Cradle to Cradle: Easy, Reinforcing, and Engaging Reading

I found the book titled, Cradle to Cradle, by  William McDonough and Michael Braungart, to be insightful and a great general view of the environmental challenges that exist. For someone with a vague knowledge of this subject, this would be a perfect book that would expose the reader with an accurate overview of current environmental issues ranging from the history of environmental movement to air pollution. The very material of the book, made from plastic resins and inorganic fillers, is already making a statement of environmental conciousness.

As I read, I encountered many environmental issues that McDonough and  Braungart explained of which I already had a strong knowledge of, thus for me it was an easy, reinforcing, and engaging reading. Yet there were also many arguments that were raised by both authors that expanded my knowledge of the issue and made me think more about certain points I had not analyzed before. Especially in one chapter, they went through the Four R's, also known as reduce, reuse, recycle and regulate. For them, actions with good intentions such as reusing and recycling products became additional environmental problems. For example, in many places where sewage sludge is recycled and used as fertilizer, it carried many harmful chemicals due to the current design and treatment of the sewage systems. Also, I learned the term, downcycling, meaning that the recycling of certain products reduces the quality of the material over time. Thus a product such as soda cans, which are made from aluminum, when melted for recycling results in a weaker and less useful product. I agree with their argument that we sometimes automatically believe that by recycling we are making eco-friendly choices, yet in reality our choices and actions can become an additional burden on the environment. Overall the authors presented a variety of issues, and raised many questions with relevant data that placed them in a good track in their attempt to explain an overview of the current environmental challenges.