Cradle to Cradle

Like everyone else, I thought Cradle to Cradle was a really interesting book. The authors seem radical - though not necessarily in a bad way - in that they aren't advocating for greater efficiency or crazy technology but, rather, in a complete overhaul of the way we produce almost everything we consume. One of their main premises is that this shift to a more cyclical form of production which honors nutrient and technological flows is really the only way we can hope to continue producing the goods we've become accustomed to in a world of increasing resource scarcity.

At the same time, though, their book kind of freaked me out. All of the parts about off-gassing from upholstered chairs and books was definitely a bit scary and made me wonder what sort of substances I'm inhaling on a daily basis that I don't even know about. Given the recent uproar about BPA and phalates, it's kind of scaring to think about the harmful and even toxic stuff we're sitting on and drinking from and writing with and wearing.

So I think another main premise of their book is that this sort of cradle-to-cradle production is healthier, not only for the planet but for us, as well. While their book is certainly compelling, I do wonder if they could have pushed their case a bit further - for example, reading Bill McKibbon really scared the crap out of me. Cradle to Cradle inducing only a mild stirring of unease, and I wonder if they had pushed their argument further - if they had included a few more scary facts about the products we use every day - if their book might have been a bit more compelling and gotten a few more people on board (although environmentalists have reputations of fear mongerers, so maybe that would have been a self-fulfilling prophecy and turned people off). Regardless, I do think they're on the right track, and I think their book provides some fascinating solutions that we're going to have to take a hard, critical look at in the coming years.