Cradle to Cradle.
Posted March 11, 2018.
Posted February 19, 2018.
Posted November 11, 2017.
Posted: October 14, 2017.
Posted: October 10, 2017.
Architect William McDonough
In 2002 Architect William McDonough and Michael Braungart, a chemist, wrote " Cradle to Cradle, Remaking the Way we Make Things". It was a groundbreaking book that changed the long held concept of " cradle to grave".
"Being less bad is not good."
Traditionally we have been focusing our efforts on reducing our negative influences on the environment, reducing our energy use, reducing our pollution, recycling etc. Such an approach only perpetuates the one-way "cradle to grave" manufacturing model. 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?
"Eco-effectiveness."
We have been obsessed with "efficiency". We can be very efficient doing the wrong thing. We have to strive for intended effectiveness of our actions.
"Waste Equals Food."
In nature there is no waste. Someones waste becomes food for someone else.
Products can be designed from the outset so that, after their useful lives, they will provide nourishment for something new. They can be conceived as "biological nutrients" that will easily reenter the water or soil without depositing synthetic materials and toxins. Or they can be "technical nutrients" that will continually circulate as pure and valuable materials within closed-loop industrial cycles, rather than being "recycled'-really downcycled into low grade materials and uses.
"Respect Diversity."
Diversity in our eco systems provide their resilience and ability to recover. It creates richness and versatility and an abundance of resources.