Cradle to Cradle - Another 10/10!

Another 10/10!

I genuinely couldn't wait to read when i got home from work (very unlike me). The book sent my imagination into overdrive, what might a product look like if we moved away from the current cradle to grave design process where once a product is finished with it has no further use and ends up releasing dangerous chemicals into the soil for years to come to a Cradle to Cradle design process where we could either break the product down and re-use parts of it or throw it out of the car window and it would only benefit the land. This book must have designers and large corporations wetting themselves with excitement.

Bill Mcdonough talks about how we need to start building our houses like trees that release oxygen and sequester carbon dioxide, provide habitat for birds, and use nature to heat and cool the inside. The way we seal ourselves inside the boxes we call housing now is quite frightening, we make sure no fresh air can come in when everything in the house, carpet, sofas and tv's release dangerous chemicals into the house for us to breath in! Madness....

I couldn't recommend this book highly enough, borrow it, buy it or request it from your local library (i only just found out you could do that) it will make you think differently about settling in for a night in front of the TV. If you cant afford it, or don't have any friends and you cant go to the library because you owe over £100 then check out Michael Braungart speaking at the Do Lectures in 2008.

Next Book - Blue Ocean Strategies, 32 pages in and mind blowing stuff already, the back page recommends it for any executive in the private or public sector!! Not sure why i picked this up but hey so far so good!

Strategies for a Green Economy - Done!

10 out of 10 for this bad boy! Some brilliant stories and interesting case studies, big businesses are actually changing the way they source materials, manufacture goods, transport products in ways that make the whole process more effective. They save money and energy and tread lighter on the planet. Win-win if you ask me. 

A few of my favourite bits;

"Is a cannibal using a fork less bad" when talkng about businesses reducing their carbon emmissions, but still not being carbon free. Is less bad, good enough? Is beating a child three times a day instead of five better?

There's been huge amounts of money spent on market research in the states and the over-riding feeling is that sustainable consumption is growing. How will your company fare should this become part of the public conversation? Whats the story you will be able to tell? Will anyone believe it?

20 pages into my next book, it's called Cradle to Cradle - RE-making the way we make things by Michael Braungart and William Mcdonough. Top Line on the back cover is How can we avoid environmental disaster? Lets find out hey!

Catching up...

I didn't pick up a book on Christmas Day or Boxing day so i'm playing catch up tonight. I'm 200 pages into my second book and i should have nearly finished! Doh! I'll be reading till the wee small hours tonight to get it nailed. The last 40 pages have been really interesting, the whole book so far has been good. Lots of case studies, no jargon, great information on what the future of business might look like.

There's a great case study on Levis. Ten years ago they started sourcing 2% of it's annual cotton buy organically and decided not to tell anybody about it, i couldnt work out why the worlds largest cotton buyer wouldnt tell people they were doing something bold and new that reduced their impact on the environment. I found out half a page later.

If they started promoting this, they would need to explain why-that fully a fourth of all pesticides in the world are used on cotton, and the resulting impacts on groundwater run off, worker health and safety, and the birds and the trees. If they did that they risked their customers saying "So 98% of what you buy is bad for people and the planet?"

They had to be careful because activists love to make examples of brand leaders.

Interesting stuff hey!

Next book is.....

Strategies for the Green Economy by Joel Makower. Yeehaa! Here's a hit from the back cover - “Strategies for the Green Economy joins big-picture perspective with ground-level practicalities in ways that will challenge and inspire even the most skeptical executive.”
--Lorraine Bolsinger, vice president of Ecomagination, General Electric

I read the first 60 pages last night and it's refreshingly easy to read after the heavy science of Biomimicry.

One thing that stuck out was the challenges that many businesses face becoming a green company that has minimal impact on the planet as there are no real standards of what good looks like. It's hard to be a leader when you don't know where your going, its about having the courage and belief to take risks and inspire other businesses to follow! I'm looking forward to the next chapter.

First book - DONE! With one day to spare..

Well it's certainly been an interesting read, pretty deep at times, industrial ecology, biomimetics, smart computers, profitable and earth-friendly business. Immitating what nature has been doing for millions of years seems like common sense but common sense isn't something we've been good at since the industrial revolution. Biomimicry is a pretty special science that genuinely could lead the next generation out of this shit-hole we've dug ourselves. Learning and respecting nature, a simple idea, next time i'm in the woods i'll certainly be wondering about the wonder of nature! If you have an interest in environmental science this book is an absolute must, if your like me and have no scientific background but your interested in protecting the beautiful planet we call home this is an absolute must. 8 out of 10 :)

Half way!

180 pages in and it's been a tough last 60. Remember i said jargon free....Well that certainly applies if your Stephen Hawking! Some real deep chemistry going down. Still, i think i grasped most of it and the last 15 pages have been really interesting. Did you know ounce for ounce spiders silk is stronger than steel and tougher than Kevlar, but the spider is a "factory" smaller than your little finger, which uses no boiling sulphuric acid or high-pressure extruders, and whose only raw materials are crickets and flies, incredible!

Rhino horns tonight....

50 down, 250 to go!

What on earth have we been doing to ourselves in the last 100 years, we've totally lost our minds, ignored nature, made twice as much work for ourselves and polluted the planet in the meantime, Doh!

The first 50 pages is pretty much all about farming and how farmers in America have started learning from nature and introducing polyculture (using multiple crops in the same area) permaculture (sustainable land use design) to help fight against pests and use less chemicals and oil in the process of growing natural foods.

There's a great story about a guy in Japan called Masanobu Fukuoka who practised natural farming, he basically uses no machines, no pesticide and very little weeding. He does not plow the soil or use prepared compost and yet the condition of the soil in his orchards and fields improve each year. His method creates no pollution and does not require fossil fuels. His method requires less labor than any other, yet the yields in his orchard and fields compare favorably with the most productive Japanese farms which use all the technical know-how of modern science.

So far it makes perfect sense,  there's definitely not to much jargon and some really interesting case studies.