Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things

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'Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things' is a 2002 book by German chemist Michael Braungart and architect William McDonough. It is a manifesto calling for the transformation of human industry through ecologically intelligent design. Through historical sketches on the roots of the industrial revolution; commentary on science, nature and society McDonough and Braungart make the case that a maladapted industrial system can become a creator of goods and services that generate ecological, social and economic value. Their vision is based on a system of "lifecycle development" initiated by Braungart and colleagues at the Environmental Protection Encouragement Agency (EPEA) in the 1990s, which has been cited by the Society for Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry in its early 1990s publication A Technical Framework for Life-Cycle Assessment.

Their main point is that we can be "wasteful" if the products we produce go completely back into nature or are completely reborn as new products. Using a cherry tree as an example, they note how "wasteful" it is. Each year it dumps a great pile of fruit and leaves on the ground to rot. But all of this waste goes back into nature to be reborn as new trees, bacteria, birds and other parts of the natural ecosystem. According to the authors, we should try to emulate this natural system instead of trying to do more with less.

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