Differences
This shows you the differences between two versions of the page.
Both sides previous revision Previous revision Next revision | Previous revision | ||
cradle_to_cradle [2008-01-28 12:49] – theunkarelse | cradle_to_cradle [2017-03-28 15:03] (current) – 85.234.213.168 | ||
---|---|---|---|
Line 7: | Line 7: | ||
* ISBN-13: 978-0-86547-587-8 | * ISBN-13: 978-0-86547-587-8 | ||
* http:// | * http:// | ||
- | * http:// | + | * [[http:// |
+ | * [[http:// | ||
* http:// | * http:// | ||
* http:// | * http:// | ||
Line 13: | Line 14: | ||
==== a summary of the book ==== | ==== a summary of the book ==== | ||
- | **could you try to indicate which texts are quotations | + | **NOTE: could you try to indicate which texts are quotations |
Human industry has been in full swing for little over a century, yet it has brought about a decline in almost every ecosystem on the planet. Nature doesn' | Human industry has been in full swing for little over a century, yet it has brought about a decline in almost every ecosystem on the planet. Nature doesn' | ||
- | |||
In the industrial revolution its infrastructure is powered by brutish and artificial sources of energy that are environmentally depleting. It pours waste into the water and smoke into the sky. It attemps to work by its own rules, which are contrary to those of nature. | In the industrial revolution its infrastructure is powered by brutish and artificial sources of energy that are environmentally depleting. It pours waste into the water and smoke into the sky. It attemps to work by its own rules, which are contrary to those of nature. | ||
Line 23: | Line 22: | ||
Early industries relied on a seemingly endless supply of natural " | Early industries relied on a seemingly endless supply of natural " | ||
Neighter the health of natural systems, nor an awarenes of their delicacy, and interconnectedness, | Neighter the health of natural systems, nor an awarenes of their delicacy, and interconnectedness, | ||
- | |||
According to some accounts more than 90 percent of materials extracted to make durable goods in the US become waste almost immediately. | According to some accounts more than 90 percent of materials extracted to make durable goods in the US become waste almost immediately. | ||
- | |||
Under the existing paradigm of manufacturing and development, | Under the existing paradigm of manufacturing and development, | ||
In the race for economic progress, social activity, ecological impact, cultural activity, and long-term effects can be overlooked. | In the race for economic progress, social activity, ecological impact, cultural activity, and long-term effects can be overlooked. | ||
- | |||
Products that are not designed particulary for human and ecological health are unitelligent and inelegant-what we call crude products. | Products that are not designed particulary for human and ecological health are unitelligent and inelegant-what we call crude products. | ||
Line 37: | Line 33: | ||
The typical responce to industrial destruction has been to find a less bad approach: this approach has its own vocubulary, with which most of us are familiar: reduce, avoid, mimimize, sustain, limit, halt. | The typical responce to industrial destruction has been to find a less bad approach: this approach has its own vocubulary, with which most of us are familiar: reduce, avoid, mimimize, sustain, limit, halt. | ||
The association of growth with negative consequensed has become a major theme of environmentalists in the modern age. | The association of growth with negative consequensed has become a major theme of environmentalists in the modern age. | ||
- | |||
Consider rubber shoe soles, moreover, usually contain lead and plastics. As the shoe is worn, particles of it degrade into the atmosphere and soil. It can not be safely consumed, either by you or by the environment. After use, its valuable materials, both biological and technical, are usually lost in a landfill | Consider rubber shoe soles, moreover, usually contain lead and plastics. As the shoe is worn, particles of it degrade into the atmosphere and soil. It can not be safely consumed, either by you or by the environment. After use, its valuable materials, both biological and technical, are usually lost in a landfill | ||
- | |||
We are addicted to oil which creates a bizar worldgame on many frontlines. | We are addicted to oil which creates a bizar worldgame on many frontlines. | ||
- | |||
A great deal of current solar income, of which there is plenty: thousand of times the amount of energy needed to fuel human activities hits the surface of the planet every day in the form of sunlight. | A great deal of current solar income, of which there is plenty: thousand of times the amount of energy needed to fuel human activities hits the surface of the planet every day in the form of sunlight. | ||
- | |||
