What Would The Cherry Tree Do?

The book Cradle to Cradle, first printed in 2002, was authored by two brilliant human beings, Michael Braungart, chemist, and William McDonough, architect. It is now in its fifth printing.

They propose that the “Reduse, Reuse, Recyle” mind set, though commendable, is not the end-all for today’s dilemma and can be taken further. The system we have in place now is Cradle to Grave, albeit through several cycles of recycling. It still produces waste for the landfill and pollution for the atmosphere.

We must strive for Cradle to Cradle: close the cycle from building material back to building material, in a pure, clean, none pollutant, natural form. They contest that the end result, or output (what we call waste) can in fact be cleaner than the input. One example is a rug factory whose water “waste” is cleaner than the river it came from in the first place. Through their process, they clean out the pollutants and re-introduce that water back into its natural stream, creating a cleaner and healthier river for the benefits of all life.

Imagine loving to go to work

Imagine going to work in a building vibrant with natural day light, plants and fresh air. Imagine entering a building itself made using passive solar principles, non-toxic walls and paint, and being surrounded by only natural, healthy furniture and flooring. And imagine employees so happy to be there that they double their productivity ad hardly ever call in sick. Dreaming? No, it is a reality, thanks to people like Braungart and McDonough. And this is only the beginning.

This book will open your eyes to some of the wondeful things happening in a few of today’s corporations. Meet open minded and environmentally aware CEOs that are changing the way we do business and just might have the vision -and resources- to re-invent the very foundation of our society.

Read this -You’ll be glad you did

I strongly encourage you to take a moment and read the following article. A direct reprint from Cradle to Cradle, it effectively portrays the philosopy that we must adopt in order to change the paradigm of our mindset and how we go about business as usual.

Exert: Remaking The Way We Make Things, from Sustainable Business archives.

For further investigation:

William McDonough has created a certification program to assist business in coming closer to full environmentally-intelligent design and practice.

Main site: www.c2ccertified.com

Take a look at participants and products: www.mbdc.com

William McDonough’s personal site: www.msdonough.com