Jul 31, 2008
Cradle to Cradle: A Concept That Is Seen As The Next Industrial Revolution
“An inspiring documentary on the Cradle to Cradle design concept of the chemist Michael Braungart and the architect William McDonough. Winner of the Silver Dragon at the Beijing International Science Film Festival 2006. OUTLINE: Man is the only creature that produces landfills. Natural resources are being depleted on a rapid scale while production and consumption are rising in nations like China and India. The waste production world wide is enormous and if we do not do anything we will soon have turned all our resources into one big messy landfill. But there is hope. The German chemist, Michael Braungart, and the American designer-architect William McDonough are fundamentally changing the way we produce and build. If waste would become food for the biosphere or the technosphere (all the technical products we make), production and consumption could become beneficial for the planet. A design and production concept that they call Cradle to Cradle. A concept that is seen as the next industrial revolution. • Design every product in such a way that at the end of its lifecycle the component materials become a new resource. • Design buildings in such a way that they produce energy and become a friend to the environment. Large companies like Ford and Nike are working with McDonough and Braungart to change their production facilities and their products. They realize that economically seen waste is destruction of capital. You make something with no value. Based on their ideas the Chinese government is working towards a circular economy where Waste = Food. An amazing story that will definitely change your way of thinking about production and consumption. Director Rob van Hattum Research Gijs Meijer Swantee Production Karin Spiegel en Madeleine Somer Editors in Chief Doke Romeijn en Frank Wiering © VPRO 2006 http://www.vpro.nl/programma/tegenlicht/afleveringen/36632706
I like the idea of recycling tennis shoes but I can’t find anywhere to do this. I went to Nike’s site and couldn’t find anything about it. Perhaps they have abandoned this project.
I’ve always thought we should be able to recycle blue jeans too but so far there aren’t any places taking them that I’ve found. Some projects like this have been started fairly recently but they don’t have drop off centers in most cities and it’s unclear to me whether these projects are still in operation or not.
Ford’s renovation and greening of their Rouge Site so it can be a place you’d want your children to play in is inspirational. It’s like an answer to this video: http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=XjdVOfnYkyA
It’s great that they save 35 million dollars with their roof meadow. I would like to see roof gardens planted on most of our buildings, that could bring the bees back as well.
I like the idea of recycling tennis shoes but I can’t find anywhere to do this. I went to Nike’s site and couldn’t find anything about it. Perhaps they have abandoned this project.
I’ve always thought we should be able to recycle blue jeans too but so far there aren’t any places taking them that I’ve found. Some projects like this have been started fairly recently but they don’t have drop off centers in most cities and it’s unclear to me whether these projects are still in operation or not.
Ford’s renovation and greening of their Rouge Site so it can be a place you’d want your children to play in is inspirational. It’s like an answer to this video: http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=XjdVOfnYkyA
It’s great that they save 35 million dollars with their roof meadow. I would like to see roof gardens planted on most of our buildings, that could bring the bees back as well.
A lot of these ideas are just used for advertising. Shell or Texaco might pick up some Phd’s ideas and take them for a whirl enough to get in the papers then dump it like a hot rock. If it doesn’t make a quick buck, I’d say it doesn’t get much of a look in. Until we start forcing these corporations and their political hand puppets to be accountable for their appalling track records, then expect nothing. In other words, expect nothing for quite some time until we see more independents running for government.
A lot of these ideas are just used for advertising. Shell or Texaco might pick up some Phd’s ideas and take them for a whirl enough to get in the papers then dump it like a hot rock. If it doesn’t make a quick buck, I’d say it doesn’t get much of a look in. Until we start forcing these corporations and their political hand puppets to be accountable for their appalling track records, then expect nothing. In other words, expect nothing for quite some time until we see more independents running for government.