| The Cradle-to-Cradle Alternative |
| by William McDonough and Michael Braungart |
from State of the World 2004
(Worldwatch / W.W. Norton, 2004) |
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| "Imagine a world in which all the things we make, use, and consume provide nutrition for nature and industry—a world in which growth is good and human activity generates a delightful, restorative ecological footprint.
"While this may seem like heresy to many in the world of sustainable development, the destructive qualities of today’s cradle-to-grave industrial system can be seen as the result of a fundamental design problem, not the inevitable outcome of consumption and economic activity. Indeed, good design—principled design based on the laws of nature—can transform the making and consumption of things into a regenerative force."
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| Twenty-First Century Design |
| by William McDonough |
| Chronicle of Higher Education 50, no. 46 (July 23, 2004) |
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| "Each year, American colleges and universities hand out design degrees by the thousands. Credentials in hand, a veritable army of young architects and urban planners, engineers and product designers enter the job market and, with a little luck, begin to practice their professions. But what exactly is the "system" within which they are practicing? Have their university educations prepared them to be the designers of the twenty-first century world?" |
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| Redefining Green |
| by William McDonough |
| Perspective, Spring 2003 |
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| "Why not shift the focus of green design from managing the environmental impact of a destructive system to creating buildings and materials that generate wholly positive effects for people and nature. This changes the entire context in which design decisions are made. Rather than asking, 'How do I meet today's environmental standards?' designers would begin to ask, 'How do my design decisions make sense in the overarching context of the natural world?'" |
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| How Much Can We Give for All We Get? |
| by William McDonough and Michael Braungart |
| green@work, July-August 2003 |
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| "Instead of old-school capitalism's narrow focus on the bottom line, which typically shrinks business activity into short-term profit making, social entrepreneurs are cost-effectively creating ecological, social and economic revenue, both in the short-term and for future generations. In doing so, they are beginning the work of building a truly regenerative economy whose benefits are shared by all." |
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| The Extravagant Gesture: Nature, Design, and the Renewal of Human Industry |
| by William McDonough and Michael Braungart |
from Sustainable Planet: Solutions for the Twenty-first Century
(Beacon Press, 2002) |
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| “Though human industry in the past 150 years has resorted to brute force rather than elegant design, the making and trading of goods can still be a wellspring of creativity, productivity, and pleasure. Think of the thriving marketplaces that have enlivened the world's great cities, the cherished objects and materials that transform shelter into soulful dwelling. These need not be sacrificed to protect our forests, rivers, soil and air. Indeed, human industry and habitations can be designed to celebrate interdependence with other living systems, transforming the making and consumption of things into a regenerative force. Design can perform and preserve the extravagant gesture-in the marketplace, in the human community, and in the natural world.” |
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| The Guardian Reborn |
| by William McDonough and Michael Braungart |
from Environmentalism and the Technologies of Tomorrow: Shaping the Next Industrial Revolution
(Island Press, 2004) |
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| "Environmental legislation, when it has been given sharp enough teeth, has enabled the agency to enforce the basic standards that fulfill that right. Without the Clean Water Act, Ohio's Cuyahoga River might still be in flames.
"We have reached an impasse, however. The regulatory infrastructure, as much good as it has done, is not enough to effectively protect the environment. Water quality, for example, remains a pressing issue. Sediments and microorganisms not covered by the Clean Water Act continue to pollute 44 percent of U.S. waters. When polluting substances are regulated, that doesn't always lead to the remediation of environmental harm, a problem illustrated by the ongoing 20-year battle between the EPA and General Electric over the clean-up of PCBs in the Hudson River. If, under current conditions, protecting environmental health has proven so difficult, how will regulations deal with a projected 5-fold increase in economic activity over the next 50 years?"
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| Between Biology, Technology and Culture: Building a Cradle to Cradle Framework for the Biotech Debate |
| by William McDonough and Michael Braungart |
| green@work, November-December 2003 |
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| "We do not know enough about biotechnology to know what accidental harm it may cause or what choices are foreclosed by its use. We do know, however, that genetic engineering produces irreversible change and therefore the possibility of irreversible ecological damage. Even the possibility of irreversible damage strongly suggests that we need to be sure to give future generations the option of changing course and choosing differently." |
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| Celebrating Human Artifice |
| by William McDonough and Michael Braungart |
| Greenpeace Business |
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| "But why not celebrate the things we make? The destructive qualities of today's cradle-to grave industrial system -- the one-way trip to the landfill -- are fundamentally a deeply engrained design problem, not an inevitable outcome of economic activity. Indeed, good design can transform the making of things into a positive, regenerative force." |
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| Toward a Future of Energy Effectiveness |
| by William McDonough |
| Talking Point |
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| "As Sheik Yamani, Saudi Arabia's OPEC minister pointed out during the first so-called energy crisis, the Stone Age didn't end because we ran out of stones. Just so, the era of relying primarily on fossil fuels can end-with peace and prosperity intact-long before we run out of oil." |
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| Remaking the Way We Make Things |
| by William McDonough and Michael Braungart |
| from The Handbook of Environmental Technology (Edward Elgar, 2004) |
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| "The culture of innovation within the field of environmental technology and management is bringing forth significant change in the world of industry. From the growing influence of green chemistry and engineering to the emergence of environmental concerns in corporate research and development, one can see promising new initiatives in nearly every sphere of industrial activity." |
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| Design for the Triple Top Line |
| by William McDonough and Michael Braungart |
| green@work, January-February 2003 |
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| "The triple bottom line has been, and remains, a useful tool for integrating sustainability into the business agenda. Balancing traditional economic goals with social and environmental concerns, it has created a new measure of corporate performance. A business strategy focused solely on the bottom line, however, can obscure opportunities to pursue innovation and create value in the design process. New tools for sustainable design can refocus product development from a process aimed at limiting end of pipe liabilities to one geared to creating safe, quality products right from the start." |
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