Cradle to cradle design | William McDonough

www.ted.com Green-minded architect and designer William McDonough asks what our buildings and products would look like if designers took into account "all children, all species, for all time."
TEDTalks is a daily video podcast of the best talks and performances from the TED Conference, where the world's leading thinkers and doers are invited to give the talk of their lives in 18 minutes -- including speakers such as Jill Bolte Taylor, Sir Ken Robinson, Hans Rosling, Al Gore and Arthur Benjamin. TED stands for Technology, Entertainment, and Design, and TEDTalks cover these topics as well as science, business, politics and the arts. Watch the Top 10 TEDTalks on TED.com, at
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[@dwilt4rville]

Imagine this design assignment: Design something that makes oxygen, sequesters carbon, fixes nitrogen, distills water, accrues solar energy as fuel, makes complex sugars and food, creates microclimates, changes colors with the season, and self replicates. Why don’t we knock that down and write on it?

[@jjayneartworkx]

Dan Wilt hemp. :)

[@blahdelablah]

@@jjayneartworkx Nobody on Earth can credibly claim to be the designer of hemp.

[@estebanuno1]

Best quote.

[@grootebraak]

Whith Cradle to Cradle we are correcting our design mistakes . One of the most important books i've ever read. In Holland we have Cradle to Cradle schools now.

[@JonBritton]

Truly inspiring, not just for designers but for everyone. I wish him all the success in the world because we need somebody to take the lead.

[@GregoryFesto]

"WHY DON'T WE KNOCK THAT DOWN AND WRITE ON IT..." funny, brilliant, simple wisdom. Thank you, Bill McDonough!

[@keithfaecorstorphine]

Great to see someone really dealing with the problems of modern living rather than trying to hold us in ignorance just for more profit.

[@LusoCMD]

This is one of the best TED so far, without a doubt. For me at least and believe me I´ve seen them all from the end(or older if you wish)through to the last. great job Sir, your book is in my "Have to get " list.

[@IDWFine]

This is awesome! wish I could get on board with these guys and help make this happen world wide!

[@m3na9]

i discovered this talk (and Mr. McDonough) about 3 years ago, and since then, i've played this at least 15 times. I admire this man so much, and as mtnpoet says, he "gives me hope." I love this so much that I am now involved in doing a "remix" homage to this talk, which will be set to my music, composed specifically for the remix/homage. (This is a personal labor of love, and no money will be made from it, nor will i attempt to sell it.) I'd love to get it to William somehow.

[@papasitoman]

I gotta get this guy's book! That was one of the better TED presentations.

[@chinamillennium]

Bill McDonough executes with eloquent mastery and candor his knowledge and spirit of the ancient Chinese concept of Fengshui or Geomancy for our modern civilization and global sustainability. Awesome! ;*

[@benjis007]

really great. i never thought of putting greenery and farming on rooftop and it looks amazing. Thank you, thank you, thank you. I would love to help.

[@valencia5560]

Thank you for fighting so hard to save the planet and the people from themselves. You are proving that there is a better way to grow and build, and that permaculture can be applied at a commercial and societal level. Great video

[@MarkFreidin]

what an inspiring presentation, it gives me hope

[@cartagenafaytong]

People might dismiss them as "ageing hippies" but in fact their approach to ecology and sustainability is revolutionary -At least for me because their ideas changed my mindset

[@LatinoInsurgent]

I'd pay to sit down and have a conversation with this guy. Great talk.

[@DigitalAssassin]

At 11 minutes -- hilarious and wonderful at the same time.

[@miketodaro7276]

He is exponentially not a 'horrible speaker'. There are only horrible criticisms, proving it is far easier to criticize than create....

[@michalob21]

Anyone here reacting negatively to this ever read his book? Because this guy is literally the smartest dude. I love this speach and dont get why it rubs people the wrong way, but if it does please dont discredit this guy or anything he says because he is really really smart and if we ran with what he proposes it would be so awesome.

[@kiaweking]

"You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete." ~R. Buckminster Fuller~

[@because88]

Rational tree reverence. I love this man.

