William McDonough has 3 audiobooks on Listento.it, narrated by 3 narrators, with an average listener rating of 4.5★ across 19 ratings. The most-rated is Cradle to Cradle.
Cradle to Cradle
Summary
"Reduce, reuse, recycle," urge environmentalists. In other words, do more with less in order to minimize damage. William McDonough and Michael Braungart argue in this provocative book that this approach perpetuates a one-way, "cradle to grave" manufacturing model that dates back to the Industrial Revolution, a model that casts off as much as 90 percent of the materials it uses as waste, much of it toxic. They challenge the notion that human industry must inevitably damage the natural world. Why not take nature itself as our model? A tree produces thousands of blossoms in order to create another tree, yet we do not consider its abundance wasteful but safe, beautiful, and highly effective. "Waste equals food" is the first principle the book sets forth. Products might be designed so that, after their useful life, they provide nourishment for something new - either as "biological nutrients" that safely re-enter the environment or as "technical nutrients" that circulate within closed-loop industrial cycles without being "downcycled" into low-grade uses (as most "recyclables" now are). Elaborating their principles from experience redesigning everything from carpeting to corporate campuses, the authors make an exciting and viable case for change.
©2002 William McDonough and Michael Braungart (P)2008 Tantor
The Upcycle
Summary
The Upcycle is the eagerly awaited follow-up to Cradle to Cradle, the most consequential ecological manifesto of our time. Now, drawing on the lessons gained from 10 years of putting the cradle-to-cradle concept into practice with businesses, governments, and ordinary people, William McDonough and Michael Braungart envision the next step in the solution to our ecological crisis: We don't just reuse resources with greater effectiveness, we actually improve them as we use them. For McDonough and Braungart, the questions of resource scarcity and sustainability are questions of design. And they are practical-minded visionaries: They envision beneficial designs of products, buildings, and business practices - and they show us these ideas being put to use around the world as everyday objects like chairs, cars, and factories are being reinvented not just to sustain life on the planet but to grow it. It is an eye-opening, inspiring tour of the next industrial revolution as it unfolds in front of us. The Upcycle is every bit as ambitious as such classics as Rachel Carson's Silent Spring - but its mission is very different. McDonough and Braungart want to turn on its head our very understanding of the human role on Earth: We should not just protect the planet from ourselves but should redesign our activity to improve the planet. And that goal is well within our reach.
©2013 William McDonough and Michael Braungart. (P)2013 Tantor
Design Based on the Laws of Nature
Summary
William McDonough is committed to helping humankind remake how we make things so as to not pollute the environment and therefore ourselves. He’s convinced that we can live a healthy and sustainable life on the planet if we start asking ourselves the right questions. In this interview, McDonough speaks about how we need to look closely at nature, where nothing is thrown away. He explains the idea of “Cradle to Cradle”, and how humans can become tools of the natural world once more. He explores the difference between a consumer and a customer, explains what is meant by accruing a “materials bank”, and proposes how we can turn sewage treatment plants into nutrient management plants. William McDonough is an anticipatory design architect. But more than that he is a philosopher for the 21st century, and is asking some of the most critical questions we should be thinking about in these challenging times. He’s the former Dean of the Architecture Department at the University of Virginia, and was named “Hero of the Planet” by Time magazine. He’s also the winner of three U.S. presidential awards including the Presidential Award for Sustainable Development. He is the author with his partner, Michael Braungart, of the book Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things (Farrar, Straus and Geroux 2002).
©2013 William McDonough (P)2013 New Dimension Radio