Name: The Upcycle
Rating: 4 (37 reviews)
Author: William McDonough and Michael Braungart

What’s in it for me? Designing a more sustainable world.

Next time you’re walking around a shopping mall, take a look at how many stores advertise themselves as “eco-friendly.” In all likelihood, there’ll be many displaying their environmental credentials.

And yet, by and large, these are meaningless claims, mere window dressing. The companies don’t really care about the environment; they just want to seem to care.

A truly eco-conscious company is possible, however, and these blinks make clear that such a business is defined by ecological thinking. It’s not a matter of appearance; you must truly care about the environment, and that means thinking ecologically, designing ecologically and, most of all, operating ecologically.

Any company that does this will in fact be more efficient and more profitable than ever.

In these blinks, you’ll discover

what airplane wings should be made of;
why there is no energy crisis; and
why sustainable thinking helps NASA stay in orbit.

Nature teaches environmental care. It all begins with upcycling.

Climate change is perhaps the biggest problem ever caused by human activity. We’ve all heard about or witnessed the effects: rapidly shrinking rainforests, cataclysmic weather, melting ice caps.

So, how to solve this problem?

Some people argue that humanity needs to disengage from nature – a strategy that, actually, isn’t very effective. In fact, a hands-off approach to the natural world is not an ecological way of engaging with the world.

That’s because influencing nature doesn’t necessarily mean destroying it. There are countless ways that we can live in harmony with the environment.

What if we think of the entire natural world as a garden. Just as gardeners care for and cultivate each plant, helping it survive and flourish, we can care for and cultivate the entirety of the natural world.

It’s just a matter of building stable, productive environments that give flora and fauna the best chance of survival.

And we can learn to do this from the best teacher out there: nature herself. One lesson is of particular importance. We’ve got to upcycle – that is, recycle waste products to produce something new. Think of how the natural world deals with feces, for instance: once they hit the soil, they’re acted upon by micro- and macroorganisms and, eventually, they’re turned into humus, a nutrient-rich substance that feeds other forms of life, like mushrooms.

Not just that, but nature can even make productive use of dangerous gases. For instance, take CO2, the gas that plays a fundamental role in global warming. Well, it’s actually totally normal for animals to produce CO2, and many organisms produce it simply by breathing out. Plants then turn it into oxygen for animals to breathe back in, thereby completing the cycle. So, some CO2 emissions aren’t dangerous. In fact, they’re a key part of nature’s process.

Well-designed, eco-conscious products are more efficient and cost-effective than conventional ones.

When people hear “environmentally conscious products,” usually one thing comes to mind – pricey. But this common assumption is far from true. That’s because, when done right, ecological product design is more efficient, and therefore cheaper, than more mainstream production.

For instance, we’re working toward technology that will make buildings extremely energy efficient, which means even more savings down the road. Soon, buildings will be able to use artifactual lighting – lighting that’s part artificial, part natural; buildings equipped with this technology would require artificial lighting for a mere 40 days out of the year. Obviously, this means major energy savings.

We don't have an “energy problem”; we have an efficiency problem.

If you listen to politicians or so-called “experts” in the media, you’d probably think that we’re facing an energy problem. But are we?

Actually, nature abounds in energy. We just need to learn how to harness it in a sustainable way. For example, wind energy, an omnipresent source, is becoming more and more accessible thanks to ongoing research. Not just that, but some states are even trying to help their citizens profit from it.

Putting upcycling into practice means defining principles and sticking to them.

Naturally, a greener economy is appealing, but it won’t just descend from on high. To get our economy green, we’ll need guidelines and principles that help us meet that goal. That’s exactly what the Hannover Principles are – a rulebook for people or businesses aiming to support a green economy.

First established for the 2000 World’s Fair in Hannover, Germany, these guidelines provide an orientation for designers of all types on how to support nature and human welfare while also advancing technology. Crucial to the list is the need to concentrate on the interdependence of the economy and ecology. That’s because it’s always discouraging to see companies put their bottom line first only to arrive at solutions that are only slightly less detrimental than the ones they had before.

Key ideas in The Upcycle

About the Author

William McDonough and Michael Braungart entered the international stage with their first book, Cradle to Cradle, which explores how economics can complement a holistic view of nature. They’ve advised multiple powerful corporations, and Bill Clinton was such a fan of The Upcycle that he wrote the foreword.