A manifesto for a radically different philosophy and practice of
manufacture and environmentalism
"Reduce, reuse, recycle" urge environmentalists; in other words, do more
with less in order to minimize damage. But as this provocative,
visionary book argues, this approach perpetuates a one-way, "cradle to
grave" manufacturing model that dates to the Industrial Revolution and
casts off as much as 90 percent of the materials it uses as waste, much
of it toxic. Why not challenge the notion that human industry must
inevitably damage the natural world?
In fact, why not take nature itself as our model? A tree produces
thousands of blossoms in order to create another tree, yet we do not
consider its abundance wasteful but safe, beautiful, and highly
effective; hence, "waste equals food" is the first principle the book
sets forth. Products might be designed so that, after their useful life,
they provide nourishment for something new-either as "biological
nutrients" that safely re-enter the environment or as "technical
nutrients" that circulate within closed-loop industrial cycles, without
being "downcycled" into low-grade uses (as most "recyclables" now are).
Elaborating their principles from experience (re)designing everything
from carpeting to corporate campuses, William McDonough and Michael
Braungart make an exciting and viable case for change.
