WHY SHOULD A NEW ECONOMY BE A CIRCULAR ECONOMY?

 

NATURE.

Nature was once perfect in its imperfection. All its inhabitants were integral part of it. Nature itself was the master and everyone, well, just about everyone obeyed the master. Then something changed. It started slowly, at first. There were no immediate repercussions and so the changes increased in speed and magnitude. Do you want to know who instigated these changes? You guessed right. It is us, humans. We caused a coup of sorts, putting ourselves at the head and nature grudgingly became the servant.

                 

 

ECO.

We stopped caring about where our table came from, which tree was cut to make it, who cut the tree, who made the table, what they earned from the sale, how it was transported to the market, among many other relevant questions. We never stopped to wonder about how the wrappers of sweets were made and in which factory they were produced? We also did not ask about how many layers of materials and prints were used? That is not all. We did not question what the sweet itself is made of, what potentially happens to our bodies after eating the sweet and what happens with the wrapper after we throw it in the bin? Still yet, we do not know where our vegetables are grown and how nutritious the soil they were grown in is.

How about our mobile phone handsets? Do we have a clue about what went into making them, where different materials were sourced from, who made which component and what happens after we dispose it.

     

SUSTAINABILITY.

Over time, as we engaged in unsustainable practices, nature gradually grew from perfect to imperfect. But nature does not take imperfection lying down. It fights back, hard, and its inhabitants suffer as a result. If only the human race had learnt to coexist with nature as our forefathers did. If only we had considered ourselves part of nature as per the original design. If only we had been aware of the consequences of continuous destruction. If we did all these, we would not be in a race to save the planet today.

In nature, what goes around comes around. Think about it. In nature, there are no landfills, no waste and nothing is toxic. What dies will be food for what will grow. This is why nature does not have to solve issues like pollution because nature neither pollutes nor does it have waste. The design of the ecosystem is a perfect harmony that optimizes and provides for all in a balanced way.

 

We have got to a point where we cannot continue with the destruction we have caused over time. To continue would mean destroying ourselves and wiping our species off the surface of the earth. This is why a new economic system is emerging. It is a system based on design and innovation. Fundamentally, it is a system based on natural principles.

As Ellen Macarthur Foundation states in its take on circular economy, it is a cliché to say that times are changing, to point to the swelling tides of uncertainty worldwide – uncertainty about jobs and income, rising prices of energy and materials; affordability of housing, the state of the financial system and the retreat from public services; about rising populations and declining access to water, food, shelter and clean air.

 

RECONNECT. The current disconnect between people and nature is evident in almost everything around us and is represented by linear economy. The whole system is based on production efficiency rather than optimization of systems. As a result, a lot of waste is generated during production and after consumption as well leaks everywhere along the value chain.

This current state of affairs is built on consumerism; throw away mentality, short term thinking and the belief that growth is eternal. All these will never bring sustainability, clean environment, inclusion and solutions that make nature and people thrive. If we must have one, we automatically have to sort of kill an element of the current economy. Most people find this challenging as it requires innovation, creativity, change and long-term systematic thinking.

NEW REALITY. The world and nature need a different economic model. We are looking at a model that connects the dots, that doesn’t have waste, includes all and provides what we need (jobs, food, health) while making the world go round and round in a sustainable way. This model is the Circular Economy.  Be the CHANGE.