« If anybody has trouble with the concept of design humility, reflect on this: It took us 5,000 years to put wheels on our luggage. (...) Now
if we look at the word 'competition', I'm
sure most of you've used it. You
know, most people don't realize it comes from the
Latin competere, which means strive together. (...) train with each other.» William McDonough
He co-wrote Cradle
to Cradle,
which proposes
that designers think as much about what happens at the end of a
product's life cycle as they do about its beginning.
(The book itself is printed on recyclable plastic.) From this, he is
developing the Cradle to Cradle community,
where like-minded designers and businesspeople can grow the idea. He
has been awarded three times by the US governemt, and Time magazine
called him a Hero of the Planet in 1999.