From cradle to cradle. Changing the way we create things

Reduce, reuse, recycle. Reduce consumption, reuse, recycle. "Do more with less to minimize harm," ecologists urge. But, as this book argues, such an approach perpetuates the one-way production model - "from cradle to grave." This model dates back to the industrial revolution and instantly turns a whole ninety percent of materials created for the production of durable goods into waste.
Why not challenge the notion that human industry must inevitably harm nature? Why not take inspiration from nature itself? A tree produces thousands of blossoms to create another tree. We do not consider such abundance wasteful; on the contrary, we see this phenomenon as safe, beautiful, and highly efficient. "Waste is food," is the first principle outlined in the book. Products can be designed so that at the end of their life cycle they provide nourishment for something new - as "biological nutrients" that safely return to the environment, or as "technical nutrients" that stay within the closed-loop technological cycles.
By developing their principles of (re)design for everything from carpets to corporate campuses, William McDonough and Michael Braungart present compelling arguments for change.