Life on the planet is a circle: A tree sprouts, grows, produces, supports the life around it in different ways, and eventually returns to the earth, creating nutrients that will continue to support its ecosystem.
Many humans have created a different linear system that extracts, makes, uses, and disposes without creating solutions for the next step after disposal.
What happens next? Are all our things destined to become trash when they break or are no longer wanted? How do we put those products, materials, and byproducts to use in ways that benefit a sustainable planet?
Imagine a Chair. Three hundred years ago, one chair would be made from a tree. It would meet the needs of its maker, and it would last. If it broke, it could be repaired. If it broke beyond repair, it could return to the earth.
Today, that chair might be made of materials that aren’t designed to be fixed, separated, reused, or composted at the end of its use. And we’re making a lot of them.
This short animation for the Ellen MacArthur Foundation explains how the circular economy designs that missing step into our systems.
“Just like cycles in nature, we can design and make our stuff to be made again, so materials can be reused over and over in an endless loop, without creating any waste.”
Learn about the Ellen MacArthur Foundation on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and at EllenMacArthurFoundation.org
Plus, watch these related videos:
• What is the Circular Economy?
• The Circular Economy, a new way to design, make, and use things
• Recycling plastic waste to make bricks that are stronger than concrete
• MarinaTex, a bioplastic made from fish waste
• Upcycling used chopsticks into furniture, games, and more
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