Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things

McDonough and Braungart's vision of "Remaking the Way We Make Things" goes way beyond books. Why not buildings that produce more energy than they consume? Or "green" roofs that give off oxygen while cooling the occupants? How about factories that produce drinkable effluent? or products that when their useful life is over can be used as nutrients for soil? What sounds like science fiction is convincingly shown to be quite feasible by the authors. They offer numerous examples to prove it.

"We see a world of abundance, not limits" they say. As an architect (McDonough) and chemist (Braungart) they don't have any special qualifications for this re-thinking and re-doing. What they simply have done is re-imagine the whole manufacturing process beginning with the design elements. Sometimes it's simply a matter of asking the right questions and looking at things differently. They are not talking about smaller-scale industry or limiting themselves to the "four R's" of traditional environmentalism - reuse, recycle, reduce, and regulate. With their intelligent designs, "bigger and better" is possible "in a way that replenishes, restores, and nourishes the rest of the world."

McDonough and Braungart cover topics such as the history of the industrial revolution, new business strategies that emphasize eco-efficiency, the relationship between man, nature, and science, and the importance of design and planning. Hopeful, well written, thoroughly researched, and packed with practical examples, this refreshing book offers an alternative to our current industrial system that "takes, makes and wastes". We have the talent, technology, and with the enthusiasm of these authors, we have the capability to achieve economic and ecological sustainability.


A Truly New Kind of Book   April 18, 2002
R. Hardy (Columbus, Mississippi USA)
58 out of 61 found this review helpful

I can't think of another book that so obviously practices what it preaches as _Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things_ (North Point Press) by William McDonough and Michael Braungart. Books are usually printed on a fairly high grade of paper (compared to, say, that used in newspapers), paper which everyone knows comes from cutting down pretty and naturally useful trees. The paper is printed with inks that have heavy metals and other chemicals in them. You can recycle a book, but those chemicals get to be part of the mess, and are expensive to remove. Anyway, you don't really recycle it, you _down_cycle it (the authors' term), because the paper in it can only be bleached and chemically treated to turn it into a lower grade of paper, such as for newspapers. And newspapers can be turned into toilet paper, in further downcycling. _Cradle to Cradle_ is about breaking out of such "cycles" and into real cycles. It has smooth, bright white pages that are heavy, like the paper in the best books. They are not, however, paper in the usual sense, although you probably wouldn't notice the difference unless your attention was called to it. They are made of plastic resins and inorganic fillers. Although the pages are designed to last as long as any paper book, these pages can be recycled by conventional means to make more paper of equal quality. They might even be _up_cycled into resins of greater complexity and utility. The ink on them can be easily removed by a safe solvent bath, or washing with extremely hot water, and does not contain dangerous chemicals.

The authors, one an architect and one a chemist, created McDonough Braungart Design Chemistry in 1995, to consult with companies about designing sustaining products and factories. They have the ear of such companies as Ford and Nike, and their book is a primer on how they would like to see manufacturing work in the future to take part in natural cycles having little effect on the overall ecology of the earth. It is a rather thrilling little manifesto, by two obviously bright guys who don't let their optimism get in the way of bringing in real results. The idea is for products and processes not to be "less bad," but like ants or trees, to be positively good for the environment. "Waste is food" is the principle. Making products that can be composted, or can be used again without degrading them or the environment can be done, and it is no dream. Much of the book shows how the authors, as consultants, have put such principles into action.

It can be done. The words of the authors, clearly concerned about the future of the planet, are enthusiastic and convincing, and given the examples in this surprising book, it is clear that we will be seeing more design of products and processes that are incorporated into natural cycles. Given the example of the book itself, a good looking product on its own, the advantages are clear. And if that isn't enough, the book can be read without risk in the bathtub, as it is entirely waterproof.




Abundance in Action   December 2, 2002
Matt Howe (Washington, DC)
13 out of 15 found this review helpful

This book is a fantastic document of William McDonough and Michael Braungart's commitment to solution. The first half of the book illustrates the overwhelmingly toxic and seemingly insurmountable world we have created through industry and the pursuit of progress. Then, through innovation, action and compassion, the authors outline, define and remind us toward obtainable solutions. At times, poetic, at times complex, like nature. This book sets itself apart from others not only in its subject matter, but in its manufacture, as stated in the opening pages: "This book is not a tree". The pages are made from synthetic "paper"...truly remaking the way we make things.


a primer for change   January 2, 2008
youreh.com (Los Angeles, CA)
2 out of 3 found this review helpful

possible book themes

- negligence starts tomorrow :: once you've been informed, your responsibility is heightened.

- waste equals food :: right now, waste is waste. because earth's resources are finite, this will inevitably end either because we run out of resources or we choose to start using our waste in the idea of 'waste-to-food' (where waste can be used as raw materials for new goods beyond that of conventional recycling).

- outside the box :: research and development are necessary to recreate the current products by using new materials and/or rethinking the products altogether.

what this book is not

- a handbook on the products that will improve people's health, the economy, or the environment (although, examples are mentioned that do all of these and may inspire).

- a designers guide to saving the world. this book is a primer for this change, making the solid argument that change is necessary and offering examples of how this may be done, however, it does not offer a cut-and-dry method to how to make these improvements. that is where R&D and innovation come in. each problem may have a unique solution.

