William McDonough

Michael Braungart

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. But as this provocative, visionary book argues, 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? 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, William McDonough and Michael Braungart make an exciting and viable case for change.

Remaking the Way We Make Things

Cradle to Cradle

I feel like this book will continue changing my life for the better in the future. It argues that products and our actions should bring a nourishing effect instead of a destroying one, and that we set ourselves up for failure when we set absolutes to concepts,that the industries and enviroment can have a mutually beneficial relationship 

We should not glorify nature, but seek the benefits it brings, we should not glorify the industry, but seek the benefits it brings- without destruction.

I only learned about upcycling recently, this was a neat introduction to it. Now I wonder how it is in the country I am from Lithuania, it has the highest recycling rate in Europe. Is that good? I couldn't find a word for "Upcycling" in Lithuanian, so I am a bit concerned.

Nota

I feel like this book will continue changing my life for the better in the future. It argues that products and our actions should bring a nourishing effect instead of a destroying one, and that we set ourselves up for failure when we set absolutes to concepts,that the industries and enviroment can have a mutually beneficial relationship 

We should not glorify nature, but seek the benefits it brings, we should not glorify the industry, but seek the benefits it brings- without destruction.

I only learned about upcycling recently, this was a neat introduction to it. Now I wonder how it is in the country I am from Lithuania, it has the highest recycling rate in Europe. Is that good? I couldn't find a word for "Upcycling" in Lithuanian, so I am a bit concerned.

How can we avoid environmental disaster? Nowadays, in the home, most of us do our bit: we recycle. But what about industry, where the real damage is done? The strategy is the same: 'reduce, resize, reuse' - we try to minimize the damage. But there is a limitation to this well-intentioned approach: it maintains the one-way, 'cradle to grave' manufacturing model of the Industrial Revolution, the very model that creates immense amounts of waste and pollution in the first place. What we need is a major rethink, a new approach which directly combats the problem rather than slowly perpetuating it. An exciting, simple and groundbreaking new vision,Cradle to Cradleoffers this approach. With clear, accessible - even humorous - arguments, celebrated chemist Michael Braungart and inspirational architect Bill McDonough challenge the set-in notion that human industry must damage the world. They look to nature and find a production system we can follow, a system of abundance rather than reduction, in which waste equals food. Theyshow how we can mimic nature's model to our commercial and environmental advantage, demonstrating how products can be designed as biological and technical nutrients that will continually circulate as pure and valuable materials, eradicating the need to 'recycle' - really downcycle - products into low-grade materials and uses. Cradle to Cradle's theories have been put into practice across the world and will shape our future - they are implemented by major governments, big corporations, small, innovative independent businesses and university science departments, and are given high-profile backing by environmentalists and celebrity activists. This updated edition is essential reading, a bold, practical and overwhelmingly positive manifesto for an environmentally prosperous future, a world where we can make maximum profit from nature without destroying it.

Cal Desmond‐Pearson

I'm a freecycle/recycle/thriftshop geek and William McDonough's book, written with his colleague, the German chemist Michael Braungart, is a manifesto calling for the transformation of human industry through ecologically intelligent design.

'Reduce, reuse, recycle' urge environmentalists; in other words, do more with less in order to minimize damage. But as architect William McDonough and chemist Michael Braungart point out in this provocative, visionary book, this approach only perpetuates the one-way, 'cradle to grave' manufacturing model, dating to the Industrial Revolution, that creates such fantastic amounts of waste and pollution in the first place. Why not challenge the belief that human industry must damage the natural world? In fact, why not take nature itself as our model for making things? A tree produces thousands of blossoms in order to create another tree, yet we consider its abundance not wasteful but safe, beautiful and highly effective. Waste equals food. Guided by this principle, McDonough and Braungart explain how products can be designed from the outset so that, after their useful lives, they will provide nourishment for something new - continually circulating as pure and viable materials within a 'cradle to cradle' model. Drawing on their experience in redesigning everything from carpeting to corporate campuses, McDonough and Braungart make an exciting and viable case for putting eco-effectiveness into practice, and show how anyone involved in making anything can begin to do so as well.

Cradle to Cradle Remaking the Way We Make Things

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