like paints that give out VOCs or carbon emitting vehicles, the intention seems to be 'destruction of the planet'. They propose to play the infinite game of 'Cradle to Cradle' where the waste from one product becomes food for another. The Stone-Age did not end because humans ran out of stone – so why can't we go through this age without exhausting earth's resources.
This book is not one of those usual books on sustainability that talk only about reduce, reuse, recycle and regulate. In fact, the authors' thoughts suggest that we can grow bigger while maintaining the planet's resources. The book is based on the principle that - “Waste equals food”. They give an interesting example of 'leased services' where the producer takes full responsibility of truly re-cycling any product he produces. The authors rate many of today's design solutions as badly designed systems and products that are manufactured without taking into consideration their life-cycle.
The ideas of making oxygen emitting roofs or buildings that produce more energy than they consume or making products that turn into soil after use are interesting. There are many such examples and arguments based on an array of perspectives – scientific, design oriented, business, historical and philosophical.
This book is a must read for designers, architects, manufacturers, business people, environmentalists and anyone who cares about the planet and our future.
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