- a numbers book. instead, this is an 'ideas book'.

what the book is

- responsible :: working on the principle that there are finite physical goods that humanity has to work with, the authors make the simple and convincing argument that the throw-away (cradle-to-grave) economy cannot go on forever. goods are being lost for future generations. society will inevitably have to come to grips with this reality and become responsible with natural resources, creating a 'cradle-to-cradle' economy with no (ie, negligible) waste. the authors suggest that we aren't in balance with regeneration of natural resources (which is indisputable) and that we must reach this balance and in the process we should (ideally) become symbiotic with the earth. [this sounds more fluffy than how it reads.]

- practical & innovative :: this book discusses a new approach to design and suggests new ways to think about products and consumption/destruction (consumption does not need incorporate destruction). this is why i would call this book a design primer. the authors are not about condemnation. they instead want designers to rethink products that hurt people and the environment and they look to inspire innovation. some questions now seem so obvious that the reader is left to wonder why so many products are created the way they are. what about product A hurts the consumer? (ex, it 'off-gases' chemicals the consumer inhales without knowing it.) what about product A hurts the environment and future generations? (ex, in production it contaminates the land around the product factory.) how can we get rid of these bad characteristics and/or create good characteristics in product A? (ex, the problem of sewage. instead of sending it 'away', prevent sewage from being contaminated by chemicals and then use it as a very rich fertilizer like has been done for centuries/millenniums in some other cultures.) the authors do not propose going to all means necessary to eliminate all bad product characteristics tomorrow but advise the reader/designers to look beyond basic 'improvements' such as using additional dangerous chemicals to counteract the other dangerous chemicals or substituting dangerous chemical C for dangerous chemical B since B is well known but the public hasn't caught onto C yet. instead the authors ask designers, engineers, and anyone else listening to rethink the problem from more perspectives and actually try to improve the product for both public and environmental health. [the authors give several examples where this unconventional thinking is economical.]

- realistic :: the authors propose that society shifts from products made to be thrown away (lots of products are currently like this) to products that do less harm (some products are in this stage), then to products that do little or no harm (very few products in this stage), and finally to products that do no harm or are actually good for environment in production and use (any products in this stage?). never do they give a time line for how long this will take. that's left for the product designers, engineers, chemists, and all the rest of us to realize... how long will it take for us to catch on?

- well designed :: the book itself is a book rethought. it seems to be somewhere between stage 2 and 3 (my stages 2 and 3 differ slightly from the book's... they have 5 stages). it is not paper but plastic that may be recycled (in some areas) and reused as high-quality material. it is durable, well designed, and waterproof. the authors are careful to note that this book design isn't yet in stage 4 [this review's description of stage 4] but is an intermediary. it is better than paper books in that it can be 'upcycled' (used as quality recycling as opposed to 'downcycled' or conventional recycling) but is not yet the ideal book (it gives off chemicals in the air like all other books, which is something to improve upon).


This Book is Not a Tree   June 22, 2002
J.W.K (Nagano, Japan)
10 out of 12 found this review helpful

It doesn't look like a tree, it doesn't smell like a tree, it doesn't feel like a tree, nor does it taste like a tree (believe me). The book is not a tree. Instead of being made from wood pulp or cotton fiber, it is composed of plastic resins and inorganic fills, so that we don't have to cut down our precious and dwindling forests to produce "so humble and transient a substance as paper."

Nor is this waterproof (yes, waterproof) "durabook" composed of any hazardous materials, unlike the computer we both use/d to interface right here and now. It is a prototype of a "technical nutrient" book, meaning it can be broken down and "circulated infinitely in industrial cycles--made and remade as 'paper' and other products."

Many products are not so environmentally friendly or healthy as this book, though. The chair you plopped down in to read this probably contain "mutagenic materials [what are those?], heavy metals, dangerous chemicals, and dyes that are often labeled hazardous by regulators--except when they are presented and sold" to you. And your computer? It contains "a thousand of different materials, including toxic gases, toxic metals (such as cadmium, lead and mercury), acids, plastics, chlorinated and brominted substances," and many other additives.

As the authors ask, is the way we make and package things sensible? Is it even necessary? What were the designers at the toy company thinking when they constructed your baby's plastic rattle--the one she's got in her mouth right now--out of PVC plastic, which contains "phthalates, known to cause liver cancer in animals (and suspected to cause endocrine disruption), along with toxic dyes, lubricants, antioxidants, and ultraviolet stabilizers"? Could they have been thinking about anything other than the bottom line? It's doubtful.

But according to these authors, commerce is about to experience a new day, a way of making things that transcends old Industrial Revolution modes of extraction, manufacture, and disposal that are so harmful for the planet. With this book, they envision a "New Industrial Revolution," where waste becomes "food," consumption okay, and commerce is as natural and cyclic as the growth process of a sequoia tree.

You might find a few patchy spots and loopy reasoning by the time you've finished the book, but its lucid vision of the future is awe-inspiring. And unlike Marxian revolutionaries, the authors of this book do not propose that we use whatever means are necessary to reach our ideological end-goal. The book itself is living proof of the fact that commercial ends must not be sacrificed to the means employed getting there.

All in all, a fine book--a book you will want to see, smell and touch. Indeed, if you are like me you might even want to play with it: marking it with different types of pens and pencils, floating it in the bathtub, boiling it, or trying to burn it (not a good idea). It's a good read, and good fun for cavemen.