Cradle To Cradle: Remaking The Way We Make Things : Introduction

Familiar scene, the comforts of home:

fabric:  mutagenic materials, heavy metals, dangerous chemicals, dyes, fabric particles abrade (allowing them to be breathed in).

computer:  toxic gases, toxic metals, more than one thousand different kinds of materials including cadmium, lead, mercury, acids, plastics, chlorinated and brominated substances, dust from printer toner, nickel, cobalt, mercury
        
"This Book Is Not A Tree":  synthetic paper, Charles Melcher, Melcher Media, http://melcher.com/
plastic resin, inorganic fibers, prototype for the book as a 'technical nutrient'.

"Towards A New Industrial Revolution":  Bill's experience with the Bedouin:  Jordan River Valley:  scarcity of local resources - food, soil, energy, water.
Tents of woven goat hair .  .  .drew hot air up and out, creating shade and a breeze in the interiors.
Fibers swelled when wet, structure becomes tight as a drum - portable, easily repaired.

Back in the U.S., graduate school, energy effiiciency the only real environmental topic.
Solar power piqued in the 1970's corresponding with soaring gas prices.
1984 Environmental Defense Fund.
Subject of indoor air quality new at the time:  V.O.C.'s, carcinogenic materials, paints, wall coverings, carpetings, flooring, and fixtures.
Little cooperation from manufacturers beyond material safety data sheets.

Notion of design as a signal of intent.

Michael:  Professor Friedholm Korte - instrumental in invention of ecological chemistry.
 Green Action Future Party - Greenpeace
Action beyond ill-informed protesting the chemical spills by big companies Sandoz and Ciba-Geigy.
Anton Schaerli, director of the company expressed concern.
Michael becomes the director of the EPEA (Environmental Protection Encouragement Agency).

A world of abundance, not limits.

Drawing inspiration from ants:  all the ants on the planet, taken together, have a biomass greater than that of humans.  Ants have been incredibly industrious for millions of years.  Yet their productiveness nourishes plants, animals, and soil.   Human industry has been in full swing for little over a century, yet it has brought about a decline in almost every ecosystem on the planet.