Notes on Cradle to Cradle, Introduction & Chapters 1 and 2.

After the novelty of having a plastic book wore off (and after actually testing its claim of being waterproof), I actually read the first two chapters of Cradle to Cradle. Before reading it, I had expected a dull tome on "sustainability" and "conservation". I was astounded to discover Cradle to Cradle was a revolutionary text. It reads as a green manifesto, and an attempt to singlehandedly set in motion a paradigm shift. Cradle starts by demonstrating the flaws of the commercial, "cradle to grave" philosophy, and its roots in the Industrial Revolution. The text also hits upon the business practice known as universal design solutions, where a product is made to meet the worst case scenario, and the broader concept of brute force, where nature must be overwhelmed to serve industry. Chapter two attacks the idea of "doing less bad", aiming its sights on the 3 R's: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. At this point, I began to realize how radical Cradle is. I always thought reduction was a good thing, but apparently it merely prolongs the destruction of the environment. Reusing and Recycling can only go so far. Certain waste products are completely unusable. Many materials, when reused, degrade in quality, what the authors aptly call "downcycling". Also, they deal with Regulation, explaining how it can hinder rather than help the environment. Finally, it lambasts efficiency for efficiency's sake, describing the ultimate efficient society as devoid of creativity, monotonous, and counterproductive.

So far, I am not only enjoying this book, but it has also profoundly affected me.

In class blog

Which of your experiences have raised interesting questions or created unusual associations in your mind?
Through the food handler's class I took to get a Food Safety card, I learned a great deal about sanitation and the spread of bacteria. It got me to thinking about the epidemiology of food-borne illnesses, and I wondered about the conditions that allow outbreaks of e.coli, salmonella, and other bacteria.
What intriguing events have you noticed while walking on campus, attending class, working at your job, or watching television?

As I have a poor memory of thing that happen in my life, it's hard to pick out one thing. one thing I've often wondered is why construction occurs during the day, where it causes traffic, instead of during night, where the effects on commuters would not be as severe. There must be an answer to that somewhere. maybe?

What problem would you like to solve?

I'd like to find some way to do something better than it is currently done, increase efficiency or efficacy of something.

Topics I'm interested in:
Diseases and epidemiology
Food additives and their effects on human physiology
Hazardous substances inside computers.

A rather late beginning/Focused Journal Assingment #1

Stuff is the kind of book I would have been shocked by six years ago. I appreciate how it show the interconnectivity of everything, and how everything comes from somewhere. However, I already understood the core concepts Stuff is trying to put forward. There is a book far superior to Stuff in that regard, a masterpiece not only of the exposition of our world, but of the highest caliber of investigative journalism. The book? Fast Food Nation. Originally, I intended on discussing how I felt about Stuff, but I realized that I felt next to nothing about it besides intellectual interest. So, I've decided to talk about how Fast Food Nation affected me.
Before reading it, I NEVER though about the means of production. Industry was merely an abstract concept, or something that happened in Tacoma. Meat was just "there". It could have grown on trees, for all I cared. The book showed me that there are ranchers raising the cows, farmers growing the potatoes, illegal workers slaughtering the cows and cleaning the slaughterhouses, scientists making the "natural and artificial" flavors, etc. The realization was sobering, and indeed, overwhelming. It shattered my view of the world at the time, and forced me to come to grips with the sheer scale and magnitude of the human race. I am still grappling with that today, and Stuff helps not at all. It only adds to the chorus of voices who have come to the conclusion that, as interconnected as the world is, it is not after all, a small world.