Unlike the previous generation of sustainability manifestos that pit the economy against equity & ecology, Cradle to Cradle “sees commerce as the engine of change” and allows one to embrace their inner capitalist by proposing a sustainable world of guilt-free growth, prosperity and abundance. Instead of viewing consumer waste through the austere lens of the 3 R’s (reduce, reuse and recycle a.k.a. downcycle), McDonough and Braungart, inspired by the abundance of nature, propose the visionary idea of designing consumer products as either biological nutrients or technical nutrients. Read more…
The Story of Stuff, an animation that depicts the lifecycle of “stuff”, cleared up a lot of questions I had about what environmental responsibility and sustainability really means. This simple and concise animation explains how stuff travels through a linear system from EXTRACTION to PRODUCTION to DISTRIBUTION to CONSUMPTION to DISPOSAL and the problems inherent in this system at every step of the way. It makes suggestions on how to protest this materials economy and calls for the adoption of a new, sustainable and just way of living.