We can do it!

Finally! A book that shows environmental friendliness instead of solely preaching. As soon as I picked up the book and noticed that it was not made of paper I knew that reading this book would be a different and positive experience. McDonough and Braungart urge us to reconsider the traditional "cradle to grave" mentality and begin to look at new ways to make old things new again.

I like how McDonough and Braungart are not afraid to be explicit when describing the dangers of pollutants we have produced throughout history. Even from the startling introduction that features a peaceful family residing amongst deadly toxins, the authors use a mix of harsh reality and optimism for the future to get the point across. "So much for trying to maintain a healthy environment, or even a healthy home. So much for peace, comfort and safety." They urge us to look at everything around us and do two things. One is to realize the dangers, and the other is to realize the solutions. We have the capabilities to waste less and recycle, we just need to focus greater attention on doing so. Nobody wants their child to be surrounded by harmful chemicals, and nobody wants to be told that everything they buy is full of these chemicals. But McDonough and Braungart are not saying what people want to hear, they are telling us what we need to change.

This has been my favorite thing we have read so far. It encourages me to be creative in how I reuse things and helps me to come up with new ideas on how to spread the word to others. I've been showing my friends this book (and how I can read in the shower!) and they've all been impressed with, not even the content, but the mere fact that it is printed on something other than paper. With what I have learned about William McDonough he is not afraid to think outside the box and come up with new and more importantly realistic ideas to help the environment. This inspires me to do more than what I thought I could before. Instead of being "less bad", I know strive to be good, or even more so excellent. Instead of me recycling, turning off lights and water etc., I am now encouraging others to do so as well. I realize that the path to environmental salvation is not impossible, and though it is going to take a lot of effort, we can do it!