The fourth R | Michael Prager

Submitted on Mon, 05/12/2008 - 12:40

When I embarked on my piecemeal reprise and commentary on "Cradle to Cradle," the important 2002 book by Michael Braungart and William McDonough, one of my background assumptions was that I would cruise through the book in order. But I ran across something last night that made me want to jump ahead.

In this post from last Friday, I quoted the writers at the Amsterdam-based website trendwatching.com thusly: “In fact, the regulation part of eco-embedded has already been called the ‘fourth R,’” after reduce, reuse, and recycle..."

Turns out, the writers alluded to by the phrasing "has already been called" are Messrs. McDonough and Braungart! Right there on page 53, in a subheading, no less.

But here's the thing: The authors are hardly fans of any of the Rs, and that is the discourse that follows the subheading. It's good to remember that the book's metapoint is that the way we have been doing things doesn't work, and we need to find a new way.

I don't think they would consider reducing, reusing, recycling, and regulating to be evil, certainly, and they would nod toward the sympathies of those of who attempt to support and practice these things. They just don't think that changing habits inside the old system to try to mitigate its downsides is nearly enough.

In their chapter title, the authors encapsulate their thinking much better than I have: "Why Being 'Less Bad' Is No Good."

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