July 15, 2009 12:14
by Monique and The re-source Team
"Imagine what a world of prosperity and health will look like in the future and begin designing for it right now."
-Cradle to Cradle
William McDonough & Michael Braungart
As project manager for the re-source™ brand, I want to explain what we believe the "re-" means. The dictionary says the prefix "re-" first appeared in English around the year 1200. In the eight centuries since, it's become one of the language's most powerful two-letter combinations because it contains some of what is best in the human race:
The open-mindedness to take a second look
The courage and persistence to make another try
Once you understand how important re- is to us, you're ready for the essence of our story:
re-source is natural spring water. (It's great water, but that's not what makes re-source so different.)
It's in a bottle made of 25% recycled plastic.
It's part of a national, in-store recycling system that makes it easy (and even profitable) for people to recycle their empty re-source bottles.
re-source is supported by four strong partners, including Whole Foods, where it's exclusively available (and also recyclable).
In the biggest sense, re-source is about the idea of changing how the things we consume are designed and made so we can reduce the waste in the world.
The links above will take you to a fuller explanation of our water in re-source, our bottle, the re-source recycling system and the state of recycling in general, the re-source partners and their unique collaboration, and the detailed environmental philosophy we are following as it is outlined in a path-finding book called Cradle to Cradle.
This site and the re-source brand are all about the importance of the idea and the mission of "re-"-about reconsidering and re-imagining the way we make, use and re-use things. For me, re-source must be a living, growing idea, so this site will be changing all the time.
I'll be posting my thoughts and observations. I'll be posting and pointing to articles that I think are interesting about recycling and related topics by well known journalists, scientists and other leaders. And I'll be reading your comments and questions, too.
Everyone working on the re-source brand is working toward creating a world without waste. I know that may be an impossible goal. I know we have a long way to go, especially when you consider statistics like this one) only about 40% of Americans have access to curbside recycling right now. But we'll never know how close we can get to the goal of no waste unless we try, at least, to go all the way.
So we've got to start with small steps that make meaningful contributions to change. And we've got to reach out to involve as many people as possible, because recycling, in particular, needs everybody's help if it is to work.
We see re-source as one small step. But we believe strongly in the power of small changes to accumulate into major progress. We hope you'll join us in re-thinking and re-cycling. We believe re-source has a role to play, as we say, in the world of good we can do together.