Circular Economies

Circular economies

March 22, 2020: my wife and I are isolating for Covid-19 due to her severe asthma and lung damage. Plus, we are both over 60. So we are reading the news, reading books we have on hand, gardening and such. We are very fortunate, of course, for we are privileged people with enough resources to have a nice house mostly powered by the sun and geo-thermal energy. We have big gardens that have filled our freezer and pantr. Our chickens are laying again after a winter rest, we have milk delivery and we really have no need to go anywhere. It doesn’t stop me from moments of fear as I contemplate where I went in the last week before we cut ourselves off, and who I was with, one of whom, at least, is sick. But I feel solidarity with people all over the world in similar situations, even though I am isolated from them.

We are at the beginning, I suspect, of a long process of using the resources we have on hand: food, books, internet access, art and craft projects, garden work, home improvements and such. Already I am finding myself digging around to see what wood and supplies I have available to build things, repair toys for my granddaughter and create stuff in my garage. As I get ready for the garden season I am re-using pots and germination trays, thinking about being careful with the potting soil I have as I will try to avoid buying more and the human interaction that involves. We are digging into our freezer big time and actually looking at the bottom layers and calculating how to use it’s contents. We are reducing, reusing and recycling in new ways already. Then I read the latest National Geographic and came on their story about trash and the circular economy that many people are working hard to develop, reusing and recycling trash with the goal of zero waste. Something clicked.

It’s a good article and heartening to see the great work being done toward recycling metal, clothing, food and other resources that have been wasted on a huge scale as the modern economy of single use and and throwing things away has developed. As the article points out, there is no waste in nature. An obvious point, but one not often considered by the average modern human. If we are to mimic nature (biomimicry as a goal I have written about before) we need to move toward zero waste. This is the circular economy. Everything is made with the purpose of use and reuse. Everything comes back around to rejoin the economy in some form. Like the old time sustainable farmers who had little or no waste. Animal manure fertilized the field, unused or spoiled food went to animals or compost, old clothes became rags or quilts, metal was melted or repurposed in some way. Swords became plowshares. Humans have long moved toward throwing some things away, of course, but at least they rotted and became part of the earth again. With plastic and petroleum products we now have waste that almost never goes away, at least in the foreseeable human future. A circular economy today will require a great deal of ingenuity and hard work. It will require some kind of “come to Jesus moment” for humanity, to realize the need to transform our economies and reorder humanity to live in harmony with natures processes in order to survive. 

Which leads me back to our isolated life and meager beginnings of seeing what resources we have on hand at home to get through (potentially) the next 6 months with minimum shopping. I am wondering if this is happening in other households to a varying degree. Obviously, a family in a small New York apartment has very different resources to draw on and will have a harder time adapting to the new normal. However, perhaps, apartment building communities, co-housing units, neighborhoods and such will be forced to consider how they can work together to use the resources they have. An empty lot could become a garden, perhaps, or even a greenhouse in the basement with grow lights. At the very least people may begin to think of the advantages of a more circular economy and the deficiencies our our current system could begin to dawn on us. 

The clearing skies over our cities are already being noted by climate activists and others. As people drive less and the oil industry fracks less the skies over the Front Range of Colorado are clearing a bit. They can see the difference in pollution over China, New York City and LA from space. Optimistically, the current crisis of Covid-19 could result in some rethinking. Something to consider as you stare into your freezer, your bookshelf or your storage closet contemplating how to use what you have on hand in the next few months.