[@vortexkd]

Wow... 14 years later one wonders why this isn't yet mainstream

[@shrimpwithagun5702]

because the city was a complete failure. if you look it up now, no progress has been made and its been abandoned entirely.

[@pifon80085]

@@shrimpwithagun5702 so it worked on paper but not irl?

[@shrimpwithagun5702]

@@pifon80085 basically yeah. it fell apart for a number of reasons and i suggest you look into it yourself, its a pretty interesting rabbit hole to go down.

[@kariknapp]

Wow. I have a new hero! He is amazing. I would have loved to be in that room when he held a speech like this for the US president...

[@pwrmacjedi]

Wow... DAMN. Kudos! Nice slams on the small minds of the last decade, and nice ideas. This is a breath of fresh air.

[@ff7522]

MAN3786, sustainable enterprise planning... So many entertaining TED talks...

[@chinamillennium]

Bill McDonald executes with eloquent mastery and candor his knowledge and spirit of the ancient Chinese concept of Fengshui or Geomancy for our modern civilization and global sustainability. Awesome! ;*

[@christophergaskell4573]

dose any one have a link to that databace he mentioned ?

[@AZipp161]

At 14:28 he mentions that he is rolling out a public database of all the safe chemicals for material design. Does anyone know where this database is?

[@tehkoalainsurgency]

Sundance Channel premiered the Waste Equals Food documentary, can't find it anywhere on the net tho, it's really good, they show a lot of the McDonough/Braungart actual designs, the houses and buildings are amazing.

[@habitaregen1547]

A fantastic idea..

[@scrapeape]

You can't say "always" when we haven't seen something like this actually attempted, but you have a point.

[@hedonism13]

What is the music from 0:00 to 0:18 called?

[@Beenie1984]

Great ideas so far. Finally it is realised that recycling isn't an endless solution for (re)production. I hope other industrial companies worldwide take an example out of this.

[@sharielf]

This video is from the 2005 TED Conference (Technology, Entertainment and Design)an amazing conference held every February in Monterey, CA. He is talking fast because he only has 20 minutes to get his amazing ideas across. I recommend his book "Cradle to Cradle" and especially recommend the video "The Next Industrial Revolution" it is for sale on his web site mcdonough (dot) com.

[@canangedik4470]

Ne guzel bir konu 🌲🌳🌴🌵🌱

[@CaptPhoenix]

I helped my brother build an Earthship. It requires no active heat source even in the mountains of northern colorado. Very nice design. I'm also familiar with many other "alternative" house designs and building materials. Most are very cool and have exciting properties...if that is your choice. However, if it isn't your choice to live in an Earthship, it could be hell on earth if I force you to. All these engineered eco-cities do force you to live one way. That's why they fail.

[@JuggleGut]

did he mention achieving profits? this man clearly understands what materials and resources it takes to have sustainable life on earth. sustainable liing for the entire world is the first step. we are not all enimies. the ememy is the consciousness that is takes away from everything and doesnt give back. Bill is an exceptionally giving person. when you design a sustainable city for millions of people, then you may criticise

[@seriphone]

This particular statement resonated with me too - I use it in my coaching now but I add "... add a bunch of toxic chemical bleaches, write on it ONCE then discard it in such a manner that it cannot be reused in any form...."

[@JuggleGut]

good points, i like your style. Drastic changes are exactly whast are needed. unfortunately this wont happen until the majority is informed of the level of choice they have. Bill is only one man at the end of the day. He's creating a solution, doing something that isnt counterproductive to growth. anything that isnt counterproductive, surely deserves more respect.i notice i neglected to mention im referencing his city design. as far as for perpetuating profit goes, it guess thats just his method

[@PolliFaxToaster]

seeing this makes me think that just maybe we might turn things around.

[@reivilo]

fast but good!

[@possiblycreativecomment3021]

i’m a freshman and we’re going over this can anyone explain what the whole concept of cradle to cradle is i understand the basics but i’d like to know the specifics

[@Chrismayn]

The book is very interesting... the first couple of chapters (I think I remember) go through the concept pretty concisely, but then the book is only a couple of hundred pages in all and is very easy to read!!!

