Cradle to Cradle Ch. 4

Cradle to Cradle Ch. 4

Waste Equals Food

-There is no waste in nature, everything cycles

-The Earth’s major nutrients are: carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen

-Through industry we have introduced different kinds of non-recyclable materials to the earth making waste that stays waste

From Cradle-to-Cradle to Cradle-to-Grave: A Brief History of Nutrient Flows

-Nomads could leave their personal waste behind to replenish the soil and could make little to no environmental impact because they packed light and were always moving

-Farmers would rotate crop growth to give soil time to replenish its nutrients

-As population grew and were no longer moving, waste needed to be removed from the city and soil had no time to gain nutrients before it was planted on again

-As soil dried up the need for more land arose and pushed people to try to conquer new or existing areas

-With the use of synthetic fertilizers crops grew more plentifully, but sucked more of the nutrients from the soil and contaminated the crops with hazardous chemicals.

-Both Egyptian and Chinese examples were given of societies that naturally fertilized their crops, but now because of their shift to western and European processes they are continually depleting their natural nutrients

-Metals were an exception to materials that were biodegradable, but people would melt it down and reuse it.

-During and after war it was found to be cheaper and faster to just make new materials than to collect, clean and process for the reuse of materials

-Materials and products such as cars are made to be obsolete, so you will buy more, but are not made to be recycled

-“Packaging may last far longer than the product it protected.”

Monstrous Hybrids

-“Frankenstein Products” are a mix of biological and technical materials that because of their mixture can’t be salvaged or recycled after becoming obsolete

--Shoes are “Monstrous Hybrids” in that they are a mix of materials that can’t be reused but also because they contain a lot of dangerous chemicals that off gas over time

A Confusion of Flows

-Only recently have people realized the health effects of sewage because of the mass amount that was no longer manageable without some type of treatment method

-All kinds of dangerous stuff was dropped down drains, such as nail polish remover and paint, which adds a variety of different dangerous chemicals into water systems

-It was found that dangerous chemicals remained even in treated sewage effluent

-There are natural systems that can give us the same or better results without damaging the environment

From Cradle-to-Grave to Cradle-to-Cradle

-We see ourselves as special and want to be the first and only users of a product

A World of Two Metabolisms

-“To eliminate the concept of waste means to design things from the very beginning in the understanding that waste does not exist”

-Biological Cycles and Technical Cycles need to stay in their own loop and not mix in order to have a sustained process

The Biological Metabolism

-“A biological nutrient is a material or product that is designed to return to the biological cycle- it is literally consumed by microorganisms in the soil and by other animals.”

-Natural is good and recycled is good but they are not good when mixed together

-A factory did research to eliminate all the toxic and unhealthy chemicals it used in their production processes and as a result their effluent was as clean or cleaner than their influent.

-The above eliminates regulation, which all businessmen will see as valuable

-The above also created many more advantages including financial success

The Technical Metabolism

-“A technical nutrient is a material or product that is designed to go back into the technical cycle, into the industrial metabolism from which it came.”

-“upcycled” is to reuse a product as the same or similar use, which is possible if not mixed with biological nutrients

-Korean rice husks were used as packing material for electronics sent to Europe which were then used as material for making bricks

-Cars are crushed and melted into one mixture that has lost strength and can no longer become a car again

-Products such as TVs and refrigerators could be rented until end of need or a desire to upgrade and the product would be sent back to the maker to break down and reuse each piece

-Price increases when materials are lost by selling it to a customer, but if a return program is created then materials would not be lost and price would lower, all with the effect of lowering waste and toxic chemical emissions after the product’s “life” is over

When Worlds Collide

-Running is supposed to increase health but the chemicals used to make the shoe end up off gassing as they hit the pavement and then get rained into the soils on the sides of streets infecting the plants

-Monstrous hybrids can’t be recycled, but companies are paying to store its waste until it can be detoxified