Cradle to Cradle reaction

I think the main point of the book, Cradle to Cradle, is to show that the relationship between environmental action and the business world is not completely doomed to work. McDonough and Braungart want to point out that the conflicts of interest here are not entirely different, it’s just that people haven’t been able to see the opportunities that could come about from environmental products and services. What they are trying to do is turn on the industrial world to environmentally friendly products and practices and to show them that this industry is very lucrative for them. They claim that if producers realize the use of natural systems can benefit them more than the “old way” of doing things, that nature and business can co-exist.

I am very much enjoying this book and the optimism that the authors have. As a student with a minor in business, I often have a lot of trouble seeing where the two worlds could merge. It almost seems like the people involved in business and those involved in saving the environment have two different points of views on everything and just the way the world works in general. It has always been a disappointment because I think that the two worlds couldn’t co-exist because of the two entirely different mentalities that each trade encompasses. I do really enjoy the optimism and think the ideas they put forth are very innovative and interesting; I just do not know how practical the ideas behind the book are. The fact that the authors think that it is simply a matter of putting forth new ways of manufacturing and new ways of thinking about production to get the world of corporations and producers to change their ways is a far cry from reality. I think it would take many different factors for these worlds to begin to merge. I think business would have to be terrible in every industry for companies to turn to a new way of doing things. I think the new designs that McDonough and Braungart come up with for manufacturing would have to become law in order for producers to begin using them. I also think he would have to do some more advertising and really convince businesses that this would save them money in the end. Business is all about being on top, making money and being the best at what you do. Nowhere in their top priorities is saving the environment. So somewhere in their plan to merge these two schools of thought, the authors must think of a way to make some very set in their ways kind of people to turn around their thinking and their businesses in order to save the earth.