Cradle to Cradle
 William McDonough & Michael Braungart
 (Reviewed by The Editor - Rebecca Brown)
 2002 North Point Press
  ISBN: 0865475873


Remaking the Way We Make Things.

That being said, they are going to have to re-think how books are made because I couldn't keep this one open!

This Book Is Not a Tree introduces us to William McDonough & Michael Braungart--who they are & why they wrote Cradle to Cradle.

A Question of Design takes us on a short history of the Industrial Revolution & tells us how its infrastructure (on which we are at the tale/tail end) is powered by “brutish & artificial energy.” Interesting stuff!

Why Being “Less Bad” Is No Good: getting this deep into the pages was a struggle--& not only intellectually, although these authors can tell a good story well.

Eco-Effectiveness is all about the production of books, past & future & energy efficient buildings, past & future, & much more!

Waste Equals Food: a brief history of nutrient flows from orifice to orifice, nutrition as fuel for both body & earth...Oh, boy!

Respect Diversity: all about renewable power sources, particularly sun & wind.

Putting Eco-Effectiveness into Practice: how the Ford Motor Company remade itself & more.

Cradle to Cradle is a plastic book--yes--entirely produced from plastics. It is washable, wipable & odor-free. Its type is elegant & legible, its pages are as smooth as silk...yet...it can't be opened wide, nor held open. What a wrestle! Is this the shape of books to come?

Certainly a unique book, both in content & character!

More from William McDonough: Earth to Spirit: In Search of Natural Architecture with David Pearson.
(04/06/03)

Rebecca