Do you ever feel like you've stumbled into an intense Scrabble tournament with all these eco-friendly buzzwords flying around? It's like, "Is there a translator in the house, please?"
We believe in keeping things simple and beautiful, so we've decided to decode these jargon-heavy terms and weave them into a light-hearted tale. In this part of the article, we'll dive into some basic theory, but in the next one, we'll show you simple ways to incorporate it into your daily life and work. Because let's face it, life and work are smoother when we're all on the same page, and hey, a little natural resource rejuvenation along the way never hurt anyone!
Ever wonder about the life cycle of your favorite sweater or trusty phone, the objects that make your everyday life a little brighter? Let's dive into the journey of your beloved sweater and trace a super simplified version of its life cycle (aka LCA – Life Cycle Assessment):
Now, if we were to draw out this process, you'd notice it's pretty linear, following the "take, make, use, dispose" principle (check out the diagram on the left in the photo). This right here is what we call a linear economy (also known as a throwaway culture). It's been the go-to model for a while now, but times, they are a-changin'!
Now, take a peek at the middle diagram in photo 1. You'll notice that in the recycling economy model, we've added a little "loop," extending the product's life cycle with the recycling stage. It's a step in the right direction, but it still doesn't quite solve the resource management puzzle because it just slightly slows down the process of the existing linear economy model and its problems.
The way out of this resource management dead-end is the model you see on the right side of photo 1 – the circular economy model (also known as the closed-loop economy). It's the antithesis of the traditional linear model. It advocates for a regenerative approach to managing both resources (materials and their products) and waste (what's left after using materials and their products). The goal is to keep them in circulation for as long as possible – through reuse and/or improving quality to extend the product's lifespan (photo 2). Additionally, the circular economy relies mainly on renewable energy. As a result of this approach, we can minimize resource consumption, reduce waste, and decrease carbon dioxide emissions associated with resource extraction/production, product design and manufacturing, transportation, sales, use, and ultimately – disposal.
Alright, let's put it in plain talk, shall we? Picture your fave sweater again. In the circular model, it's like this: from the start, when we get the raw materials, to making, wearing, and finally, saying bye-bye to your sweater (when it's seen better days), we've got a few scenarios to consider:
The more times your sweater jumps into this recycling dance, the more efficient we become at using products/materials and the smoother our circular economy groove gets.
Alright, let's break it down in simple terms:
We call these three actions the last Musketeers of the circular economy because we believe in the power of SENSIBLE CONSUMPTION. Too often, people think that circular economy is just about sorting trash better or relying on recycling to solve all our problems. But the real solution starts with mindful consumption – curbing our shopping spree and taking better care of what we already have. Without that, no perfectly drawn waste management model will be efficient enough to meet our needs.
Oh, and a quick heads-up:
Well, think back to those elementary school science lessons (especially if you're in the 30+ club). We learned that our planet's got two types of resources: the ones that renew (like water and wood) and the ones that, unfortunately, don't (like gold and oil). The thing is, for those resources to keep renewing, we've got to regulate how much we use and give them a chance to recharge. In other words, we can't gobble them up faster than they can bounce back.
Unfortunately, the old-school idea of endless economic growth—well, let's just say it's about as relevant today as the notion of Stepford wives or the idea that women are destined to be domestic angels. Thankfully, insights from various scientific fields confirm that those days are long gone – even if not everyone has gotten the memo yet.
Now that you've got the basics down, let's all jump in with both feet. What's so rad about the circular economy? Well, for starters, this model is based on the natural cycle of matter in nature. Remember those science class days learning about the food chain and how everything gets reused in nature? Yup, same concept here. Nature doesn't waste a thing – one critter's trash is another critter's treasure. So when we repair, upcycle, or recycle stuff, we're not just reducing waste, we're kicking off a whole new life cycle for those materials. Pretty cool, huh?
Sure, the circular model isn't perfect. There are still some kinks to work out, especially with things like packaging. But compared to our current "take, make, waste" approach, it's a game-changer.
According to data from Circularity Gap World 2022, currently over 90% of the resources we extract are wasted (we allegedly recover less than 9% through recycling). Considering the rest of the riders of the ecological apocalypse (including the global ecological debt, which indicates how many resources we have consumed compared to those the planet would be able to regenerate in a given year), it's really a good (if not the last) moment to quickly embrace circular economy and start implementing it.
In the next part of our article, we'll show you how our Slowhop hosts are leading the charge. Stay tuned!
