Hello :) my name is Kat Labate, I am a rising junior textile design major and SOSA's secretary of events and planning. First of all, kind of off topic, however I am so excited to be watching Bill Nye on the science channel on a series about 100 greatest discoveries in astronomy :) I haven't seen him since I was really little...
Anyways... reading chapter 4 worked in conjunction with several events for me this week. I urge anyone interested to check out the documentary entitled "Home" on You Tube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jqxENMKaeCU
The discussion in Chapter 4 and the documentary run parrallel in their opening with the history of humans as a species on this planet. They remember mans nomadic days, when humans as a whole willed to be apart of earth’s biological system and not above it. Now, looking back in history to the beginning of agriculture, the industrial revolution along with the continuing technological boom we understand it necessary to regain the balance offset by the mankind’s continued technological advancement. Now I don’t mean to damper on progress however, it is such that has set mankind back on a much bigger scale and chapter four, waste equals food paints a clear picture on a brillian system to bring groove back our great mothers biological system.
Post Industrial Revolution, we find it necessary to have two systems inorder to meet lifestyle needs of mankind without further setting off the balance. Waste equals food provides a model using two systems to potentially re-establish equilibrium to life on earth. The first system proposed being the Technical. The technical nutrients consist of materials such as plastics and metals that may not be returned to the earth and safely biodegrade without harm to the natural system. This system would prevent today's phenomon of "throw away products." To think people throw away such modern technology as computers when they areout of date is appalling when so many of the materials can be recycled and as Cradle to Cradle suggests and turned into parts for cars or medical equiptment. Technical nutrients could also produce energy. For eaxmple landfills all over the world burn the waste as methane off into the atmosphere. Many landfills however are harnessing that methane and using it to power buildings. I have seen Johnson & Johnson commercials, explaining how they power their factory from methane harnessed from a local landfill. The goal is to eliminate the use of landfills completely, however improvement has to start somewhere.
The other system needed re-establish balance will require us to use technology to bring us back to our roots. We need to re-discover the materials provided by the earth, that are so organic, they can be simply discarded after use into a compost or the woods and will biodegrade not only without harming the enviroment, but ideally helping to further whatever ecosystem it becomes apart of. Cradle to Cradle uses an example of a Swedish Textile Mill that created a fabric that could be safely composted, while mainting buyer standards such as durability. Another place a biological nutrient could be succesfully used is packaging. Society creates extreme amounts of waste in packaging and if packaging was made from plant cellulose we would save energy from having to recycle the plastic and it could be composted easily. On the other end of the spectrum, packaging if created with a further use in mind, for example, I bought a box of Q-Tips the other day that came in a plastic tupperware like container that held the swabs and cardboard as protection in the box which was recyled. Simple decisions such as packaging can make the biggest difference.
At this point in the evolution of man, life without advanced technology would be impossible. It is mans greatest demise, yet its only solution to reverse this process weve started. It is therefore, our generations job as designers, engineers, scientists, politicians, parents, entrepreneurs or anyother path to instill this change before man does irreversable damage.
Labate6843@philau.edu
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I agree that a balance must be achieved between nature and humans. We must work in harmony in order to save the environment instead of causing harm to the environment. This reminds me of a Mitsubishi commercial: a man is walking at different places, around the world, collecting air. As he is walking, his footprints appear on the ground but then suddenly vanishes, leaving nothing behind. And then this commercial ends with a description of a environmentally friendly Mitsubishi AC. This commercial is a great example of human technology, which appears modern but does not leave an imprint of anything harmful from humans, in sync with nature. With these transformations, technology possesses the potential to grow. Individuals will instead have the construct devices which are technologically advanced as well as environmentally friendly, like in the ac commercial. In general, we must work not only to strike a balance with nature but also create new technologies which are also attuned with nature.
"Mountains of waste rising in land fills are a growing concern, but the quantity of these wastes- the space they take up-is not the major problem of cradle-to-grave designs....'Frankenstein products' or 'Monstrous hybrids'- mixtures of materials both technical and biological, neither of which can be salvaged after their current lives," (McDonough 99).
This quote really stood out to me out of this whole chapter and i feel that it really expresses the need for a balance between nature and humans. However everything else is this chapter, was pretty much reiteration to me.
james7425@philaU.edu
Hello. My name is Megan and I am a Digital Animation student. While the book is based upon designing things, I feel like it still applies to me. Whether you are a designer or not, everyone should be aware because we all live on the same earth. What will happen when we fill up all of our landfills? At the pace we are going, we may very well run out of room to toss our useless materials.
