Cradle to Cradle

Description :

WilliamMcDonough's book, written with his colleague, the German chemistMichael Braungart, is a manifesto calling for the transformation ofhuman industry through ecologically intelligent design. Throughhistorical sketches on the roots of the industrial revolution;commentary on science, nature and society; descriptions of key designprinciples; and compelling examples of innovative products andbusiness strategies already reshaping the marketplace, McDonough andBraungart make the case that an industrial system that "takes,makes and wastes" can become a creator of goods and servicesthat generate ecological, social and economic value.

In Cradle to Cradle, McDonough and Braungart argue that the conflict betweenindustry and the environment is not an indictment of commerce but anoutgrowth of purely opportunistic design. The design of products andmanufacturing systems growing out of the Industrial Revolutionreflected the spirit of the day-and yielded a host of unintended yettragic consequences.

Today,with our growing knowledge of the living earth, design can reflect anew spirit. In fact, the authors write, when designers employ theintelligence of natural systems—the effectiveness of nutrientcycling, the abundance of the sun's energy—they can createproducts, industrial systems, buildings, even regional plans thatallow nature and commerce to fruitfully co-exist.

Cradle to Cradle maps the lineaments of McDonough and Braungart's newdesign paradigm, offering practical steps on how to innovate withintoday's economic environment. Part social history, part greenbusiness primer, part design manual, the book makes plain that there-invention of human industry is not only within our grasp, it isour best hope for a future of sustaining prosperity.

Inaddition to describing the hopeful, nature-inspired design principlesthat are making industry both prosperous and sustainable, the bookitself is a physical symbol of the changes to come. It is printed ona synthetic 'paper,' made from plastic resins and inorganic fillers,designed to look and feel like top quality paper while also beingwaterproof and rugged. And the book can be easily recycled inlocalities with systems to collect polypropylene, like that in yogurtcontainers. This 'treeless' book points the way toward the day whensynthetic books, like many other products, can be used, recycled, andused again without losing any material quality—in cradle to cradlecycles.<meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><p verdana,="" arial,="" helvetica,="" sans-serif;="" font-size:="" 11px;="" color:="" rgb(204,="" 204,="" 204);=""><p verdana,="" arial,="" helvetica,="" sans-serif;="" font-size:="" 11px;="" color:="" rgb(204,="" 204,="" 204);="">