Cradle to Cradle

Throughout Cradle to Cradle, McDonough and Braungart use many rhetorical strategies to convey their ideas about being eco-effective. The concept of “cradle to cradle” is basically the idea that consumers of nature’s goods have a responsibility to restore that usage safely and carefully. It is the idea that we must give more to the environment than we take away. This concept is the central idea of McDonough’s and Braungart’s work.

I found the writing style of McDonough and Braungart especially impressive because of their ability to utilize both logos and pathos at the same time. When discussing how to make the most eco-friendly book or office building, the authors make their vision very accessible and imaginable for the reader. However, they still manage to talk about how each detail will affect the eco-friendliness of the locations, such as covering the roof of an office building with grasses or building an open courtyard. Furthermore, when they describe the “difference between eco-efficiency and eco-effectiveness as the difference between an airless, fluorescent-lit gray cubicle and a sunlit area full of fresh air, natural views, and pleasant places to work, eat, and converse,” they make it irresistible for anyone to doubt the benefits of being eco-friendly.

Another way the authors use pathos is when they link being eco-friendly with a sense of morality. It is each person’s job to do things the right way, and McDonough and Braungart make it clear that we are obligated to make our lives more eco-friendly. They describe the effects our abuse of the earth; daily it has less growth, oxygen, clean water, and habitation.

However, the authors still use plenty of logos to support their writing. They reference details about natural growth to show how an ecosystem supports itself. They also detail how we pollute the environment in small steps and the effect that it is having on the ecosystem. By referencing specialists such as biologist E. O. Wilson and professor of environmental science Kai Lee they give their work a lot of credible support also.