Book Club summary #8 - Cradle to Cradle
William McDonough and Michael Braungart’s Cradle to Cradle was the eighth book club selection. A landmark text on sustainability as it relates to business, it’s a repudiation of traditional ”cradle to grave” thinking for product design.
The title itself is a reference to the manner in which natural systems cycle nutrients, instead of accumulating wastes. Put pithily, in nature, waste equals food: deer droppings (or dead deer, for that matter) ultimately provide the nutrients for plants which provide food for more deer. The authors propose redesigning products such that, at end-of-life, the “technical nutrients” can be easily recovered and reused in other products.
As always, if you find the review useful, please consider supporting the authors by purchasing the book. 
- - - - - -
