Cradle to Cradle Means Good Design.

Most of our goods and architecture are designed to be thrown away or destroyed after use. Unfortunately, many of our goods are made of bad combinations of materials that cannot be easily separated, broken down, and reused for quality, aesthetic goods. These badly designed goods are hybrids that may combine components manufactured in various parts of the world, so that there is no quality control on what goes into the components. The authors refer frequently to athletic shoes, which are often manufactured overseas, and even if they are made in the U.S. or other countries that have regulations about ingredients and toxicity, many of the components are imported which are not made according to rigorous standards. In the case of athletic shoes, every time a person takes a step, toxic particles can be thrown into the air and onto the ground. These...