Cradle to Cradle - Re-making the way we make things

Author(s): Michael Braungart; William McDonough

DESIGN THEORY < | ENVIRONMENT + THE NATURAL WORLD | SOCIAL + POLITICAL GRAPHICS | SUSTAINABLE ARCHITECTURE

"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. aste equals food. uided 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


Product Information

General Fields

  • : 9780099535478
  • : Penguin Random House
  • : Vintage
  • : January 2009
  • : books

Special Fields

  • : Michael Braungart; William McDonough
  • : Paperback
  • : 208