Some highlights from cradle to cradle

Chap.1
* The designers of the past didn't look at the larger system that they would effect.
* Western views of the past were negative toward nature. They thought it dangerous and wanted to civilize and subdue rather they learn and create with nature in mind.
* "Cradle to Grave" 90% of materials used to make goods in the US become waste almost immediately.
* We consumers pay for goods and along with them receive additives we didn't want and are unaware of.
* This system cannot continue to be supported and maintained by us.

Chap.2
* eco-friendly industrial businesses should be encouraged.
* Reduce, Reuse, Recycle and Regulate
* The only way our planet safely absorbs waste is when the waste itself is healthy and biodegradable.
* "downcycling" is not the answer but rather "upcycling"
* "To be less bad is to accept things as they are, to believe that poorly designed, dishonorable, destructive systems are the best humans can do."

Chap.3
* Growth for growth's sake is a cancerous madness.
* "Design human industries and systems to get bigger and better in a way that replenishes, restores, and nourishes the rest of the world.

Chap.4
* Waste equals food
* Biological mass & technical (industrial mass)
* Early communities returned biological wastes to the soil, replacing nutrients
* Cities started taking nutrients from place to place
* Humans are the only species that takes from the soil vast quantities of nutrients & rarely put them back.
* Throwaway products have become the norm (Frankenstein products)
* We need to learn to imitate nature's system
* Designing products as products of service (technical nutrient)
* Negligence is described as doing the same thing over and over even though you know it is dangerous, stupid, and wrong.

Chap.5
* When faced with darkness, nature rises to fill in the space.
* De-evolution
* The vitality of ecosystems depends on relationships.
* Large scale energy providers throw off tremendous heat energy that goes unused.
* Wind power offers similar possibilities for hybrid systems that are a more effective use of local resources.
* "Form follows Function"

Chap.6
* Decades worth of manufacturing processes had taken a toll on the soil and water.
* If we are to solve the problems that plague us, our thinking must evolve beyond the level we were using when we created those problems in the first place.
* Eco-effective
* Make better choices
* Imagine what a world of prosperity and health in the future will look like and begin designing for it right now.