[@rpm297]

Designers and architects inherently seem to be great leaders. Just look at the dad from the Brady Bunch.

[@tmcotty]

DDT is still used to fight malaria. It is not used where mosquitos have developed resistance to it.

[@carlossanchez-pg7ij]

I loved❤

[@3kawis]

their playing this in my bussines class i am so lost please help

[@pathacker4963]

I am not sure anyone can help. This is crap. It took us 499,000 years to develop luggage. And just a year to develop wheels. Why would we need wheels without having to transport something we can't carry ourselves. Sort of amazing he's an architect like Ayn Rand's best known protagonist. He doesn't explain how one cradle leads to the next. In fact the one cradle doesn't lead to another. The cradle actually leads to a grave. Something he doesn't speak on. He mixes in politics. It's a non-sequitur. But it's become a popular meme. No one understands it so they assume it has the ultimate truth involved in it. I doubt that. Everyone just loves the baby "cradle" reference. Hence all the river and waterfall videos.

[@ps3genius999]

cradle to cradle refers to the ecological use of resources so that nothing is wasted and everything can be recycled. the cradle only leads to the grave if you look at life from an individual standpoint (but from where else would someone who cites Ayn Rand view things?) The cradle leads to another cradle when the life from the cradle preserves itself in such a way as to bring new life into the world. This approach looks at sustainability for ALL generations to come not just the as far down the line as you or I will personally live. I hope you have learned something. P.S. I heard no mention of politics unless you were referring to the part about trade between the USA and China in which case you misunderstand either the entire point to this speech or the nature of the USA/China relationship. P.S.2 Your criticism of the luggage is flawed. There has been luggage since people started moving/migrating (i.e. nomadic tribes of Israel, and the Native Americans of the Great Plains), and we just started putting wheels on it in the past 15 years. P.S.3 have a nice day. I hope that you learn to grow as a community and not just as your own ego.

[@jjayneartworkx]

It is a paradigm change of the way we create...starting in our minds, when we invent something...what is your intent? The thing he doesn't mention is the side stepping of just thinking in monetary terms...but creating in terms of the planet and civilization as a whole. Most of the products we use currently are "cradle to death" products where it has little to no life or worth after its initial use. So the idea is to create with the intent for the materials used to be safe for the planet, recyclable, and reuseable. Hence cradle to cradle...it's a philosophy for production and continued productivity. There are many parts to it...from manufacturer responsibility to product certification in levels depending on how much compliance it covers...from water use to fair trade to how and what it is produced with. The hour long lectures at the universities are way better than this because there is a lot of content.

[@entropicgirl8648]

If you don’t understand what he is saying that’s on you. I don’t have an issue, but then again I have his book. I find it disconcerting that someone in business doesn’t grasp the concept of there being unintended consequences to their actions. Business majors tend to always focus on short term profits and not realize the long term effects.

[@TonyBananas18]

... its been 9 years, has he done any of this yet???

[@kiaweking]

Do a search "William McDonough today" se what comes up

[@tiesthijsthejs]

very important

[@oso5066]

The present needs to change for there to be a future. Emulation of natural cycles is truly the only way to ensure a future.

[@C345OFR]

A hope-inspiring talk, no doubt about it. Such a shame it has so few views. As a (nitpicky) aside, how did BMW get away with the blatant rip-off of Massive Attack's "Angel" in the advert at the end?

[@ps3genius999]

Here is what you can take away from this lecture. If you don't find a way to repurpose EVERYTHING we manufacture, eventually we will RUN OUT of resources. so what we must do is find a way to only use materials in a way which reduces byproducts, waste, and especially pollution and any byproducts that are formed should be used for some purpose as well. That is why we must account for "all children, all species, for all time." otherwise we are only working towards our own inevitable destruction.

[@djlookwood]

At last, and intelligent and life affirming shift in how we apply what we know through science to be true about nature as technology that nurtures life. These concepts must be made clear, so that they can be understood, by all in our society, especially those who lives are the basis for the funding of government - THE 'AVERAGE' TAXPAYER!

[@RodBarkerdigitalmediablog]

Is continuing to produce more 'yet sustainably' really improving things?

