Robbing the cradle
There are days when you hear someone speak and you know that you are in the presence of genius; that you’ve just heard an idea so simple and yet so radical that it actually has a chance to change the world as we know it. Those who have spent even five minutes with me can attest to that feeling, but (for once) I am writing about someone else. I had the pleasure of hearing William McDonough speak about his idea of turning waste into food (not literally) and taking the concepts found in nature and using them in industrial design.
Bill spoke about a number of other environmentally friendly design ideas including:
- Environmentally friendly greeting cards with non-toxic ink and pre-paid envelopes ship the cards back for recycling
- Carpet as a service, namely where you lease the material and the selling company has a financial incentive to come and pick it up
- Using natural resources, such as grass and earth, to purify water from industrial buildings before sending it back to the water system
Best of all, these ideas actually made business sense, creating new revenue models and/or saving costs. Bill went on to speak about failures of regulation, public apathy, etc. In case you would like to read more about these ideas (and perhaps get them in an expanded, misquote free format) McDizzle has a book out titled Cradle to Cradle.
Score
Mike: 1 - For actually enjoy a conference for once
Bill: 1 – For copying nature and making the world more green (including his own pockets)
The World: 1 – For having two cool cats like Bill and I living in it