We spend our lives being taught that life is scarce. And resources are assets that we need to fight over.
Nothing could be further from the truth.
We live on a planet of infinite resources to sustain life, in its endless variety of species, sub species, and mini species. Not a word, I know.
It should be.
We are human beings. We are capable of creating incredible technology that was impossible or unimaginable a mere 50 years ago. We can build a world where everyone is fed, housed, and warm.
Circular economy has been in the spotlight lately. Defined as a system that regenerates and restores by design. What does that mean?
It means that every step of an industrial process regenerates and restores damages done by a previously used industrial process.
It is beyond managing waste and automating systems in order to save time and money. That is simply a consequence of complete system redesign geared towards generating abundance at every step of an industrial process.
Take the construction industry as an example.
The wood chips generated by the process of cutting down trees into appropriate sizes and shapes for a building could be used as a compound in organic fertilisers that are automatically added to the forest floor from which the trees are taken in order to create the right environment for new seedlings to grow.
Thinking about the circular economy requires our brains to think in systems instead of in linear terms.
It requires us to consider each linear step in an industrial process and become aware of the consequences of each step. What sub processes does it create or affect? What does it generate? Is there a way to return parts of the raw material used to origin? How can returning parts of the new material to origin create a business opportunity?
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