Cradle to Cradle

Cradle to Cradle is definitely different than all of the other pieces that we have read so far this semester. While many of the other pieces focused heavily on what was wrong and only gave a small view into what we should do about it, this book focuses more on the future and what can be done to truly create positive change in our society. The way that the authors go about explaining the different topics is also very interesting, discussing the two separate nutrient cycles and the 3 key points to master in order to understand their ideas. They make extremely valid points in an easy to understand way. As I read through the book, I kept feeling like "oh yea. Why hasn't someone thought of this before?" Their ideas seem so simple in theory, but I do worry about the implementation of these ideas any time soon.

I think that in order to actually convince any producers to start creating their products as "cradle to cradle certified" or to create buildings in the way that McDonough and Braungart suggest, we must make sure that there is something in it for them. As much as those of us in this class may hate it, our society today is built on the economy and big business is not going to be willing to simply sit back and take massive cuts for the sake of the environment. However, if there can be quantifiable measurements on items such as worker productivity that coincide with the move to a new, greener building with more fresh air and natural lighting, more businesses may be likely to move to these buildings. It will be both benefiting the environment as well as their own business. For individual products, I think that these "cradle to cradle certified" products will remain a niche market for those of us who already believe it is important to buy green. That being said, legislation needs to be passed in order to make these ideas necessary. If the government regulates the amount of waste that is allowed in a final product, the industry will have to comply, and going to the cradle to cradle method is probably the most feasible choice. Overall, I think that these ideas are great and do seem like wonderful theories. However, there still needs to be a change in the mindsets of both producers and the government in order to truly see a change to this "2nd industrial revolution."

I found McDonough and Braungart's Cradle to Cradle to be enjoyable and interesting for many reasons. Firstly, it was such a novelty that the cover was waterproof; it was nice to be able to read a book while waiting for the AU shuttle in the rain. Secondly, my interests, and hopefully my future career plans, are in green chemistry, and scientific fields. The work that the authors have done was inspiring, and their innovative ideas about how to redesign society to create a system that mimics nature got my wheels turning about sustainable design and the future of technology in the environmental solution. While most of the articles we have read for this class have condemned the use of science and technology in addressing climate change, it was refreshing to know that there is a place for human intellectual creativity in the debate that does not aim to just increase our growth and repair as we go, but completely overhauls our current paradigms of consumptions.

Cradle to Cradle was optimistic, but not overly so. It is the healthy dose of optimism that makes the solutions proposed in the book more likely to be implemented. While most of the readings in the class have identified the problem, but not the solution, or have presented a solution so impossible and futile that it depresses the readers, McDonough and Braungart lay out answers that are completely feasible and sensible. This provides an outlet for action, without having to change the environmental ethics of a considerably anthropocentric population.

Cradle to Factory

The optimism of McDonough and Braungart when it comes to improved industrial methods and materials is palpable. And some of their successes are very impressive, especially the fabric that is completely organic and can be tossed on a compost heap to decay naturally. The idea that waste equals food is a seductive one for environmentalists, and it holds a lot of promise for the world of manufacturing and industry, if not global society as a whole.

That being said, and I hate always sounding like the pessimist, its not the only solution, nor is it practical for all things. The fact is our entire consumer economy is built on consumption of hazardous chemicals and petroleum. Everything from computer chips to cosmetics requires petroleum in its production, and not just to produce energy to power the industrial process. Some of these products can be made safely, others will probably have to be eliminated altogether. Whether we can live without the more dangerous products is not clear, especially given the absolutist nature of the waste equals food paradigm.

None of this means we shouldn't adopt the whole waste equals food paradigm. In fact, I wholeheartedly endorse it. It's just that it's not so easy when it comes to the more backbone products of our industrial society, and there will be much resistance to change, not least from the industries that make these products, but also possibly from the public at large.

Cradle to Cradle

It was great to read such an optimistic book before the class comes to a close. As with everything we have read there are some pros and cons but over all. I think the way of thinking about the environment they introduced was pretty revolutionary. They argue against what they call down cycling and and call for making products for their reuse in mind. Waste equals food, respect bio diversity, and use current solar income are also great concepts they emphasize.

One idea that struck me as really simple but at the same time beautiful, was to design after the greatest architect of all time: nature. Everything in nature has a use and can be reused and have another function. He also mentioned how shelter in nature is multifunctional. Not only does a tree provide shelter but it also provides food, reproduces, and creates oxygen among other things. I loved how his buildings tried to replicate this with the incorporation of plants and producing their own energy and filtrating their own water.

Another thing I thought was great was they seem to place the responsibility on the industry, which I think is a better idea because they have the funds and can reach so many different people that they can make a difference.

One problem though is just how feasible these ideas are. I thought about why hasn't this book been replicated, then I remembered what the price was. It's almost 30 dollars. Also the buildings and other designs sound amazing but how affordable are they. I think there still needs a lot of work that has to be done to make these more available to the general public.

