What happens when demand outstrips supply for natural resources needed to make everything from mobile phones and microwaves to toasters and tankers? Enter the circular economy.
The circular economy relies on a simple premise perfected by nature over millennia — essentially, there is no waste. Everything is reused to make something new.
Put another way, instead of the traditional linear economic model — make, buy, use, discard, repeat — the circular economy recycles, refreshes and reuses components over and over.
This video from the Ellen MacArthur Foundation invites us to imagine, “What if the goods of today became the resources of tomorrow?”
The foundation, in partnership with the World Economic Forum and with support from McKinsey & Company, is promoting the concept to the business community through an effort labeled Project Mainstream.
With a global middle class closing in on 5 billion consumers in the next 15 years, the circular economy offers hope for preserving both prosperity and the environment.
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About the Author
Todd Reubold is the director and co-founder of Ensia. He’s also director of communications and public affairs of the Institute on the Environment (IonE) at the University of Minnesota. Reubold’s areas of interest include environmental communications, energy policy, sustainable design and conservation of biodiversity.
Recommended book:
Sharing is Good: How to Save Money, Time and Resources through Collaborative Consumption
by Beth Buczynski.
Society is at a crossroads. We can either continue on the path of consumption at any cost, or we can make new choices that will lead to a happier, more rewarding life, while helping to preserve the planet for future generations. Collaborative consumption is a new way of living, in which access is valued over ownership, experience is valued over material possessions, and "mine" becomes "ours," and everyone's needs are met without waste. Sharing is Good is your road map to this emerging economic paradigm.
Click here for more info and/or to order this book on Amazon.
