Cradle to Cradle: Remaking The Way We Make Things

The book Cradle to Cradle by William McDonough and Michael Braungart has been a good touchstone for the new green movement. Ideas like zero waste and designing products that have an almost infinite life cycle were crystalized with its publication. Many times during RyanIsHungry interviews, this book is mentioned. We thought we'd help expose it more by showing how the book really sparks conversation and gets the green wheels turning in our heads. Grab the book for cheap on Amazon or go to your local library and borrow it for free!

Category:

People & Blogs

Tags:

• cradletocradle
• williammcdonough
• michaelbraungart
• zero
• waste
• green
• sustainability
• book
• review
• ryanishungry

[ihopveggan]

@MirageScience with perserving everything we would create jobs. if everyone stop buying from these corparations they would not be controlling the economy and would eventually make better eco products. this country doesnt need to eat meat, were just ignorant

[MirageScience]

There are electrical cars, have you saved to buy one? If you care for the environment, then it's your responsibility to push consumer demand in that direction.

I don't agree with this idea of planned obsolescence (p.o.). To dispel this idea i can give you a scenario. Company A tries p.o. Company B doesn't. People like yourself notice this, and stop purchasing goods from company A. Company A loses market share, and quits trying.

It's all about making such things profitable.

[MirageScience]

If these companies did these things then it would come at a cost which would have to be passed down to the consumer, or the things wouldn't even be made. If you want companies to do these things then people have to make it just as profitable or more profitable to produce things that down go into a land fill.  It's the consumers responsibility, companies are just producing what they think people want.

[beobscureclearly]

The overall concept behind Cradle to Cradle is an interesting one, which is what prompted me to pick up this book in the first place. Unfortunately, I found this book incredibly boring, though I managed to struggle through to page 61 before giving up. Life is too short to read boring books! To add insult to injury, the authors have decided to prove their point by publishing their book on some kind of synthetic paper, making a relatively small book incredibly heavy to carry around.

[roquemartire]

The day that human life is in danger, and I mean real danger, of collapsing in on itself, then we'll employ these methods with fierce legislation. Before that happens, well.. it's just human nature to want to be the king. Welcome to modern capitalism. Enjoy irresponsibly.

[marshallmacluhan]

continue. ..

[Hithard177]

This is simply another way of hoping we can have our cake and eat it too. Great idea, but not practical when applied to the current scale of our industrial system. Having said that, where possible such design considerations should be employed.

I really wish it weren't the case, but if you really believe simple design changes will somehow save us from ecological collapse you are kidding yourselves.

Think for a second. How can INDUSTRIAL CAPITALISM ever be sustainable? It can't.

[yashiromishoone]

living and work in a sustainable building is an effective means of raising awareness about the issue. If we could get the designers and employees in Ford to be proud of their new eco-friendly workplace and see that eco- friendly can work without compromising comfort or their bottom line then we can be sure that these concepts would find their way into their work.

[canicusinla]

Great points made on the book. I have been going through the book for several months now and I get new ideas everytime. I use it like a manual in a sense. As for RyanIsHungry's comment on Ford Motor Co. I understand; however, at least a motor vehicle company has tried to take a step in having a better designed plant rather than an inefficient one. SUVs and trucks are harmful but someone/somewhere will still have a righteous need for them. Better vehicle development is of course needed.