A quick search of ‘what does circular mean’ will supply you with answers such as the difference between tangent and concentric shapes (honestly, who even knew?). However, what we mean when we use ‘circular’ in the sustainability sector is quite different.
Put simply, a circular economy is a system that aims at eliminating waste and to continue the use of the same resource. Traditionally, we have all grown up and been exposed to a linear economy. This is the idea of taking from the Earth’s resources, using it up – just once, and then disposing of it.
But why does it matter? Why should we care about a circular economy? Simple. For starters, we care about the planet. Consumers can only make better purchase decisions if they are given a choice in the first place; the saying is true that people can only care about something that they know about.
Whilst we aren’t going to be holding any circular economy workshops any time soon (soz), we understand that we can do our bit as a small, Certified B Corp business to shift thinking and re-design the way we make stuff. We're cleaning up cleaning, if you will. And that's starting with eco-friendly household cleaning products.
Moving towards a circular economy is one of the ways that businesses and individuals alike can relieve pressure on the world’s resources. By reusing products rather than re-buying, we are automatically easing our foot off the gas that’s fuelling carbon emissions and the climate crisis. You can see a full list of other sustainable (Certified B Corp) businesses doing good for the planet and people here.
By making the most of what we’ve got, we can rethink business models and design for the future. Sounds deep but in reality it’s as simple as just trying to design out waste. Many of us are guilty of not appreciating the true values of products, materials and resources – and to be honest, who’s to blame us when we are so conditioned by big businesses to think that paying £2 for a t-shirt is normal?
Making things as quickly as possible for as cheap as possible is a system that is starting to go out of fashion, and in the name of saving the planet, we’re here for it. That's why our Homethings 'Keep It Clean Tees' are made from 50% recycled PET, and 50% organic cotton. Now that's some sustainable merch.
According to the European Parliament, “measures such as waste prevention, eco-design and re-use could save EU companies €600 billion - equivalent to 8% of annual turnover - while also reducing total annual greenhouse gas emissions by 2-4%.” Pretty impressive. What’s more so is that ‘consumers will also be provided with more durable and innovative products that will increase the quality of life and save them money in the long term.’
Here at Homethings, we don’t like to be Debbie Downers (sorry, Debs) but we do think that single-use methods of consumption are bonkers. Circular economies make sense to us, which is why we are working hard to continually find ways of making ourselves more circular – ways that don’t include devouring entire packets of Jaffa Cakes.
Our eco-friendly and refillable cleaning spray kits and innovative washing-up liquid ensure you no longer have a need to purchase single-use plastic bottles to clean your home, and our 'Just Add Tap™' refill cleaning tabs mean that we have tabletised the active cleaning ingredients to ensure that we only send you the stuff that cleans. That's no more shipping you water from around the globe. Makes sense.
Image: Seth Reese via Unsplash (@seththr)