Final Post: Favorite Quotes

Cradle to Cradle: "The Earth belongs...to the living...No man can by natural right oblige the lands he occupied, or the persons who succeeded him in that occupation, to the payment of debs contracted to him." (Thomas Jefferson)

I choose this quote because it integrates the concepts of sustainability and personal responsibility. It shows that every human being has a personal responsibility to not burden the future generations with his/her own debts. In the cause of environmentalism, these debts consist of waste, land destruction, pollution, and others. Through the collective action of personal choices, a lot of progress could be made, though in the end this may not be enough.

Lifeboat Ethics: "If we satisfy a growing population's need for food, we necessarily decrease its per capita supply of the other sources needed by men."

I choose this quote because it shows the flawed system that currently exists. A new sytem needs to be created so that satisfying the needs of one person do not inherently take away from someone else. There should be away to grow and consume food so that this process will end up benefitting more than just those who consume the food. Without this type design, several limits on resources, space, and population could be realized.

Second to Last

When thinking about ways to solve the environmental crisis many have come up with various answers. But any kind of practical solutions have been somewhat lacking I think. The authors of Cradle to Cradle have done their research on this topic though and have developed a viable solution for people to consider when pondering methods to curb and eventually halt the effects of climate change. I find that two elements they mention are rather noteworthy. The first is the constant rhetoric to make industry "less bad" instead of just all good. They hit upon the fact that reducing and trying to minimize production is not the answer because that only continues to add to the cycle that results in waste. The other point that I found to be relevant to the entire problem is the notion that economic growth equals prosperity and therefore more growth or GDP equals progress. This is not true though when seen in context of the negative aspects that economic activity can also spawn. To help the economy consumers are encouraged to buy which is illustrative of the core problem that the authors highlight: the mindset that says, "I am the first and last to own this product." This type of thinking leads to more industrial growth and consequentially more waste over time.

The concept "cradle to cradle" is innovative and logical. It makes sense to not only reuse things but to send them back to their origins to maintain a natural cycle. What it really comes down to is the current design of products--their durability and overall sustainability. The authors introduce new processes by which products can be reused; the biological and technical metabolisms are solutions to such problems as downcycling and landfilling and instead keeping the "nutrients" in a closed-loop cycle. This mimics the type of cycle that things in nature do all the time. It's about not wasting any part of anything and instead fully appreciating it by using all of it.

Cradle to Cradle

The ideas of William McDonough and Michael Braungart are extremely innovative and pragmatic, but I believe the picture is a bit too rosy. However, while I do believe that their visions are not realistic in the near future, in 25 years these ideas may become more and more of a reality. Originally, I was a bit surprised by the studies used in the book that pointed to everyday household items which were suspected to carry chemicals and toxins that were not only harmful to animals and other living organisms, but were suspected to toxins that were suspected to cause cancer in humans. It made me wonder exactly what the effects of sitting by a computer for hours every day could have on my health in the future.
Setting these ideas up in the beginning and explaining how they can be practically erased (example with the 3 books, gardens on the roof buildings) had me convinced from the beginning. The books methods for reforming companies to transform them from the "cradle to grave" approach to the "cradle to cradle" way of business. The five steps companies could take in order to achieve eco- effectiveness were very interesting proposals and seem like achievable goals in the future.
Although I was impressed with the ideas in the book, I wish the author's would have gone a bit more in depth regarding obstacles to achieving this seemingly ideal society. How exactly would we get by the impediments of those who are content with the current status quo? It seems that many different companies and government officials see no need for change and will hold onto the system that makes them rich. Overall, the proposals seem like realistic goals as long as we can get past those who are committed to the current ways of doing business.

