William McDonough ist ein visionärer Designer und Berater, der das Design der Welt grundlegend verändert. Er ist Mitbegründer des Konzepts „Cradle to Cradle“ und Autor einflussreicher Publikationen. Seine Arbeit konzentriert sich auf die Schaffung nachhaltiger und regenerativer Systeme. Er widmet sich seit langem Prinzipien, die zu einer positiven Auswirkung auf den Planeten führen.
Abfall war gestern, ab sofort gibt es nur noch Nährstoffe. Alle Produkte verbleiben in einem steten Kreislauf, eingesetzt werden nur noch gesunde, unbedenkliche Materialien. Was wie eine Vision aus einer fernen Zukunft klingt, ist vielerorts bereits Realität, und das Konzept hat einen Namen: Cradle to Cradle. In ihrem aktuellen Buch gehen seine Begründer nun einen Schritt weiter: Im Fokus steht nicht mehr nur das kluge Design einzelner Produkte, beim »Upcycling« geht es um die Vervollkommnung unseres Lebensstils – um gesundes Wohnen, freudvolles Arbeiten und die Errichtung zukunftsfähiger Städte. Ein zutiefst positiver Zukunftsentwurf, eine überzeugende Einladung, Teil der »Aufwärtsspirale des Lebens « zu werden.
"Autos aus Autos? Schuhe als Düngemittel für unsere Balkonblumen? Zukünftig gibt es nur noch zwei Arten von Produkten: Verbrauchsgüter, die vollständig biologisch abgebaut werden können, und Gebrauchsgüter, die sich endlos recyclen lassen. Die Devise lautet: Nicht weniger müssen wir produzieren, sondern verschwenderisch und in technischen und biologischen Kreisläufen. Eine ökologisch-industrielle Revolution steht uns bevor, mit der Natur als Vorbild. Und was die beiden Fachleute in anschaulicher Weise darbieten, ist keineswegs nur graue Theorie, sondern das Ergebnis eigener praktischer Erfahrungen: Michael Braungart und William McDonough erproben seit Jahren mit Firmen wie Ford, Nike, Unilever und BP erfolgreich die Realisierbarkeit ihrer Ideen." -- Herausgeber.
Michael Braungart and William McDonough propose a plan for our planet in this stunning new edition of their radical ecological manifesto. This book proposes a new vision for modern industry. Instead of our current wasteful and polluting methods of manufacturing, we could be taking nature as a model for making things. With the right redesign, objects that have come to the end of their useful lives should provide the basis for something new. In designing and producing products we need to stop worrying about being 'less bad' and start finding ways of actually being good. PATTERNS OF LIFE: SPECIAL EDITIONS OF GROUNDBREAKING SCIENCE BOOKS
Military reports warn that impending energy problems will endanger Western society and threaten to weaken ties between states and their citizens, undermining the very foundations of democracy and the rule of law. Energy issues will also set the stage for more aggressive geopolitics and will substantially destroy the ecosystem services on which society is wholly dependent. These are but a few of the impacts that the double energy problem of climate change and oil decline have in store for us. In this illuminating book, attorney and pragmatic visionary Roger Cox sets out and analyzes these energy stress tests, going on to explain why neither the market mechanism nor today’s political model are capable of initiating an energy revolution to solve these issues. This deadlock situation has the potential to bring about the very downfall of Western society, as this book explains, and will at the very least put Western countries at risk of committing domestic human rights violations on a scale nobody had thought to ever see again after World War II. Precisely this threat of human rights violations puts the judiciary in a position to step in and lead Western governments out of the dangerous deadlock. Drawing and expanding on examples and cases from the US, the UK, the Netherlands, Europe and the European Union, this book demonstrates that the West’s legal systems already contain all the elements needed to achieve an energy revolution faster and more effectively then any other alternative. In his book Revolution Justified Mr. Cox calls for judicial intervention to save the planet and humanity from dangerous climate change. In his opinion governments have become a danger to the wellbeing of society due to their inaction to regulate greenhouse gases. “Our best hope of averting dangerous climate change and breaking the status quo in the energy world is the law”, he poses. In 2013 Mr. Cox issued proceedings against the Dutch government on behalf of the Dutch NGO Urgenda and 900 Dutch Citizens. In June 2015 these proceedings concluded with an unprecedented and groundbreaking verdict in which the District court in The Hague ordered the Dutch government to reduce its CO2 emission by at least 25% in 2020 (compared to 1990 levels). Mr. Cox is now helping to set up a network of NGO’s and lawyers for climate proceedings in other countries. With his help and advice, similar proceedings have already been instituted in Belgium. Next to his (climate) litigation practice, Mr. Cox is heading the real estate, city development, energy and infrastructure practice at the law firm Paulussen Advocaten. Mr. Cox is also founder of the Planet Prosperity Foundation, via which he is promoting the circular economy. The Dutch Green Building Council selected Mr. Cox as one of the most influential people in sustainable real estate development. He is also listed in Trouw newspaper’s Sustainability Top 100. He is a visiting university lecturer, publishes regularly and holds seats at several business councils on sustainable development
