Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things

Great book to learn more about how we can take care of our planet and ourselves.

Bill McDonough is a winner of three U.S. presidential awards: the Presidential Award for Sustainable Development (1996), the National Design Award (2004); and the Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Award (2003). Time magazine recognized him as a "Hero for the Planet" in 1999, stating that "his utopianism is grounded in a unified philosophy that - in demonstrable and practical ways - is changing the design of the world." I had the opportunity to meet him in NYC a few weeks ago - he was the keynote speaker at HSM's World Innovation Forum, and I had the privilege of interviewing him for Total Picture Radio. He started his presentation at HSM with the following statement: "Reflect on this: It took us 5,000 years to put wheels on our luggage. How smart are humans?"
Cradle to Cradle is an important contribution, because it has created a certification process as a way to identify products as legitimately "green." The book itself is printed in Durabook, a synthetic "paper" made from plastic resins and inorganic fillers, materials that can be reutilized again and again in industrial processes, what the book calls a "technical nutrient." I encourage you to visit Bill's web site - just Google his name - and also his page on Wikipedia - where you'll find a link to a video from his presentation at TED a couple of years ago. I can't think of a better gift to give anyone - than Cradle to Cradle.

Cradle to Cradle is so thought provoking about how we should be manufacturing our goods, it should probably be required reading for every economist, business person, government policy-maker, etc. Great food for thought. I believe this has become "the book" to read if you want to understand sustainable living and sustainable manufacturing and commerce.

This is a great read, informative without being dry and overwhelming.

Not a depressing warning of the bad things to come.

It provides hope, offers the vision of a better world.

If only all the worlds leaders would read this book and learn from it.

Inspiring and insightful! Definitely a book that makes one evaluate the choices we make as consumers and consumer choice may be the key to achieving some of the eco-effective methods of production, lifestyle etc that were discussed in 'Cradle to Cradle'. Businesses could then be encouraged to fund the necessary research to achieve the desired outcomes outlined in this book. A lot of the science is already in place to be able to start making definitive moves in the right direction. Governments throughout the world need to take heed of the message this book is sending and begin to legislate so the manufacturers, agriculturalists, loggers, home owners/builders etc must make changes to their modes of operation that are truly 'eco-effective' - what a great term.