by Sorting through and synthesizing the now 19 concepts fitting with what we’re calling the “sustainable commons” vision of After Capitalism is not going to be easy. As I work through them, I’m getting a sense of where my inclinations lie – it seems a no-brainer to me that the circular concept is fundamental to what’s next. The concept is being promoted by the Ellen Macarthur Foundation, which is a neat story in itself. This foundation is supported by a group of Founding Partners— B&Q, BT, Cisco, National Grid and Renault to basically explore sustainable economic concepts, thus the circular economy concept. A very interesting trend in the foundation world is this move to strategic, goal-based approaches. There is a shift away from handing out grants for “nice” causes to a laser-sharp focus on how funding a project helps achieve the foundations strategic purpose.
There’s lot to the circular concept, which draws on Braungart & McDonough’s wonderful Cradle-to-Cradle and Upcycling ideas. I went through 2013’s. Towards the Circular Economy. The short definition of circular economy is “today’s goods are tomorrow’s resources, forming a virtuous cycle that fosters prosperity in a world of finite resources.” Today’s consumption patterns (‘take-make-dispose’) are, of course, unsustainable. Design for reuse principles and systems need to be developed and implements (of course). neat concept sorting products into “consumables” and “durables.” Durables are designed for re-use, and are obtained primary by using leasing rather than purchasing/consumption models. The idea is we use things rather than consume them, thus from consumers to users. Consumables are increasingly made of biological materials, so that after use they can be returned to the earth.
So durables will increasingly by accessed by the various “as-a-service” models we see popping up for almost anything. [Our favorite at Houston Foresight is “parenting-as-a-service.”] This idea show up in several of the other After Capitalism concepts. Consumables moving toward biological constituents makes such good sense! In other words, if it doesn’t make sense to re-use something, make it useful to the earth, so-to-speak. Think of tossing it in the compost pile when you’re done….instead of the landfill. Beautiful, elegant, let’s get stated. – Andy Hines
Leave a Reply