Cradle to Cradle Ch. 3

Cradle to Cradle Ch. 3

Eco-Effectiveness

-Three books are compared and only one can be completely deconstructed and recycled without damaging processes.

-Materials should be rethought even for the simplest and normal of uses, such as paper for books

Consider the Cherry Tree

-Buildings that are energy savers and are eco-friendly just takes less from the environment than a normal building and is more expensive.

-If a cherry tree produced a building it would sustain the environment and would give more back to it.

-A factory that spent 10% more money to build with nature in mind (not locking the employees away in a dark mass), increased product and work efficiency and brought back workers who had left for a higher paying job.

What is Growth?

-Growth for nature and children is a good thing, sustaining and gives back, but growth of industry is depleting and harmful to the environment.

-The misconception is that it is an either-or situation, instead of a both-and situation.

Once upon a Roof

-Roofs are one of the most expensive parts of a building to maintain and also contribute to so many negative reactions, such as flooding and the heating up of cities during the hotter months.

-Century old building techniques used the landscape and other natural materials to give “life” to a structure.

-A green roof was created on the roof of Chicago’s city hall, and it had such an impact on the affects seen by the Mayor that he envisioned green roofs all over Chicago.

Beyond Control

-For change to happen for the good, the solution does not have to necessarily be radical, but the change in perspective needs to be radical.

-We see nature as something that humans need to tame, to break for our will.  Even the falling leaves of autumn we bag up and put in the garbage instead of composting it.

-A cherry tree was proposed by a household to be planted in their yard to bring song birds in and to eat the cherries from it.  But the legislation saw it as to dangerous, people could slip on the fallen cherries, or kids could fall from climbing it. 

-A garden was planted and because of its “wildness” the owner had to pay a fine for many years, but after many years the garden received an award for its same “wildness”.  This is because of perspective change.

Becoming Native

-People have wondered about living in space and populating places such as the moon, some of this desire comes from the thought of: Where to go when the earth is no more?

-We need to have the priority to live where we were made to live, The Earth.

-We realize that certain areas should be left to be wild, but we also have man made areas that we zone off not safe for humans, such as factories.

-There is a tribe in Wisconsin that forests in a particular way that has increased the amount of trees in their area instead of depleting it, so there are ways for humans to sustain life.

-“They have figured out what the forest can productively offer them instead of considering only what they want.”

-Nuclear waste was to be dumped on a Native American territory and the concern was to protect others in the future not to accidentally access it.  The Native American communicated that they will always be there and that they will warn their future people of the mess you left them.

The New Design Assignment

Create the following:

-Buildings that, like trees, produce more energy than they consume and purify their own waste water.

-Factories that produce effluents that are drinking water.

-Products that, when their useful life is over, do not become useless waste but can be tossed onto the ground to decompose and become food for plants and animals and nutrients for soil; or, alternately, that can return to industrial cycles to supply high-quality raw materials for new products.

-Billions, even trillions, of dollars’ worth of materials accrued for human and natural purposes each year.

-Transportation that improves the quality of life while delivering goods and services.

-A world of abundance, not one of limits, pollution, and waste.