Key Messages
How To Make Manufacturing More Sustainable: The Benefits Of Reusable And Recyclable Products
Do you ever wonder why so many products we buy and use end up as trash? It’s because industry has created items that are designed to be destroyed!
From shirts and shoes, to iPhones and houses, most of the things we use on a daily basis only have one end goal: the garbage.
But it’s not just about the design quality – a lot of what goes into making these products can’t be safely re-used or recycled.
This means bad news for our environment, and it seems like this is becoming more and more of an issue with each passing day.
The good news is that we’re beginning to find ways around this problem.
We can strive to make manufacturing and industry better in terms of both efficiency and sustainability, if we put in the right effort.
If commercial operations take note of how they can prioritize profits without compromising environmental awareness, there might still be hope!
And while TV rentals might not seem like something related to sustainability, think again – this could be a great business opportunity with a built-in focus on eco-friendliness.
The Dangers Of Taking Too Much From Nature: Industrial Production Fuels Ecological Damage
It’s no secret that industry today actively damages the environment.
The effects of this to global ecology are huge.
During the Industrial Revolution, people strived for efficiency and profit without considering the ecological cost.
This has continued even today in the way we produce, consume and dispose of products.
The cradle-to-grave model remains a prolific model of production, where nothing goes back to nature.
From the materials extracted from the earth to the way products are designed with a one-size-fits all approach, industry takes what it needs without giving anything back in return.
Examples include mining, burning fossil fuels and land-clearing for monocultural agricultural properties which involve destroying natural diversity for our own benefit.
Although we have made progress in understanding how much damage is being done to our environment, all attempts at fixings these issues have been minimal compared to just how fundamental industry is damaging our planet each day.
The Problem With The 3Rs: Reducing, Reusing, And Recycling Is Ineffective For Achieving Eco-Efficiency
Reducing, reusing and recycling are popular solutions for lessening environmental damage…but unfortuntely they don’t take us far enough.
Reducing just slow down the damage, rather than stopping it entirely; and reusing can transfer problematic materials from one place to another and end up hurting a biological system.
Even when we do recycle, it’s often not true recycling at all – it’s simply downcycling because many products can’t be easily separated back into their original materials so they’re left of lower quality than the materials used to create them.
The truth is, eco-efficiency isn’t achievable without consideration and attention to the design of the material itself.
That’s why Cradle to Cradle suggests going even further than reducing, reusing and recycling in order to make an ecological difference – by thinking about designing our products with reuse, repurposing or recyclability built directly into their structure in mind.
It Takes More Than Eco-Efficiency To Create A Sustainable Society
Cradle to Cradle by William M.
McDonough and Michael Braungart reveals that, while eco-efficiency and current environmental regulations seem helpful on the surface, they are really not providing long-term solutions to our growing environmental problems.
For example, while energy efficient buildings reduce the use of oil for heating and cooling through better insulation and leak-proof windows, they unfortunately also lead to indoor air pollution due to badly designed building materials.
Plus, eco-efficient agriculture ends up draining wetlands for monocultural crops – this means we’re sacrificing natural habitats for wheat fields.
This in turn leads to a decrease in biodiversity, whereas old-fashioned agriculture is less damaging to the environment.
And it’s not just agriculture – many factories are distributing pollution in less obvious ways thanks to high smokestacks that send pollution far from its origin!
Furthermore, government regulations are not helping either – instead of incentivizing businesses when it comes to protecting the environment, it simply sets up limits on how much damage businesses can cause before facing punishment.
This leaves companies viewing environmental protection as “just another hassle” which does nothing towards encouraging creative problem solving nor tackling the root cause of any issue.
It’S Time To Shift From Eco-Efficiency To Eco-Effectiveness
Cradle to Cradle by Michael Braungart and William McDonough emphasizes that eco-effectiveness is a better approach than eco-efficiency when it comes to finding solutions for environmental issues.
Eco-efficiency focuses on shrinking and limiting our resources, whereas eco-effectiveness looks at how we can use systems for our benefit and how we can make them greener.
When talking about an example like a roof, the traditional roofs contribute to floods by not allowing fluids to pass through them; they heat up cities in summer by absorbing and re-emitting solar energy; and deplete natural habitats simply by taking up space.
But the new cradle-to-cradle model suggests a completely new way of thinking.
