I like waterproof books

I found Cradle to Cradle really inspiring, not just from an environmental standpoint but from a social organization standpoint. I have written before that for environmental solutions to be successful, there must be a way to incorporate them into the economic demands of consumers and industry. Redesigning things to be “upcycled” achieves exactly that.

I also liked the redesign idea because its benefits are more than purely environmental. This was not the first time that I heard that chemical components in water bottles can cause cancer. At that point I think I just got frustrated and said that basically everything causes cancer now. Why must we continue to make products that are harmful to us? Additionally, why must we continue to make things to be thrown away? I will probably have to replace my computer before grad school next year because the one I am currently using is becoming really slow, the CD drive doesn’t work anymore, and it makes some scary noises that lead me to believe it will break down at any minute. It is four years old and I get really annoyed that a $2000 piece of equipment can’t last longer than that. Their idea of leasing production capacity so that manufacturers retain the product to be reused when it is time for an upgrade could be a great innovation.

However, I am skeptical that everything we produce can eventually be upcycled in the same way. Furthermore, solutions may not come fast enough to produce the ecological benefits that people are demanding right now. The authors acknowledge that this process will last forever, take significant innovation, and require many failed attempts. I like the optimistic vision. I think more effort needs to be expended to make more products perfectly reusable, but more significant changes may be necessary in the shorter term.