RR05

Finding a book that discusses environmentalism and sustainability from a design perspective well can be challenging. After reading the introduction to Cradle to Cradle I have high hopes for this book. Although founded with good intention, the original environmental activists only saw industry as the enemy, and thought that there was no place for industry and big business in a environmentally conscientious society. In the introduction to Cradle to Cradle, the authors acknowledge this fact. While their are reasonable arguments that can be made for both the environmental and industrial sides of this argument, the conflict between the two makes it impossible to effectively move modern society past its current destructive consumption habits. Proper design thinking a focus is the missing element that could bridge the gap between both sides. With cradle to cradle processes in industry, both sides would win. Goods would be designed with their termination and deconstruction in mind, so that all of the materials used in their production could be infinitely recycled. This would decrease the amount of raw materials used significantly, an outcome which both environmentalist and industrialists would enjoy. The introduction of Cradle to Cradle essentially serves to illustrate how important design thinking is going to be during, "the next industrial revolution."