Every now and again there are ideas that challenge most of the ways that the world works day-to-day. The change when approached with an open mind can be very easy to manage and may actually appear to be one of the most obvious ideas of all time and may leave the reader wondering, ‘ Why didn’t we do this in the first place?’ But with so much cultural and societal inertia, it can be extremely challenging for people and companies to make the shift. But as we take our first steps with recycling, eating locally, and understanding our carbon footprint, the next logical step seems to be adopting a ‘Cradle to Cradle’ mentality for all of our activites. Designer and architect William McDonough is one of the authors of ‘Cradle to Cradle’ along with chemist Michael Braungart. From his talk about the design philosophy below, Mcdonough talks about two things, one is a mission statement for their activites and two is a question that helps them meet that mission statement. It seems like the two are helpful decision making tools for anyone, making any kind of decision:

The mission statement is,

‘Our goal is a delightfully diverse, safe, healthy and just world with clean air, water, soil and power - economically, equitably, ecologically and elegantly enjoyed.’

The question that he asks is to help them achieve this end is,

‘Through our work, how do we love all the children of all species for all time?’

His talk at TED is embedded below or available here or on Itunes (you can subscribe to the TED podcast). He is a man with a clear and hopeful vision for the future of our world as well a road map detailing how to get there. His ideas are the important ones going forward. I encourage you to read the book and to watch this talk (it’s only 20 minutes and he is a funny guy to boot!)

Note: Mcdonough packs a lifetime of work into 20 minutes. I had to stop the video and roll it back several times because he moves so quickly over some very nuanced ideas. Enjoy!

You Should Also Check Out This Post:

More Active Posts: