Cradle to Cradle (William McDonough & Michael Braungart. 2002, North Point Press) calls for the transformation of industry through ecologically intelligent design. Part social history, part green business primer, part design manual, it asserts that the opportunistic industrial system that "takes, makes and wastes" can, instead, create goods and services that generate ecological, social and economic value. Designers can use the intelligence of natural systems to create products and industrial systems that allow nature and commerce to co-exist fruitfully. Cradle to Cradle offers practical advice on innovation within today's economic environment: the re-invention of industry is our best hope for a future of sustaining prosperity.

The book itself is printed on synthetic 'paper' that can be easily recycled via systems that process polypropylene containers, heralding the day when synthetic products can be used, recycled, and used again without losing any material quality—in cradle to cradle cycles.