The main premises of the book, Cradle to Cradle are similar to the themes in the video "The Story of Stuff" that we watched in class. The authors argue that the current system of production is inefficient, unsustainable, altogether unhealthy for humans and the environment. They make the point that it does not make sense to have products complete the production cycle, from resource extraction to a landfill, in less than 6 months for most products. Their "lifespan" then is only a few months long because the products go from "cradle to grave" so quickly. Therefore, the authors suggest that the production system needs to be completely overhauled. In order to make the system efficient and sustainable, they offer the idea that products should be 100% reusable hence going from "cradle to cradle." This idea expands on the current recycling system. The authors say that while recycling is a worthy cause, it will not help prevent resource depletion in the long run. It will only delay the inevitable. This is because products are usually only made from a small percentage of recycled material while most of the product is new and straight from the resource extraction step. Therefore, while recycling slows down the depletion of resources, it does not prevent it.
Personally, I agree wholeheartedly with the message of the book. I do try to recycle everything that DC allows people to recycle but the fact that not everything is reusable makes me understand that new resources are always being used. For example, at the Davenport in SIS, the options for cups are either the "eco-friendly" paper cups, or one of the mugs that are there to use and be returned and washed for reuse. The eco-friendly cups are made from something like 21 percent post consumer waste and they proudly advertise this on the outside paper of the cups. Everytime I get one of them I read the cup and my first thought is to be happy that 21 percent of the cup used to be something else. But then I always come back to the thought that the other 79 percent of the cup came from a freshly cut tree. So while the cups are helping a little bit, they are still causing resource depletion. Since hundreds of those cups are used by students and faculty each day, and each cup is likely in a trash can less than an hour after it was taken out of the packaging, it is clear that something needs to change in the system. The option of using the mugs available is the only 100 percent reusable option that the Dav offers. However, oftentimes there aren't any mugs left. Additionally, I regularly hear people saying they would use the mugs if they could trust that they were washed properly because they don't want to get sick from drinking out of a cup that was used and not washed. This is understandable during the winter months I suppose but it still seems a bit odd as you can clearly see that the mugs are clean. Ideally, the Dav should allow, and actually require, that people bring their own reusable mugs if they want their morning coffee. I've heard that this option is currently being debated so hopefully in the future, it can be implemented.
One other example of an item actually going from cradle to cradle is the reusable grocery bags sold at most stores. I recently bought another bag from Super Fresh that claims (and I do hope it's true) to be made from 100% post consumer waste. While grocery bags won't solve the environmental problem altogether, they are a good example of how things can be completely reusable. I have no idea what kind of post consumer waste the bad used to be but at least it shows that it is possible to make something that came entirely from another product without any new resources being used. If that same concept could be applied to more products, and eventually all products, we may be able to prevent total resource depletetion and provide a sustainable world for future generations.
No comments:
Post a Comment