[@tiowey]

no bother buying and reading the book, he summed it all up here

[@JuggleGut]

along with his work he brings a message. a message of opportunity for other people to use his ideas on sustainability in other areas, not neccesarily confined to business. Aside: the monetary system and all its dependants will inevitably cease to exist, the system itself is unsustainable, so its only a matter of time before it fails. there's no need to worry about it. and bill... Maybe he would have mentioned that inconvienient truth if some things were different...

[@josecohen516]

i STAN

[@NWforager]

isn't DDT just a short term 'fix' ? Doesn't it cause Long term effects(harm)?

[@b5i6ll7y]

A great video I thoroughly enjoyed it he is very witty to, but not one word about the cost it would be to live in one of these great cities or the cost of buying the carpets, the toys,meterials, cars, or any other thing that is manufactured. Lets face it unless they are practically giving them away, then once again the poor will be screwed.

[@TheSuperwhuffo]

@lukerides666 Amen to that!! Jaque Fresco and him are two birds on the same tree...

[@hisnameisfrankie]

@Go0mbah More like we're going 75 mph instead of 50 mph when we were expected to be going 80 mph by now.

[@AZipp161]

@reivenlocke There was an article writtne in 2008 called Green Guru Gone Wrong: William McDonough. It really threw the book at McDonough in terms of being egotistical and greedy to just push his certifications for big bucks. I'm not sure if the author behind the article is of high validity, but its worth a read though... I tend to aggree with your thoughts after reading and seeing a few of his speeches on youtube.

[@in1sitting]

damn you can tell this foo's a life time member of mensa

[@Mood_Organ]

Great. Part of me thinks it's insane that these are "new" ideas

[@clipside2]

@AndyOFF2 also interested in hearing the basis for this comment

[@marchelandersen6839]

and how is it now ? did it work

[@josephsaab7208]

no

[@GeorgeI]

Genius. Why are these plans for new self-sustainable Chinese cities not used as a master-model for new cities in the US and around the world?? (other than politics of course)

[@SandraXPol]

C2C should be integrated into all curricula in all engineering schools.

[@projectstarboard26]

waste is not equal to food. try checking the analogy, although the lecture is good. Perhaps waste is used to generate/produce food--waste as a material aid for growing food.

[@Dan1loBC]

I heard somewhere his China city wasn't really well built... But I really do like his concept, I wonder what'll happen in the next 10 years ;o

[@olamide1480]

Well, it's 10 years.

[@Dan1loBC]

@@olamide1480 nothing that extraordinary, eh? Well, see you after 10 more years, hopeful for more news.

[@olamide1480]

@@Dan1loBC yup. I pray we won’t be disappointed this time

[@MelvilleGangsta]

yes, and i am sculpted like the Gods of Olympus

[@lukerides666]

This guy need to meet up with Jaque Fresco

[@bazaulmu1334]

The answer is permaculture, it makes all of the above plus a positive carbon footprint and positive embodied energy in time.

[@PUArtista]

Say it with me -- BLOWHARD

[@yaronimus1]

this is amazing. i wish cities in israel would be built like that!

[@StrongArmZZ]

The mosquito problem in the third world has nothing to do with a lack of DDT. It has to do with the fact that they poor their waste water out their front door. The way do deal with this problem is to built basins, fill them with plants, then poor the water in the basin to sink in. Another way to deal with the problem is provide shelter, and water for bats. A single brown bat can eat 1000 mosquitoes an hour, and a small bat house 18x18x2 can shelter more than a hundred bats. 1000x100 = 100,000/h

[@stroudmears]

Do you even lift?

[@tecknixia]

Most of what he says makes sense to me. Do you have any evidence of what you claim about him?

[@BravoGoodSir]

There is a funny over-sound that is makes it difficult to hear--has this video been tampered with?

[@IntuitiveLeap]

@TextureAndLight I'd call it not worth discussing here.

[@BiskitInAChicken]

why is the intro so damn loud???? and why does his breathing sound like the broken toy from toy story?? Im concerned

[@aline.sparvoli]

🌲

[@granmastervoic]

@dwilt4rville why DO we?! thats the whole point.. we're turning complex life into mostly useless stupid things .. paper could be made without sacrificing trees.. and thats only one example..

