I attended West Coast Green on Thursday and was really inspired by William McDonough's 'Unplugged' key note speech. He told stories from his incredible life and gave insight into the life changing moments that inspired Cradle to Cradle. He told a great story about going to a new high school (turns out the same high school my parents went to)and walking into an empty locker room only to find all the showers on. He related this to a folk tale where people are 'forever young' but can't have kids and are always thinking the world could end tomorrow. This of course leads to a world where the inhabitants do not think/care about the impact of their actions/materials on the world and are not concerned about future generations. A sad but effective tale...But that is not us right?!
Today's contemporary design in all aspects of our lives includes a deeper understanding of what it takes to make the things we use, how those things are used, and what those things can become when we no longer need to use them. In a sense we realized that we are not 'forever young' and that we need to protect and preserve the world we live in for future generations.
Here are a couple links to check out:
William McDonough
Cradle to Cradle
At the conference I saw many products that have made good steps towards cradle to cradle. We have a long way to go but we can get there! Imagine a world where all aspects of our lives were cradle to cradle...now wouldn't that be something!!!
