Tuesday, May 06, 2008
Waste = Food
Reading the aforementioned Underworld has got me thinking about garbage, waste, since the main character works for a waste management company. There's some discussion of the fantastically named Fresh Kills Landfill in Staten Island, New York, which was once the world's largest landfill. In fact, again according to Wikipedia, Fresh Kills at its peak was not only taller than the Statue of Liberty but technically the largest man-made structure on the planet. Today, the landfill is closed and Fresh Kills is being redesigned as a public park. Click here for a link to the project website.
This kind of creative and adaptive reuse of land that is a serious environmental catastrophe follows the thinking behind Cradle to Cradle, the incredible book written by William McDonough, an American architect, and Michael Braungart, a German chemist. I cannot recommend reading this book enough. It has fundamentally changed my thinking about the problems facing the world. It all centers on the notion concept that waste equals food. The authors use the example of the cherry tree, which seemingly creates a large amount of waste (for instance leaves and flowers) that fall from the tree only to provide nutrients for animals and plants, as well as the soil that sustains the tree itself.
In natural systems nothing is wasted. In fact, efficiency is maximized at every step. They argue that such a constantly replenishing, self-sufficient system should be utilized in human design, whether it's of a plastic bottle or an entire factory. Rather than trying to summarize this brilliant thesis, I'll simply include a link to the documentary (approximately 50 minutes) entitled Waste = Food.
This kind of creative and adaptive reuse of land that is a serious environmental catastrophe follows the thinking behind Cradle to Cradle, the incredible book written by William McDonough, an American architect, and Michael Braungart, a German chemist. I cannot recommend reading this book enough. It has fundamentally changed my thinking about the problems facing the world. It all centers on the notion concept that waste equals food. The authors use the example of the cherry tree, which seemingly creates a large amount of waste (for instance leaves and flowers) that fall from the tree only to provide nutrients for animals and plants, as well as the soil that sustains the tree itself.
In natural systems nothing is wasted. In fact, efficiency is maximized at every step. They argue that such a constantly replenishing, self-sufficient system should be utilized in human design, whether it's of a plastic bottle or an entire factory. Rather than trying to summarize this brilliant thesis, I'll simply include a link to the documentary (approximately 50 minutes) entitled Waste = Food.
# posted by workplex @ 18:02 
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