The ideas presented in Cradle to Cradle are quite intriguing. The stuff people can make can be just as useful after we are done with it as the stuff a cherry tree makes, to borrow an image used often by McDonough and Braungart. However, I feel that they miss the point when it comes to why nature does what it does. In order to survive in nature, you cannot do simply what you need to survive as, in nature, you compete against others and not simply just to foster future growth. The blossoms from the cherry tree may seem superfluous, but they attract animals who will take the cherry seeds far from the tree so that it can grow, without being out-competed by the parent tree. To connect this to people, its the same way studies have shown that people with a little extra body fat can better survive diseases. It is about survival and propagation of the species. 

That said, I basically agree with what they said. We should change the way we do so many things as the current ways we do things harm us and the planet. Basically, in the long run, we are decreasing our chances for survival and propagation of our species. That is pretty stupid. People are using things that we either know or suspect may be bad for us and then do nothing to prevent these same toxins from affecting future generations. A little, or a lot, of planning and forethought can help change the way people build houses, make soap, and do plenty of other things. Granted, localizing our actions isn't a revolutionary idea as people were doing it for generations. Not that long ago, much of what people did and used was tailored to their specific location and situation. People didn't essentially live the same lives in Miami, Mumbai, and Munich. People couldn't hold the same jobs, live in the same homes, and use the same methods of transport, but you can now. People should not be able to live the same lives in these very different parts of the planet. Trying to ignore the differences that exist on the planet just hurts the planet and everything on it, eventually. If we don't change what we do, there won't be anything left on this planet. Given what people are capable of, in terms of intelligence and imagination, it saddens me to think that ants are better stewards of the planet then we are. Given what people are capable of, we are also capable of being as good for the planets as ants are.