11 Quotes by Michael Braungart

Cradle to Cradle is like good gardening; it is not about “saving” the planet but about learning to thrive on it.

When you talk about “saving the planet” you turn it into an ethical question, and I think you won’t solve problems if they are ethical.

what most people see in their garbage cans is just the tip of the material iceberg; the product itself contains on average only 5% of the raw materials involved in the process of making and delivering it.

The design intention behind the current industrial infrastructure is to make an attractive product that is affordable, meets regulations, performs well enough, and lasts long enough to meet market expectations

as a buyer you got the item or service you wanted, plus additives that you didn’t ask for and that may be harmful to you and your loved ones.

Once you understand the destruction taking place, unless you do something to change it, even if you never intended to cause such destruction, you become involved in a strategy of tragedy. You can continue to be engaged in that strategy of tragedy, or you can design and implement a strategy of change

Unless materials are specifically designed to ultimately become safe food for nature, composting can present problems as well.

This “solution” to pollution – dilution – is an outdated and ineffective response that does not examine the design that caused the pollution in the first place. The essential flaw remains: badly designed materials and systems that are unsuitable for indoor use.

The average lawn is an interesting beast: people plant it, then douse it with artificial fertilizers and dangerous pesticides to make it grow and to keep it uniform-all so that they can hack and mow what they encouraged to grow. And woe to the small yellow flower that rears its head!