I especially enjoyed the running shoe example that was mentioned in Chapter 4. First off, not many people are aware of the way they are harming the earth just by taking a morning jog. If designers put more thought into their designs, runners would have have to harm the grass and streets. If designers thought even more, perhaps outside of the box, maybe they could create shoes that released positive chemicals to the environment.
Although there is a lot to recycle and dispose of, it does not have to be a bad thing. In fact, we can use it to our best advantage if we reuse it properly. To design products that are used for awhile, and then recycled and used without wasting any materials would be an amazing accomplishment. When all products are designed this way, a huge barrier will be broken down. There will be no more worrying about filling up landfills or taking us space. It would be a never ending cycle, it would be taking materials from one cradle to the next.
My email is megan_elizabeth_xoxox@yahoo.com
I agree that systems both technical and biological have to be re-developed in order for technology to progess. Human growth is a 'necessary factor' that produces both bad and good consequences.
For example, Kat mentioned that Q-tips are part of the biological system that use one piece of recycled material, i.e. the cardboard box. However, the Q-tips still use materials such as plastic and cotton which cannot be recycled or thrown away without ending up in a landfill. If we design packaging differently then we have taken a first step into redesigning the biological system. People will buy a product that they can feel good about and do something with, such as helping the environment, then doing nothing at all and continually waste resources.
Another thing to add, from my own experience, is that the biological system is far from perfect by today's standards. I work in a gift shop where products are shipped on a regular basis for us to recieve as inventory. In order for the products to get there the technical system uses components such as the truck and a computer scanner in order to be accepted by the store. However, once the product was in the store the biological system took over.
When the product comes in, it is loaded onto a pallet and is disassembled and unwrapped. Much of the packaging is either virgin/recycled cardboard, virgin/recycled paper, glue, and industrial grade tape which cannot be re-recycled or reused effeciently and safely. What once was a giant pallet full of bland recycled cardboard boxes wrapped in tape turns into one 4 ft. table full of beautifully colorful unwrapped products ready for the shelves. It is a complete disregard for the biological system because nothing can be done with the packaging that the products came in. Even when the packaging is recycled, it still continues in the same loop and never fully uses its biological component to its advantage.
Rich9533@philau.edu
“It’s too late to be a pessimist. I know a single human can knock down every wall.” – Home
Let us start with each person knocking down just one wall. It can be seen, much thought will be necessary to learn how best to break through these barriers. Our current management of materials, methods and men, as the authors put it, is a, “A confusion of [nutrient] flows.” (100) McDonough and Braungart separate the realms of design into the biosphere and technosphere. This might be an over simplification but serves to communicate that we currently blend processes, which can result in heterogeneous and unnatural results. As Buckminster Fuller once said, “We do not seek to imitate nature, but rather to find the principles she uses.” Nature does not create Landfills. Nor does she concentrate toxins and heavy metals. Nature does not synthesis wood and plastic polymers, for each suffices within its own sphere. Nature does not relocate available nutrition to some species while with holding it from another – even desert cacti have water. Principally, nature creates cycles of all the world’s nutrient flows – processes which can be sustained.
At this point in the evolution of man, a great portion of humanity lives without advanced technology – some even without clean water or shelter. The resources exist, often close at hand, but are unevenly distributed. If big cities conserved more water, small villages might not be drained. It matters less how we arrived where we are, or how we imagine the future might be different but more what we plan to change now.
The chapters of Cradle to Cradle build upon each other. Beginning with the identification of a problem; followed by the assertion that we all have the ability to identify this problem; and then, that we have the ability to change; the fourth chapter calls us to action. The authors closing statement instigates, “Now that we know, it’s time for a change. Negligence starts tomorrow.” (117) Let us all renovate our disciplines, from product containers and packaging to design and creation. The biosphere and technosphere offer one means of rethinking our processes. If we all imagine new means within our expertise, one by one, the walls which we built between the natural flow and the human way of life may be knocked down… and their materials reused.
Please do not consider this entry for the gift certificate award. Many Thanks.
Planning makes all the difference. This chapter puts alot of emphasis on not throwing things away, but making things that can be reused over and over. There is a very large Waste Management landfill in the small town i live in. I live at the bottom of a mountain and it seems now my town is in a valley between the beautiful mountain on one side and the ever growing landfill mountain on the other. It is horrifying to see the line of trucks in the morning wating to dump things onto the pile, things that still have alot of value, if only someone would do something with them. The writers have an excellent idea and lay it out to make you really think why cant products that we are done using become food for new products, why cant we take the old one back to the company and get another for little cost. We can do all that with proper planning. We need stop designing "Monsterous Hybrids" that we can never get the materials back from, and start make the biological mass easily seperable from the technical mass of a product. In todays world most products are made cheap and "disposable" for convienience, however in this system we waste so many resouces and so much money by buring it or burying it. If we only would look to nature for guidance on how to make a sustainable design. In nature nothing is disposable everything serves a purpose and nothig is wasted. The Earth is not one giant landfill and if we keep throwing things "away" and treating it like one the consequences will be devatsating
In chapter 4, page 104, it says “To eliminate the concept of waste means to design things -products, packaging, and systems-from the very beginning on the understanding that waste does not exist.”
