cradle to cradle 1, 2, 3

Looking backwards on the Industrial Revolution to 'design' it is a gloomy thought.  The Revolution's severity and popularity was credited to the 'bigger is better' and 'more products to more people' ideas.  The best thing we can do for our environment no-a-days is to design with people and the planet in mind.  Not with profit and numbers in mind.  It is hard to have thought like they all did back then.  Resources were vast and seemed endless, they were none-the-wiser.  Now we see what impact we have on the world around us, and it is important to keep that world in mind when designing.  The cradle to grave concept is haunting as well.  This is why I like to see companies like Coca-Cola making chairs out of their used product.  Land fills are a disgrace to our species.  I like the term eco-efficiency; doing more with less.  Ford was part of the more product to more people, but he was also conscious of the fact that waste needed to be down at the same time.  The concept of the four R's is quite interesting as well.  The four R's being; reduce, reuse, recycle, and regulate.  Many companies try different ways to make waste into energy, but they are often foolish.  The concept of 'away' is a dangerous one.  While you may feel warm and fuzzy for depleting the amount of waste your company uses, out of sight should NOT mean out of mind.  Just because your company has found a way to get rid of your waste, more than not you have just created more waste for someone else.  We need to think of long term eco-friendly ways to convert waste to energy, and that energy back into re-usable waste.