RR07

In the last few chapters of Cradle to Cradle the authors spoke of the transition of recycling of biodegradable materials in the production of products to the new ways in which we develop cheaper, faster means that may be extremely harmful to the environment, due to the lack of biodegradable materials as well as chemicals that could be released in use of these products. Following that they spoke of the many different energy sources of renewable energy that should be utilized instead of squandering the non renewable resources that may also be (and in most instances are) harmful to the environment. Finally they commented on how the reader could put all the knowledge they've learned in this book into affect. With the simple 5 steps of:

1. getting rid of the known perpetrators of these crimes against the environment, and not using their products.
2. follow informed preferences, so find your preference to help the situation whether you're in for the ecological design, respect as a person or for pleasure and delight. 
3. create a list of problematic or partially harmful products.
4. remove the problematic aspects, in their example a car. They took it's design and materials and made it to where it could be disassembled and recycled more easily. 
5. finally, reinvention. Plain and simple make something cleaner, faster, more efficient than the current design.

Things that I found interesting in the reading was the old leather shoe design. In past they used vegetable based tanners. These took much longer to make and cost more for the consumer, but they were biodegradable, posed no threat to the environment (through the releasing of chemicals and gases in the production process, that monstrous hybrids create). 

I also found Ralph Waldo Emerson's predictions as he return from Europe on a steamboat that humans connection to nature was quickly fading in the arrival of an industrial revolution. As this book has continually harped, this separation goes to compound more problems (even if lesser than the year or two before) on to the declining ecological health of the Earth. 

Lastly I thought that the lotion experiment was very interesting, as people generally bought the ugly eco friendly container merely because of the gaudiness of the luxurious bottle caused them to feel unintelligent. I can see how most of the fight for environmental change is mental, as many people either forget about the cause or just don't care, but with a little behavioral science people can be manipulated to help. Not to say that it should be that way, but if it's the baby step needed for them to continue to better the world and to teach them how to respect the Earth just as that bottle allowed them to be respected.