Humans have a habit of using the atmosphere as a garbage dump. | Humans have a habit of using the atmosphere as a garbage dump. | ||
- | |||
What about recycling? As we have noted, most recycling is actually downcycling: | What about recycling? As we have noted, most recycling is actually downcycling: | ||
Since downcycled materials of all kinds are materially less rigorous than their predecessors, | Since downcycled materials of all kinds are materially less rigorous than their predecessors, | ||
As a result, downcycled plastic may have more additives than' virgin' | As a result, downcycled plastic may have more additives than' virgin' | ||
- | |||
In a world where designs are unintelligent and destructive, | In a world where designs are unintelligent and destructive, | ||
In fact, it is what we call a license to harm: a permit issued by a goverment to an indusry so that it may dispence sickness, destruction and death at an ' | In fact, it is what we call a license to harm: a permit issued by a goverment to an indusry so that it may dispence sickness, destruction and death at an ' | ||
- | |||
Not using your car for a while is just delaying the problem. | Not using your car for a while is just delaying the problem. | ||
- | + | To be less bad is a fatally limited goal. The "less bad" environmental approaches to industry have been crucial in sending important messages of environmental concern - messages that continue to catch the public' | |
- | To be less bad is a fatally limited goal. The" | + | In very early societies, repentance (shame/guilt), atonement and sacrifice were typical reactions for comlex systems, like nature, over which people felt they had little control. Societies around the world developed belief systems based on myth in which bad weather, famine, or disease meant one had displeased the gods, and sacrifices were a way to appease them. In some cultures, even today, one must sacrifice something of value in order to regain the blessings of the gods (or god) and reestablish stability and harmony. |
- | In very early societies, repentance(shame/ | + | |
Conventional environmental focus on what not to do, here it can use aswell some transformation: | Conventional environmental focus on what not to do, here it can use aswell some transformation: | ||
Environmental destruction is a complex system in its own right - widespread , with deeper causes that are difficultt to see and understand. Like our ansestor, we may react automatically with terror and guilt and we may look for ways to purge ourselves ( get rid of the unwanted feeling) which the eco-efficient movement provides in abundance, with its exhortations to consume and produce less by minimizing, avoiding, reducing, and sacrificing. Humans are condemmed as the one species on the planet guilty of burdening it beyond what it can withstand; as such, we must shrink our presence, our systems, our activities, and even our population so as to become almost invisible. | Environmental destruction is a complex system in its own right - widespread , with deeper causes that are difficultt to see and understand. Like our ansestor, we may react automatically with terror and guilt and we may look for ways to purge ourselves ( get rid of the unwanted feeling) which the eco-efficient movement provides in abundance, with its exhortations to consume and produce less by minimizing, avoiding, reducing, and sacrificing. Humans are condemmed as the one species on the planet guilty of burdening it beyond what it can withstand; as such, we must shrink our presence, our systems, our activities, and even our population so as to become almost invisible. | ||
To be less bad is to accept things as they are, to believe that poorly designed, dishonorable, | To be less bad is to accept things as they are, to believe that poorly designed, dishonorable, | ||
What about an entirely different model. | What about an entirely different model. | ||
- | |||
McDonough | McDonough | ||
- | |||
The concept of eco-effectiveness means working on the right things- on the right products and services and systems-instead of making the wrong things less bad. | The concept of eco-effectiveness means working on the right things- on the right products and services and systems-instead of making the wrong things less bad. | ||
- | |||
Urban and industrial growth is often refered to as a cancer, a thing that grows for its own sake and not for the sake of the organism it inhabits. [Edward Abbey] | Urban and industrial growth is often refered to as a cancer, a thing that grows for its own sake and not for the sake of the organism it inhabits. [Edward Abbey] | ||
- | |||
A tree is not an isolated entity cut off from the systems around it; it is enextricably and productively engaged with them. This is a key difference between the growth of industrial systems as they now stand and the growth of nature. | A tree is not an isolated entity cut off from the systems around it; it is enextricably and productively engaged with them. This is a key difference between the growth of industrial systems as they now stand and the growth of nature. | ||
