In a world where there is fast, cheap, always new consumer goods being pumped out, which use finite resources, businesses and governments are realizing that the practice of simply generating waste is not sustainable and our economic model must be changed.
The circular economy, which has been a notion since the 1970's through the works of Walter Stahel, involves a society with systems that mimic nature, thereby producing no waste. People are power in terms of repairing, remanufacturing, refurbishing, and redistributing consumer goods.
Products should no longer be built with planned obsolescence in mind, rather, they must be designed with repairability and recyclability, and open source manufacturing in order to create additional services. This keeps resources in use for the longest amount of time, at the highest quality and performance.
It is time for a change, right now.
Image credit: Ellen MacAurthur Foundation
