Thanks to the Henley Centre Headlight Vision which put me onto Cradle to Cradle, a new book by Michael Braungart and William McDonough which has an interesting take on sustainability. Their argument (printed on recyclable plastic no less) is that in a world of increasingly scarce resource the only way we’ll be able to maintain our standard of living is by changing how we look at the output and consequences of our consumption. By-products of industrial and business processes should be regarded as natural or technological ‘nutrients’, and the notion of ‘waste’ should be consigned to the bin (so to speak). Amazing how far reaching the implications of changing what we call something can be. It’s not just about what we call it of-course, but as a symptom of a wholesale change in how we view the cycle of production and consumption, it is a very powerful concept. And it fits with the current marketing zeitgeist. I wonder if it isn’t one that a suitable brand out there shouldn’t be taking as it’s own and championing?
Image courtesy of localsurfer
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