A Circular Economy
We learned at an early age that life is a cycle, and it's the "Circle of Life" that keeps the trees growing, the waves moving, the sun shining and the air we breathe clean. Everything has an end, but lends it's life to a new beginning. This is partly the foundation on which the NewdElements philosophy is built; taking the old and making it new to help close the product life cycle loop. A similar mentality is being applied at the Ellen MacArthur Foundation on [obviously] a much larger scale. Their CE100 platform is a global stage that brings together leading companies, emerging innovators and regions to accelerate the transition to a circular economy over a 1000-day (3 year) period. Here's the Ellen MacArthur Foundation video, explaining their proposal on a Circular Economy. It's short, interesting and inspiring! ...Well, I hope it inspires you in some way!
[vimeo 28348812 w=500 h=281]
Re-thinking Progress: The Circular Economy from emmki on Vimeo.
There are a few companies that have the option of closing the loop on their product's life cycle. Apple is one of them (thankfully, since I'm such a loyal customer of theirs)! Their recycling program reuses parts and products when feasible, or responsibly recycle the components when they can't. It's pretty cool, check out their recycling program.