February 25, 2009

• CRADLE TO CRADLE - William McDonagh and Michael Braungart

The summarised read, summarised…

The authors propose using Nature as a model for two radically new approaches to designing products. New products can be conceived as “biological nutrients” that will easily reenter water or soil without depositing synthetic materials or toxins. Or they can be “technical nutrients” that continuously circulate as pure and valuable materials within closed-loop industrial cycles. The authors argue that their vision of eco-effectiveness, where we “remake the way we make things” is more desirable than the prevailing approach of eco-efficiency, where we do the same things but make them “less bad”.