For instance, what if there was a soil layer added on top of the roof which contained plants? This kind of roof ensures maintainance of stable temperature (which helps in keeping home cool during summer) plus it creates oxygen, captures storm water and soot!
Eco-effectiveness doesn’t just strive towards making industries smaller as eco-efficiency suggests, but instead strives to make them bigger by doing “the right thing”— which includes replacing materials which are harmful with biodegradable ones.
By doing this, industries can turn the once negative consequences created into positives–while also nourishing our ecosystem!
We Can Stop Producing Waste – With Cradle-To-Cradle Design
If we truly want to reduce our environmental impact, then we need to rethink how we design products and materials.
Instead of making items that produce waste and leave a negative impact on the environment, why not make things with a cradle-to-cradle system of nutrient flow and metabolism?
This way of design would allow us to separate technical from biological materials.
Biological nutrients can be formulated so that even after usage, it is possible to safely return them back into an ecological cycle.
Meanwhile, Technical nutrients are made up of technical material so they can be recycled multiple times without losing quality.
Furthermore, instead of selling products which will eventually end up in landfills, companies could give people access to products for a certain period of time and afterwards those products would be sent back so they can be recycled into new ones.
How To Maximize Sustainability Through Local Resources And Solutions
We should always remember to respect and use the unique, diverse offerings of our world in all areas of business.
Every place is special and different from each other, so it’s essential that we take into account local differences and recognize environmental issues accordingly.
For instance, the potential for sustainable success increases when taking advantage of local areas with careful consideration.
In 1992 a waste treating system project was opened up in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil which fully utilized the locally-made clay pipes to channel wastewater away from the village into a settling tank.
The local surroundings included plants, microbes, snails, fish and shrimp as well as clay which was better suited for purifying water than artificial materials.
Everyone in the area could learn something new about making use of their environment while simultaneously reaping some great rewards—avoiding extra expenses and decreasing any negative impacts on the environment due to shipping products in from elsewhere.
Using energy sources efficiently is also extremely important for optimizing sustainability; for example trying to make sure each south-facing house roof uses solar collectors so that electricity comes straight from those structures rather than from huge power plants.
Additionally, renting land from farmers and building windmills on them is a perfect way to make use of existing power lines instead of big scale wind farms which can ultimately harm many regions drastically.
And finally, people will appreciate packaging made specifically for their needs and benefit more greatly like African villagers who desire throwaway items that can decompose easily or Indian citizens whom need environmentally friendly items that are low on consumption of both resources and energy costs.
Overall, differences between regions are valuable; they must be recognized wholeheartedly while integrating with our eco-friendly businesses practices.
Balance Equity, Economy And Ecology To Create An Eco-Efficient Company
If you’re looking to make your company more eco-efficient, the first step is to make sure that you are doing your part to reduce damage to the environment.
You can do this by eliminating harmful substances, such as PVC, cadmium, lead and mercury.
Once you’ve reduced the negative impacts of your industry on the environment, it’s time to create some positive ones.
Look for ways to use local materials, find solutions for waste and utilize renewable energy resources.
When it comes down to making decisions about products and processes in your business, there needs to be balance between a few elements: equity, economy and ecology.
These elements form a fractal triangle – if one is neglected then the business will ultimately suffer from it’s poor eco-efficiency.
For example an ecology/economy sector may ask whether a product or service is worth its environmental cost – like if there are toxins being released during production that could affect employees health and safety.
An equity/economy sector might bring up questions of wage equality between genders within the company or industry as another example of balancing these different factors into one cohesive decision on how best to move forward with a project in an environmentally concious way while also ticking off economic and social benefits along the way.
Wrap Up
The message in Cradle to Cradle is clear: the way industry operates today is damaging on a fundamental level.
In order for us to move forward, companies and individuals alike must rethink their approach to recycling, as well as respect local or regional differences in policies.
It’s also essential to incorporate ecology into our organizational structure.
At the end of the book, some key points are outlined that serve as a final summary: change can be achieved through conscious thought, collective actions and innovative strategies; different approaches should be considered when looking at how resources can be utilized more efficiently; upcycling items and materials allows for newfound value without creating waste; by responsibly managing resources, society will benefit from a healthier environment; and finally, we must develop an environment-centered system instead of one that revolves around product production.
