No Time to Waste

Wed, 10 Oct 2007 05:00:00

No Time to Waste

Bill McDonough

William McDonough has been designing for environmental sustainability since he was a college student - long before the environmental movement had coined the term "green design." He has put grass on the roofs of corporate headquarters and consulted with the Chinese government. But what motivates him goes back even further - to experiences he had as a child in China and the United States.

Bill's father worked internationally. When Bill was living in Hong Kong, he saw extreme suffering and scarcity. In the U.S., he saw extreme abundance and waste. Bill is now devoted to overturning those extremes - challenging fundamental notions about how we use the planet's resources and re-invent them for the future.

Michael Braungart

He talks with Dick about his first encounter with Michael Braungart, his closest collaborator and friend, and the wild ideas the two have thought up together.

Learn more about Bill McDonough
Visit Bill's architecture firm
Find out more about Greenbridge, one of Bill's current projects
Learn about Michael Braungart

BRUSH WITH FAME - KAREN BRANDT

Karen Brandt, circa 1963 - larger >>

Karen Brandt heard some of our "I met a celebrity" stories - Ted Danson, Richard Simmons, Nelson Mandela - and she wrote to tell us hers. Karen was a flight attendant in the 60's, and one night, Judy Garland boarded her flight from Vegas to NY. By the end of the flight, Karen said Judy had taught her some new skills, including how to get changed in public without showing any skin. But there was one moment in the trip where Judy made Karen think about her own life in a very different way.

Music heard in this story: I'm Always Chasing Rainbows by Judy Garland for the album That Old Feeling - Classic Ballads from the Judy Garland Show

The Story from American Public Media - No Time to Waste

No Time to Waste

No Time to Waste

BRUSH WITH FAME - KAREN BRANDT