a book review: Natural Capitalism

I thought this was way overdue, but heck. Been reading Natural Capitalism, and its about the refashioning of capitalism to include environmental considerations - and how environmental concerns are at least compatible with business concerns.

Natural Capitalism

There are many, many ideas in this book, and what I'll try to do here is to summarise things. For one thing, the book talks about efficiency, and how contemporary systems in manufacturing, and in other aspects, can are actually terribly inefficient in things as arcane as the way pipes and plumbing are done. They talk about new systems of doing business, in the idea of many things as a service, not as a product, using the example of the Interface carpet company. For example, people want flooring as a service - so Interface sells the carpeting as a service, and not as a product. And the carpets themselves are made of materials that are almost infinitely recyclable. The concept extends to the chemical industry, where companies lease solvents and offering to clean up spills and all. By doing so, the companies need to be efficient in finding out how to do the most things with the least stuff, reducing wastage and all.

And then there was the part about cars and the making of ever more efficient cars and of course, restructuring neighbourhoods so that cars are not needed in the first place. Then the usual stuff, more efficient homes with better materials, and then on how to how to have more efficient manufacturing procedures using the concepts of Toyota and lean manufacturing.

And there was the bit about growing food more sustainably. By thinking about food growing as an ecology in itself, avoiding monoculture, and learning about the flow of nutrients and water, minimising the use of artificial pesticides and fertilizers.

All in all, it adds up to a transformation in the way we live and work. And then there's also the example of Curitiba - a Brazilian city that has transformed the urban landscape and at the same time, improving the quality of life for their inhabitants. Which is remarkable. I'm thinking about how a similar transformation might affect Singaporeans too. Can we invite Jaime Lerner to Singapore for like, say, 3 years?

Ideas like that make me think about the Remaking Singapore Committee, and frankly, I cannot remember a word of it now. It's been so many years now, and I don't think Singapore has been 'Re-Made' in any sense of the word.