I obviously don't think this is the end all be all solution to the environmental problems we have been facing but I think this approach of building for reuse rather than recycle could have a significantly positive effect.

Circles of Life

I definitely appreciated the optimism and hope outlined in Cradle To Cradle. In contrast to many of our other readings, McDonough and Braungart did a good job of providing much more specific answers and solutions to our environmental problems. Rather than dwell upon the complexity and overwhelming nature of the situation, the authors provided a realistic and logical approach to moving forward. I also agreed with their emphasis on waste and nutrient flows. It really makes sense to focus on the discrepancy between the linear nature of human economy and the cylical nature of the environment. It is certainly true that humans and our economy are firmly entrenched within the environmental systems that dictate life, and trying to force a linear model upon simply will not work in the long run. Learning from nature is always a good idea, since Mother Earth usually beats human ingenuity for form and function, and coming up with truly renewable resources and solutions is a perfect example of this.
On the other hand, I think the implementation of this trend needs to lose some of its rosy idealism. Like I mentioned in class, I think the fundamental problem with this pattern is the inequal distribution of sources and sinks throughout the world. Since the international community is broken up into nations that do not cooperate at a very high level, the closing off of loops could easily end up benefitting some at the expense of others. This could be especially possible in terms of the split between developed and developing nations. In addition, I feel that there are certain global populations that, by the very nature of their surrounding geography, are incapable of truly ending the concept of waste and resource degradation. The number of people that live in island nations without any discernable natural resources can never be truly sustainable, because they require the support of other countries for their wellbeing.
However, these challenges are not enough to prevent the Cradle to Cradle economy from functioning. I think the authors have prompted an important revolution in the environmental community, with their tenets of respecting diversity and not simply doing 'less bad' things. I hope we as a global community can ultimately understand and appreciate their genius and begin adopting more and more cyclical resource flows that foment real sustainability.

The Trinity of Despair

Before having the video conference with Prof. Maniates, I admit I was a bit skeptical about his ideas and his belief that individual action really doesn't account for that much. After all, that is what the "environmental" movement is all about in our country. When I read his articles for class, I thought that it just seemed almost as though he was against any type of individual action, but during the conference, he explained that individual action should be something as commonplace as personal hygiene. I still believe that individual action should be stressed, since in the collective, the action will start to actually matter. So I guess in this way, I am still a bit skeptical of his Environmental Strategy standpoint. I think that encouraging individual action is a good place to start getting people to think about environmental issues. By giving people some examples of things that they can do in their own lives, you are getting the ball rolling for more substantial change at a higher level. If people do not believe that changes on a grand scale will actually benefit the environment or themselves, they will most likely disagree with the changes.

Overall, I really liked the "trinity of despair" diagram. I think that the most important part to take from is the Social Change aspect, saying that we don't need 100% of people to be with us. I think that a lot of the time, we get too caught up with the climate skeptics, wondering how they can still be against the idea of climate change even when all of the science points to these anthropogenic causes. But as illustrated on the hand out, the number of people who believe in it/are worried about it far outweigh those who are in complete disbelief. I think that by keeping this fact in our minds, we can start to move away from the feeling of despair that we can't get anything done and instead focus on those that are with us. We have it by the numbers, so we just need to get going with it.

I think that all major social changes have to start somewhere. They have all begun at a grassroots level, convincing people on the street of what they can do to help the cause. It is time now, however, for us to start to move from the individual to the collective. By encouraging those who are with us to come together and ask those in charge to make real change, we might actually see something important happen soon. And as we all know, it needs to happen sooner rather than later.

The Trinity of Despair

After last class, I think the thing that most resonated with me was the discussion about social movements. It really does only take a committed minority to make great change. The key word there is committed. We have to really want the change, at the expense of other causes, and we have to be willing to make sacrifices in order to bring that change about. With climate change, I believe we have an issue to galvanize public opinion to the point where changes can be railroaded through. The sticking point is always Congress, and some serious politicking has to be done in order to get the government to change, but we can always lobby state governments and follow the example of California, which is pushing ahead on limiting emissions, leaving the Federal government behind.

As far as the little things are concerned, we have to be careful about how we use them. We shouldn't totally abandon advocating them to the public, but I feel that we've gotten carried away with extolling the virtues of little solutions because they're easy and tangible. And its true, that if everyone in the world did little things, we could make great strides toward solving our environmental problems. But the fact is that you'll never get enough people on board to enable you to combat environment issues just through little solutions alone.

For the last corner of the triangle, I don't believe that people are inherently selfish, but they are lazy or too busy to care when it comes to environmental and political issues as a whole, which often has the same effect. Whether people are selfish or lazy, it doesn't matter because its still a herculean task to get them to do anything to put pressure on private business or the government. However, I do believe that there will always be enough people who care to mobilize social movements to enact change, for the environment but also for other political issues as well.