- | |||
Look for solutions at local circumstances. | Look for solutions at local circumstances. | ||
- | |||
Individually we are much larger than ants, but collectively their biomass exceeds ours. Just there is almost no corner of the globe untouched by human presence, there is almost no land habitat, from harsh desert to inner city, untouched by some species of ant. They are a good example of a population whose density and productiveness are not a problem for the rest of the world, because everything they make and use returns to the cradle-to-cradle cycles of nature. In their transport under the ground they aerate the soil, and make passageways for water drainage, playing a vital role in maintaining soil fecundity and health. They truly are as biologist E.O. Wilson has pointed out the little things that run the world, but not overrun it. Like a tree they make the world a better place. | Individually we are much larger than ants, but collectively their biomass exceeds ours. Just there is almost no corner of the globe untouched by human presence, there is almost no land habitat, from harsh desert to inner city, untouched by some species of ant. They are a good example of a population whose density and productiveness are not a problem for the rest of the world, because everything they make and use returns to the cradle-to-cradle cycles of nature. In their transport under the ground they aerate the soil, and make passageways for water drainage, playing a vital role in maintaining soil fecundity and health. They truly are as biologist E.O. Wilson has pointed out the little things that run the world, but not overrun it. Like a tree they make the world a better place. | ||
- | |||
We can be humbled by the complexity and intelligence of nature' | We can be humbled by the complexity and intelligence of nature' | ||
- | |||
Eco-effective designers expand their vision from the primary purpose of a product or system and consider the whole. What are its goals and potential effects, both immediate and wide-ranging, | Eco-effective designers expand their vision from the primary purpose of a product or system and consider the whole. What are its goals and potential effects, both immediate and wide-ranging, | ||
- | |||
Like they designed a green roofs , that will keep the building cool, and produce solar energy, grow food and flowers, as well as providing a green sanctuary from bussy urban streets to birds and people alike. | Like they designed a green roofs , that will keep the building cool, and produce solar energy, grow food and flowers, as well as providing a green sanctuary from bussy urban streets to birds and people alike. | ||
And what if new cars are purifying the air and producing drinking water. | And what if new cars are purifying the air and producing drinking water. | ||
Think of the most high tech building ever ; like a tree, producing more energy than is uses, providing shade, songbird habitat, , distills water, creates microclimates, | Think of the most high tech building ever ; like a tree, producing more energy than is uses, providing shade, songbird habitat, , distills water, creates microclimates, | ||
- | |||
Taking an eco-effective approach to design might result in an innovation so extreme that it resembles nothing we know, or it might merely show us how to optimize a system already in place. It's not the solution itself that is necessarily radical but the shift in perspective with which we begin, from the old view of nature as something to be controlled to a stance of engagement. | Taking an eco-effective approach to design might result in an innovation so extreme that it resembles nothing we know, or it might merely show us how to optimize a system already in place. It's not the solution itself that is necessarily radical but the shift in perspective with which we begin, from the old view of nature as something to be controlled to a stance of engagement. | ||
- | |||
a suggestion for a new design assigment: | a suggestion for a new design assigment: | ||
- | |||
Line 110: | Line 86: | ||
* Billion, even trillion, of dollars' | * Billion, even trillion, of dollars' | ||
* Transportation that improves the quality of life while delivering goods and services | * Transportation that improves the quality of life while delivering goods and services | ||
- | * products that, when their usefull life is over, do not become useless waste but can be tossed onto the ground | + | * products that, when their usefull life is over, do not become useless waste but can be tossed onto the ground |
- | * buildings that, like trees, produce more ernergy | + | * industrial cycles to supply high-quality raw materials for new products. |