[@TheSuperwhuffo]

This guy is really great at putting across these great ideas...but who will there be that will put these ideas into action. If we understand something then thought is not separate from action...please read The Dawn of Intelligence...simply search Wildman Walker's blog and click on the link 'book'. Peace and blue skies...

[@ndnndjbdjjf9560]

ysa

[@TextureAndLight]

What do you call a guy from Yale seemingly denigrating "350 pound auto workers." Why is it remarkable that someone 350 pounds or an auto worker would want to learn bird calls?

[@b5i6ll7y]

But once again it will boil down to the giants of industry and the giants of anything that makes billions every year off the poor and the down trodden to change their minds and go in a different direction and actually help and save these people from their sad and crap existence.

[@Psqwall]

Yar

[@Hithard177]

This is a forum for exchanging ideas. My comments need not be legitimized only after I've designed and built a sustainable city for millions. In fact, that's my point exactly - that an effort to achieve sustainability via industrial free-trade systems is ludicrous. My criticism is not for Bill's ideas, but his omission of this inconvenient truth - designing a building here and a product there just won't cut it in the end. Need drastic changes...

[@waronez]

i didnt noses made a sound.

[@entropicgirl8648]

If you don’t understand what it is that he is saying it’s not him, it’s you. You may not be as bright as you fancy your self being.

[@thoxha]

Horrible delivery. This guy gives off the wrong vibe as if he hates his job and he is talking to idiots. He needs to take public speaking classes and lower a notch the arrogance

[@defnebaysongur439]

I agree with you. However, he is still stating facts and sharing very insighftul knowledge that matters for the future of our society. I hope you could still take what he said into consideration instead of criticizing his delivery. What a simple mind you are...

[@ndnndjbdjjf9560]

!

[@SteveWrathall]

Who's volunteering to scrape the shit and dead bodies out of the building that is an "asset" to birds?

[@TheShisen]

China

[@PUArtista]

his nose sounds like a bird

[@celshader]

Forget Hillary. William McDonough for president 2008.

[@aglining]

It's an amazing concept, but he is just a horrible speaker and loses his audience.

[@pathacker4963]

Is it amazing or are you so lost you're afraid to say the emperor has no clothes.

[@BaronVonHobgoblin]

A post-modernist attempt to bite the industrial hand that has so well provided the speaker's social airs: he flaunts with such comfortably-detached ignorance of his own involvement.

[@emmaaargh]

what r u talking about of course he is/has been involved it's not going to help anyone if he becomes a hobo or lives off the grid, he's trying to spread a message of the beginning of change.

[@BaronVonHobgoblin]

That is entirely correct, I agree with you, he is just another Technocrat who does not seek the consent of the people whose lives he seeks to change. From the pedestrian's perspective this renders the long winded missives about "Lateral Power" an attempt to falsely portray political-representation for which no referendum has been taken. Our speaker knows this; and this is why his ruminations were strictly theoretical. The ideas of "Open Source" applied haphazardly outside of narrow and well defined boundaries threaten the democratic value of fair representation.

[@ps3genius999]

you are bringing up some very persuasive points on the matter, Goblin. in a country like China where all of the power rests in the hands of a very few individuals this is a unilateral motion by the government without hearing the will of the people, however consider this. what if we went out of our way to teach in every school in every nation the dangers of wasting resources and teach about all of the ways which these renewable resources will benefit our society, and people who are afraid of what they don't understand do not taint the minds of the children with lies that claim that switching to all renewable resources will "kill the economy" or (and I swear I have personally heard someone make this claim) that being more economical will "turn us all into homosexual heathens bent on self pleasure". in such an educated society is it not likely that the people would choose and vote for such resources to be used instead of today's wasteful practice?

[@MelvilleGangsta]

Hello Engineering for Sustainable Development class of 2012. Enjoy wasting 22 minutes of your life. You mad? Yeah you mad..

[@bigace223]

talk about wearing "arrogance like a cologne." Wow.

[@hidalgodlhs]

waste of time. not funny.