Comments on: Cradle to Cradle (Book Review)

By: steven

steven — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 04:34:08 +0000

All valid points Meghan - making plastic anything isn’t good. But the premise of the book, that currently in the design role of solutions there is a problem of not looking for system and biological cycles does make sense. If I recall the book actually said they haven’t solved everything yet…

My partner is a printmaker so I’m well aware of the nasty chemicals involved not only removing the ink, but the ink itself. Her first questions about the ink washing off was more or less WTF? No I don’t think they’ve got that right either, but at least they’re thinking about the problem space, not a lot are. Look at our lovely big screen tvs with their super contaminating potential - nobody seems to give a toss. Rather than pre-empting waste within out design we’re traditionally having a panic after its hit the ground, often too late.

My real design fear is that people are starting to look at water powered cars or air powered cars or other insanity. Please don’t design a system that consumes what I need to live directly. But yes, they are valid points about the book. And I think its a sticking point with not only you but many others. Yet it made you think, if only about the hypocrasy of the marketing message.

Still, are the systems we’ve evolved to manufacture askew? Is recycling something we need to reconsider, should we be looking to design around these problems? I think so. I would still recommend Cradle to Cradle on the basis that it at least isn’t telling us “Its alright and we can sustain this current flaw permanently”. Its pointing back from the factory flaw and identifying where the real issue is - designers aren’t willing to look for better solutions. Or aren’t being asked to.

So, if you mean the book is shit therefore the concepts within it are shit, then I would disagree. We do need to do something and smart people should be considering these things now, not when crisis #999 hits us.

By: meghan

meghan — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 14:15:58 +0000

one more comment..

WHO is going to send their cradle to cradle book to get washed? when is this going to happen? it just wont. its just completely unrealistic.

By: meghan

meghan — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 14:14:24 +0000

The polymer that this book is made of is polypropylene. This plastic is not as readily available as others such as HDPE and PET (soda/water bottles), which means in todays recycling world, it wont be recycled or reused. its the end of the life cycle for this book. the fact that this book is made of PLASTIC is not impressive to me at all. also this book is much heavier than a paper back…which means more fuel was needed to transport the book. if the book were made of paper (a RENEWABLE resource), it would be able to be recycled. eventually, when this plastic book ends up in the ground…it wont decompose.
also they mention that you can wash the ink off the pages and make a new book. how do you do that? by using TONS of water to wash off the ink? im sure some sort of soluable liquid would need to be used…
what im trying to say…is that using PP polymer to make a book about SUSTAINABILITY is just completely BACKWARDS. no matter how you try to market it…

By: nortypig » Blog Archive » Tax Me Baby!

nortypig » Blog Archive » Tax Me Baby! — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 07:32:14 +0000

[...] well written suggestion about taxing plastic bags reminds me of a book I reviewed recently - Cradle to Cradle. We need to start seeing this as a design [...]

By: steven

steven — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 06:28:05 +0000

A picture paints a thousand words. There’s a great graphic that shows how much water (including oceans, lakes, ice, etc) and how much air is on the planet. And how little would the fresh potable water be?

Images are very effective in making people see that we should be worried.

By: steven

steven — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 09:15:46 +0000

Also, an interesting feature of the book is that it isn’t made of paper. Its some sort of polymer you can wash the ink off and make another book out of it. But it still feels tactile in the way paper does, you can hardly tell. Very nice to read.

By: Environmental book reader

Environmental book reader — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 12:17:45 +0000

Thank you for reviewing this book and pointing it out to me. I have been very concerned lately about how the environmental and sustainability movement has been co-opted by big business and this book seems to state what I have been feeling. We need to rethink our fundamental approach to consumerism and product creation. What a great angle to come from a design perspective. I will be getting a copy of this ASAP.