Rethink 101: We need to rethink what possession means to us
Rethink 101 is a series of four articles. These articles explain everything you need to know about ‘rethinking things’. Why is our current relationship with ‘things’ not durable? What solutions do we have for our resource – and ecological – crisis? What is the circular economy, and will we ever have one? And finally, how can I join the rethink revolution?
This is Rethink 101, part 2. In this edition, we talk about the way our relationship with possession should change. And what that means for our definition of progress. Read part 1 on why we our current way of consuming must and will end here.
Materials, materials, materials
In Rethink 101 part 1, you read about our addiction to material. How there’s now more human-made material than natural material on our planet. And how it’s impossible to maintain our current lifestyles forever (sorry). At least, if we want our planet to survive another generation.
So, the problem is clear. Change is needed. Let’s dive into the solution. It lies within our relationship with material, with possessions, with things.
From linear to circular
In our current economy, we take materials from our planet and turn them into products, that we throw away as waste after a while. It’s called the take-make-dispose economy, or the linear economy. But our resources – and the carrying capacity of our planet – are finite, and that’s why we should shift to a circular economy.
In a circular economy, every material that is ever taken from the planet, is kept in circulation forever. It will never turn to waste.
Going from linear to circular requires two major shifts. The first one is quite tangible. It’s how we produce and consume things. The second one is a bit more abstract. It’s how we perceive progress.
Shift 1: Rethinking how we produce and consume
Rethinking how we produce and consume means eliminating waste and pollution and circulating materials at their highest value. Let’s dive into these principles.
Waste is a human invention, so it can be undone
For many products on the market, there is no plan for when we’re done using them. Think of a crisp packet. These multimaterial packages cannot be reused, recycled or composted, so they are incinerated. They are designed to be disposable.
If you look around you, it’s hard to imagine a life without waste. But we only need to look 100 years in the past to understand that during 99.999% (or so) of human history, waste didn’t exist. There’s no waste in the natural world. We invented it.
By maintaining, sharing, reusing, repairing, refurbishing, remanufacturing and – as a last resort – recycling our products, we eliminate waste. But this can only happen if the design of the items allows us to. Think of the solid shampoos, soaps and deodorants of Lush that don’t need packaging.
We should circulate things at their highest value
You’ve probably heard of the many R’s of the circular economy. Reduce, reuse, recycle. Or as some say: refuse, rethink, reduce, reuse, repair, refurbish, remanufacture, repurpose, recycle, recover.
These R’s show the hierarchy of circular action. ‘Circulating things at their highest value’ means rethinking how we design and use products, reduce the amount of materials and energy used in production, reusing what we already have, repairing what’s broken, refurbish what’s very broken, remanufacturing what cannot be fixed, repurposing to give items a new destination, recycling when all the R’s before aren’t possible, and recovering materials or recovering energy from the incineration process as a last resort.
As you can see, some of these are the responsibility of producers, others of consumers.
Shift 2: Rethinking progress
Okay, so we need to shift the way we produce and consume. But to make a circular economy happen, we also need a fundamental shift in how we see progress. Spoiler: it’s not infinite growth and accumulating possessions.
From possession to access
For decades, progress has been measured by economic growth: how much more we can produce, consume, and sell each year.
In a circular economy, progress isn’t about having more, it’s about doing better. It’s about shifting from a culture of ownership to one of access, where sharing, leasing, and renting replace the need for constant new purchases.
From possession to connection
If you take a good look at yourself, dive into your most beautiful memories, then they are not made up of the things you bought, right? They are made up of the people you were with, the places you visited, the connections you built, the real-life experiences you had.
It's time to acknowledge that progress is in the time we're able to spend with the people we love, with nature, and with our creativity. Not with the material things we have.
Rethinking our role
Within a circular economy, we move away from being consumers who buy, use and dispose. We become custodians, who responsibly use and care for their products and eventually return the resources to the system.
Join the rethink revolution
The circular economy isn’t just an abstract concept. It’s a movement. One that you can join in a very simple way. By following the R’s mentioned before. The ones that are relevant for you as a consumer are:
- Refuse to buy products that you don’t need, or that are unsustainable
- Rethink how you use our products, by opting for shared or multifunctional items
- Reuse, and extend the life of products by using them again and again
- Repair broken things
- Sell your items to a refurbisher, who brings them back to a usable or like-new state
- Remanufacture: either sell your items to someone who’ll reuse components or remanufacture things yourself if you have the skills
- Repurpose by turning an old snowboard into a bench, jeans into a bag, a glass peanut butter jar into a drinking glass, storage container or tea light holder and a tin can into a planter.
- Recycle as a last resort. Separate your waste appropriately, so it can be processed.
Want to learn how to use these 7 R’s in practice? Read our article - including fun, practical examples - here.
By rethinking our material culture, we can address both our environmental challenges and our cultural ones. Let’s create a society that values the things we own, as well as the planet that makes them possible.
In a former life Nina was circular economy advisor. She was missing a creative touch in her life, so she turned to copywriting instead. Then she was missing a sustainability touch in her life, so she combined the two. Now she's a sustainability advisor who writes, or - if you will - a writer who gives sustainability advice. She does this with her own company New Alchemists.
Nina helped setup Rethink Things. Together with the Rethink Team, she developed our strategy, branding, website, socials, newsletters, you name it. Today, she continues to write for the platform.
