The Goal is Zero

I feel that the book Cradle to Cradle is a good summary of the course, International Environmental Politics because it covers relevant points that we discussed in class. In summary, it mainly talks about Neo-Malthusians vs. Cornucopians, environmental sustainability, eco-efficiency, the history, such as the Industrial Revolution and International conventions and protocols, food issues, including GMOs and metabolism, and use of resources, such as raw materials and energy. It also brigs a new important topic that we have not fully discussed yet, which is the four R’s: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle and Regulate. At the end of the book, specific and practical solutions are recommended; therefore, this book provides one of the significant approachable solutions to global environmental issues.

The author’s main argument is eco-efficiency and environmental sustainability, which include a question of universal designs, and four Rs. My impression of the book is that the author’s ideas are based on Neo-Malthusians. He questions everything and claims analytical thoughts. In particular, I like a quote, which is “Recycling is an aspirin, alleviating a rather large collective hangover… overconsumption” (50). I argued that Japan was successful in recycling resources in the previous blog post, but after I read this book, I feel recycling is just slowing down severe effects of environmental issues. In other words, it is not stopping or preventing issues completely. For example, I always use recycle boxes at America University. They can be found at everywhere, such as in the library, MGC, dorms, and classrooms. It is easy to recycle because they are next to garbage boxes and all I need to do is read the sign and classifies which one goes which boxes. I believe that recycling bins, cans, and paper help reducing environmental issues, but in fact, it becomes true　only if everyone participates in recycling. I often see people throw away recyclable stuffs to the garbage box even though they see cycle boxes next to the garbage. This is sad and not helping to solve the environmental issues. The quote exactly explains the situation today. The author suggests that we need to take actions of four Rs seriously in order to change the world.

In addition, I agree with, “The goal is zero: zero waste, zero emissions, zero ‘ecological footprint’” (67). We are currently doing negative things to the planet. Thus, we first need to bring back the situation to zero by contributing energy to solve and prevent further environmental issues. Accordingly, the author’s arguments make sense and on the right track.