January 3rd, 2024 Posted in Business, Ethical/Eco
Circular economy example: Rapanui & Teemill
Our current economy works against the environment by creating pollution and waste in the name of profits. Fresh materials are often used for products that end up in landfill or being burned. We can’t keep extracting these resources from a finite supply and expect good outcomes for people and planet. There are better ways however, one of which is the idea of a ‘circular economy’ for some or all of our consumption.
The circular economy is a model of production and consumption, which involves sharing, leasing, reusing, repairing, refurbishing and recycling existing materials and products as long as possible. In this way, the life cycle of products is extended.
https://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/headlines/economy/20151201STO05603/circular-economy-definition-importance-and-benefits
Recent headlines highlight the cost of the business-as-usual model for fashion as the environmental catastrophe caused by discarded clothing is revealed in Ghana. Fast Fashion creates stratospheric amounts of waste, with even new clothes being sent to landfill.
Fashion production makes up 10% of global carbon emissions and is the second-largest consumer of the world’s water supply. Since 2000 the rate of clothing production has doubled; not only a result of people buying more products, but also throwing them away much sooner.
https://sustainabilitymag.com/supply-chain-sustainability/the-end-of-fast-fashion-and-emergence-of-a-circular-economy
So what are some possible solutions?
As a great example of the ‘circular economy’, UK form Rapanui and their print on demand T-shirt platform Teemill are tackling waste by redesigning how things are made.