This part of the chapter stuck out to me because that statement, to me, seems like the answer to most of our world’s environmental problems. The hard part is figuring out how to make that happen.
Packaging has changed a lot through the years, and it has gotten a lot better. Although, there are still some things that need to be fixed. Kat mentioned how she bought the Q-Tips in the packaging that part of it can be easily removed and recycled, which is a great kind of packaging that is good for the environment. However, I was looking in my hall closet the other day and saw that I too had a pack of Q-Tips. But this time there was a piece of cardboard on the back, but the whole front was plastic, so you could see the product inside. The cardboard is recyclable, but the plastic is not. How many people do you think actually take the time to separate the cardboard backing from the plastic so at least some of it can be recycled? I suspect not enough.
This kind of mix with recyclable and not recyclable products can also be found on envelopes and boxes of pasta. An envelope is made of paper which we all know can be recycled, but some have that clear plastic in the center where you can see the name and address from the inside. Most people just throw those envelopes in the garbage because they know the plastic cannot be recycled. The boxes of pasta are the same way, the box is cardboard but there is sometimes that piece of plastic showing off the product inside. Personally I do take the time to tear the plastic off from the envelope or box and put the paper in the recycle and the plastic in the trash, but why not just eliminate that small piece of plastic? If you think about it, its not really necessary. We all know what pasta looks like, and it takes about thirty seconds to handwrite, or print out an address on an envelope. I will be sure to buy the completely recyclable box of Q-Tips next time.
I think making packaging that can be recycled or is biodegradable would be a good, large step forward. Everything we buy as consumers are in packaging and it would be a huge difference if it was good for our environment.
Butera8987@philau.edu
To go along with with your example kat, i have noticed many products advertising as being packaged in recycled material. That is only half the battle if the product itself is not recyclable. The consumer then has to take the responsibility and recycle what has already been recycled or it just stops there. It is nice that the factory tries to use recycled materials but if the consumer doesnt take care of it properly everything stops as if it were not recycled at all.
sovia1267@philau.edu
Waste equal food is an accurately written chapter about the progress the habitants of earth has taken since humans evolved onto this planet and changed it due to there increase in knowledge and there curiosity of the unknown to help change the future. Once when human being begun life on this earth the earth didn't need to worry because material they used was easily recycle due to decomposition but ass time went by and the human begin to experiment and increase in there knowledge of life but as there knowledge expanded so did there care about the earth and now we have a world that isn't perfect. We live in a world that is being filled with garbage and being destroyed due to the lack of care for nature and the lack of care for its resources and the health of the earth. If dont want to run into problem in the future and make sure we see food on our table and not waste then we better start caring for our earth and start recycling and reusing item that we believe should be thrown out after one time use and to start giving back to the earth for what the earth gave to us.
Waste equals food.
Still working still working? Good, thought I was late!
The point that I would like to share with you is about the idea, which I see as the main point of the author, about the human being actions, which are going so against nature. How can men be the only and one creature on earth that is capable of taking so much but not returning (almost) anything?
From our ancient time we saw that our actions are predatory with every source that we discovered. Everything that we find and is suitable to make whatever we need in our behalf, we took. But what I see as one of the only instincts surviving from men, the scarcity that led men on Rome b.C. to the imperialism will soon take us to find new solutions, new creations, new lands (could it be Mars?)
The human being is the most creative and intelligent creature alive and we are capable of so much. We know how to clone animals! So, why are the ants (in much larger population) in so much better condition than us, even in the same environment that we are (aware) destroying? Can’t us design our waste to be more returnable to earth?
The world is needing of leaders who are capable of creating solutions, we have all the problems right in front of our faces, you don’t have to be a designer you just have to “happened to live here”, to fight for this piece of land. Excuse me my man Jack Johnson, but Reduce, Reuse, Recycle clearly is not working for us, now we need ReThink, ReDesign, ReMake.
oliveira5823
(I'm sorry by the bad english, still not speaking well!)
Reading this chapter and learning what other countries such as China used to do 2 centuries ago was very disturbing to read upon how they live. As you continue reading and realize people in the future(if we keep our planet long enough) are going to look back and think the same thing with the way that we are destroying, abusing, and mistreating nature. The environment is what keeps us alive yet we can not even make the iniative to save it.
buccello2662@philau.edu
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