Cradle to Cradle

Much of the readings that we have done for this class have been well-researched and well-argued therefore I find myself being easily convinced by the authors' proposed theories and possible solutions/new lifestyles to take-on. This book, so far, has been no exception to the previous statement. I am inspired by their underlying theme of the importance of how and why you make things rather than how you dispose of these things. I am especially intrigued by the architect's view on how things built by humans should "flow" with the nature around them. Last year I saw a movie about another advanced-thinking architect who did projects in poorer areas such as one area in Mexico. The government had paid for poorly built housing to be constructed for a group of indigenous peoples who resided in the desert but had been internally displaced for centuries. They constructed neighborhoods of identical cement blocks where these people were supposed to live. The buildings were not only ugly but more importantly they were hot and inefficient. After only a few years in these houses the indigenous peoples could not afford them because they were either too cold or too hot and they could not afford for the electricity to keep them healthy enough environments to live in. The architect of the documentary instead came up with another design for their neighborhoods and houses that were specific to the people and their culture and surrounding environment. The buildings used material from the area that could go back into the earth many years from now when the houses were no longer in use. The buildings were not only much more attractive but they were much more energy efficient and suitable to the lifestyles of this indigenous group of peoples, including social outdoor courtyards that caught the breeze and created a situation cuitable for community.

Another interesting topic of the book Cradle to Cradle is the scary idea of how much dangerous and unecessary junk goes into what we use. We are so concerned about what goes into our bodies yet we do not have the important regulations and monitoring of the everyday products we use such as hand-mixers and swim wings. This book clearly explains that like in most problems, in order to find a solution you must get to the source. Whether it be; the necessity of focusing on the poverty of a 3rd world country to get to the bottom of immigration in a more developed country or the environmental degradation caused by the construction, transportation and use of the products in our everyday lives; it is so important for us to re-think the way we do things and how we tackle problems. Because of this I really like the idea behind the book and I hope that as a people we can start to really rethink how the system should be run and to understand how the things we are using are made and therefore change how we are making and using everyday products and resources.

Cradle to Cradle

The vision that William McDonough and Michael Braungart speak of in Cradle to Cradle is a very hopeful and optimistic one; however, I think it is also a very functional idea. For example, their idea of roof top gardens on buildings in cities would not be that difficult to implement, and the benefits (better building insulation, cooler cities, more plant life to absorb carbon dioxide) are numerous and needed. I like how they approach the problem differently by not trying to fix a flawed system but rather create a new one that accomplishes the goals of the flawed system without the bad side effects. It is sometimes easier to start from the beginning than to try to fix something with some many issues.

One of their proposed ideas that I did not quite understand was the concept of completely reusable products. They believe products can be desgined so that they can be used and then recycled completely, with the end product being just as good as or better than the original. While this is very easily implemented for some products, such as books which can be made out of plastic instead of paper, many products do not have available, more eco-friendly substitutes. In the beginning of the book, they talked about computers, all the different parts and metals that go into them, and how it is very difficult, if not impossible, to recycle a computer; however, they proposed no such way of making a recyclable computer. Also, in regards to plastic books, most conventional pens do not write well on plastic, so it would be very difficult to take notes in a plastic book. They idea of completely recyclable products is impressive, but the implementation could be impossible.

Week 7

I guess you could say that I'm not really into the natural world that much. I went to the Grand Canyon once, and it was all right.

That said, there are many good reasons to preserve nature. As Meyer discusses in The End of the Wild, natural environments support diverse life systems, many of which we have little understanding of. The species preserved in nature can be useful to us psychologically, pharmaceutically, and through their relationships with other species. Biodiversity helps us and enriches our lives, so contemporary environmentalism should focus on natural environments as it does on sustainability and climate change.

After hiking 5k, the last thing my classmates and i wanted to do was leave the trail to the nearest lake and climb to the top of a steep hill, but our tutors wouldn't let us continue until with did. The hill wasn't too tough, but roots and branches from eucalyptus tress obstructed the small path to the top. Each person paused when they reached the peak, forcing everyone behind them to grab onto the nearest tree to keep from sliding back to the bottom of the hill. Still, no one could stop themselves from pausing in awe once they saw the view. At the top of this hill, the forest we had been hiking through abruptly turned into massive sand dunes that peaked at just the right angle that we could leap from the top and roll all the way to the bottom on the finest sand I had ever felt. We played in the dunes for hours, forgetting how tired we were, simply enjoying the purity of the setting, and leaving, as cliche as it may sound, only our footprints.

With that in mind as well as countless other experiences, saving nature is certainly worthwhile. The fees we paid to enter the preserved area were fairly minimal, but the simply joy and awe of moments like that are priceless. Nature, even ignoring consumptive services, has value in the fact that it exists, that it can bring sustainable yet infinite enjoyment to many.