RR05: McDonough Introduction

After reading this chapter, it made me really think about how we don't realize what we produce could be harmful to the environment. I'm a huge sneaker-head, and to hear that maybe someone had to suffer through dangerous chemicals in order to make money is very unfortunate to hear. I think I had an idea that people weren't doing such easy jobs when it comes to making miscellaneous things for us. I feel very spoiled in some sense that we can never be appreciate of who makes these products. We will never know how hard people's lives can be in just making simple shoes. In this chapter, we are introduced to Bill and Michael. Bill is an architect, who we learn a little bit about his background, and how he views what designers should do. He wants the best intentions when creating a building and is aware that not a lot of the materials manufactuers use are very unhealthy. He was asked to have a proposal for a Holocaust memorial, and build a daycare center in Frankfurt, Germany. His main concern is just being able to build a healthy environment to a school of children when he was asked to build a daycare because the materials we use are hazardous and not entirely safe. The other guy, Michael, is a chemist and became an active member of the Green Action Future Party when he became interested in environmental chemistry. He meets Bill, where they talked about toxicity and design. Then the chapter talks about how leather is a mixture of biological and technical materials (as well as other substances). They discussed about the idea of biodegradable materials, which would be detached after its use. Trying to make materials less harmful and being able to recycle as well. At the end of the chapter, it talks about how nature and ants create a productive and healthy environment, where as humans are the reason of declining ecosystems.