+ | * buildings that, like trees, produce more energy | ||
* A world of abundance, not one of limits, pollution, and waste. | * A world of abundance, not one of limits, pollution, and waste. | ||
- | | ||
To eliminate the concept of waste meeans to design things-products, | To eliminate the concept of waste meeans to design things-products, | ||
As we have indicated, there are two discrete metabolisms on the planet. The first is the biological metabolism, or the biosphere-the cycles of nature. The second is the technical metabolism, or the technosphere-the cycles of the industry, including the harvesting of technical materials from natural places. With the right design, all of the products and materials manufactured by industry will safely feed these two metabolisms, | As we have indicated, there are two discrete metabolisms on the planet. The first is the biological metabolism, or the biosphere-the cycles of nature. The second is the technical metabolism, or the technosphere-the cycles of the industry, including the harvesting of technical materials from natural places. With the right design, all of the products and materials manufactured by industry will safely feed these two metabolisms, | ||
Products can be composed either of materials that biodegrade and become food for biological cycles, or of technical materials that stay in closed-loop technical cycles, in which they continually circulate as valuable nutrients for industry. In order for these two metbolisms to remain healthy, valuable and succesfull, great care must be taken to avoid a contamination one with the other. | Products can be composed either of materials that biodegrade and become food for biological cycles, or of technical materials that stay in closed-loop technical cycles, in which they continually circulate as valuable nutrients for industry. In order for these two metbolisms to remain healthy, valuable and succesfull, great care must be taken to avoid a contamination one with the other. | ||
- | |||
What a plaeasure it can give us to throw stuff away as a guilt-free gift to the natural world. | What a plaeasure it can give us to throw stuff away as a guilt-free gift to the natural world. | ||
Popular wisdom holds that the fittest survive, the strongest, leanest, largest, perhaps meanest-whatever beats the competition. But in healthy, thriving natural systems it is actually the fitting-est who thrive. Fitting-est implies an energetic and material engagement with place, and an interdependent relationship to it. | Popular wisdom holds that the fittest survive, the strongest, leanest, largest, perhaps meanest-whatever beats the competition. But in healthy, thriving natural systems it is actually the fitting-est who thrive. Fitting-est implies an energetic and material engagement with place, and an interdependent relationship to it. | ||
Being fitting, ants do not inevitably work to destroy competing species. Rather, they compete productivity from their niches, the term scientists use to describe species' | Being fitting, ants do not inevitably work to destroy competing species. Rather, they compete productivity from their niches, the term scientists use to describe species' | ||
- | |||
The vitality | The vitality | ||
- | |||
Ants loosen ans aerate everywhere the soil around plant roots, helping it permeable to water. | Ants loosen ans aerate everywhere the soil around plant roots, helping it permeable to water. | ||
- | |||
Industries that respect diversity engage with local material and energy flows, and with local social, cultural, and economic forces, instead of viewing themselves as autonomous entities, unconnected to the culture or landscape around them. | Industries that respect diversity engage with local material and energy flows, and with local social, cultural, and economic forces, instead of viewing themselves as autonomous entities, unconnected to the culture or landscape around them. | ||
- | |||
We begin to make human systems and industries fitting when we recognize that all sustainability (just like all politcs) is local. We connect them to local material and energy flows, and to local customs, needs, and tastes, from the level of the molecule to the level of the region itself. | We begin to make human systems and industries fitting when we recognize that all sustainability (just like all politcs) is local. We connect them to local material and energy flows, and to local customs, needs, and tastes, from the level of the molecule to the level of the region itself. | ||
The question that helped to guide the team' work at every level was: 'what is the right thing for this place.' | The question that helped to guide the team' work at every level was: 'what is the right thing for this place.' | ||
+ | In less industrialized parts of the world, however, creative approaches to capturing local energy flows are still very much alive. For example; In Pakistan, chimneys topped with 'wind scoops' | ||
- | In less industrialized parts of the world, however, creative approaches to capturing local energy flows are still very much alive. | + | It has been famously said that form follows function, but the possibilities |
- | For example; In Pakistan , chimneys topped with 'wind scoops' | + | |
- | It has been famously said that form follows function, but the possibilities are greater when form follows evolution. | + | **Waste=food** |
- | + | ||
- | + | ||
- | Waste=food | + | |
Ultimately, it is the agenda with which we approach the making of things that must be truly diverse. To concentrate on any single criterion creates instability in the larger context, and represents what we call an " | Ultimately, it is the agenda with which we approach the making of things that must be truly diverse. To concentrate on any single criterion creates instability in the larger context, and represents what we call an " | ||
To strech something to an ism can neglegt certain factors for longterm success like the health of an environment, | To strech something to an ism can neglegt certain factors for longterm success like the health of an environment, | ||
Eco-effectiveness sees commerce as the engine of change, and honors its need to function quickly and productively. But it also regognize that if commerce shuns environmental, | Eco-effectiveness sees commerce as the engine of change, and honors its need to function quickly and productively. But it also regognize that if commerce shuns environmental, | ||
- | |||
they testing each proposed design via a tool; a trianlge with three corners; economy, equity and ecology | they testing each proposed design via a tool; a trianlge with three corners; economy, equity and ecology | ||
They often start with questioning the economic corner; to see if a product or service can make a profit. If yes you can continue with equity and then to ecology and finish at economy again. | They often start with questioning the economic corner; to see if a product or service can make a profit. If yes you can continue with equity and then to ecology and finish at economy again. | ||
- | |||
Natural systems take from their environment, | Natural systems take from their environment, | ||
- | |||
As Albert Einstein observed, if we are to solve the problems that plague us, out thinking must evolve beyond the level we were using when we created those problems in the first place. | As Albert Einstein observed, if we are to solve the problems that plague us, out thinking must evolve beyond the level we were using when we created those problems in the first place. | ||
- | |||
Here's where redesign begins in earnest, where we stop trying to be less bad and start figuring out how to be good. Now you set out with eco-effective principles, so that the product is designed from beginning to end to become food for either biological or technical metabolisms. In culinary terns, you're no longer substituting ingredients-you, | Here's where redesign begins in earnest, where we stop trying to be less bad and start figuring out how to be good. Now you set out with eco-effective principles, so that the product is designed from beginning to end to become food for either biological or technical metabolisms. In culinary terns, you're no longer substituting ingredients-you, | ||
- | |||
One can take it a step further than only designing for biological and technical cycles like not " | One can take it a step further than only designing for biological and technical cycles like not " | ||
Commit to a new paradigm, rather than to an incremental improvement of the old. | Commit to a new paradigm, rather than to an incremental improvement of the old. | ||
- | |||
You may not know today what it is that you need to grow in the future, but if all your recources are tied up in basic operations, there won't be anything extra to allow for innovation and experimentation. The ability to adapt and innovate requires a "loose fit" - room for growing in a new way. Rather thean spend all its time and moneu fine-tuning an existing vehicle, for example, an automobile manufaacturer might also be designing | You may not know today what it is that you need to grow in the future, but if all your recources are tied up in basic operations, there won't be anything extra to allow for innovation and experimentation. The ability to adapt and innovate requires a "loose fit" - room for growing in a new way. Rather thean spend all its time and moneu fine-tuning an existing vehicle, for example, an automobile manufaacturer might also be designing | ||
- | |||
What would it mean to become native to this place, the Earth-the home of all our relations? | What would it mean to become native to this place, the Earth-the home of all our relations? | ||
- | |||
- | |||
- | ---- | ||
- | Libarynth > Main Web > CradleToCradle | ||
- | ---- | ||