Everything on this planet is part of a vicious circle. Because we do this, that could happen, or the other way around. The economy is not about growth. The world we live in, the things we use are getting smaller. So, is economic growth dead?
Where did it go wrong?
The foundation of economics is wrong; it was built on the concept of profit, not because of social importance. We have to go way back, even before money became an issue, to find out where it went wrong. We used to focus only on: eat eat eat, destroy destroy destroy, eat more, destroy more. Even economics admit that capitalism has failed. We all like the idea of sustained economic growth, but in reality, we are to blame for the way nature reacts. We are predators, looking for more, wanting more, but in the end, humankind has become a problem for humanity.
Nature can regenerate itself
No matter how much fish we ate, fish stocks would almost replenish automatically, and they would come from other places in the ocean. Forests would regenerate within weeks if there is enough rain falling out of the sky and sunlight to let the trees grow. And it is true; this beautiful planet can regenerate itself, it is kind of magical. But because of our interfering, abusing the earth, we are destroying its magical, natural power to restore.
Recommended: Consumerism In ‘The West’: A Society Built On Exploitation
Circular economy
The circular economy is what works on this planet, is what we know. Residues are completely are entirely reused in the system. The only problem is, humanity uses a lot of plastic. Mother Earth cannot reuse plastic. There is an area in the Pacific Ocean where nature has started to gather much of our plastic. Maybe, in the future, scientists will discover plastic-eating bacteria that can turn plastic into reusable natural chemicals. But that will take forever, long after we all extinct. We, humans, are going too fast. We are cutting down trees too fast, we are polluting the earth too fast, and we are creating more plastic than fish too fast. We all do it too fast. That is why Mother Earth cannot keep up. We have earth that can regenerate, can recycle, but we are still managing to destroy it all.
Recommended: Combing Plastic Waste Out Oceans: Competition For Boyan Slat
A credit card per week that is what we eat
At this moment, we consume everything, more than we can bear, until there is nothing left to eat each other. A recent study has shown that the amount of plastic we consume every week is as much as one credit card. How? Well, first of all, it is a plastic wrapper, that accidentally ends up in your stomach, but also the fish we eat, ate the plastic that ends up in the ocean. The air we breathe is partly plastic, the dust we walk on. This is the new world, the world we created, a world full of toxic plastic parts. It is a bitter irony that the credit card, symbol of buying, of capitalism, makes us toxic.
Economic Growth Is Dead: Welcome To The Circular Economy. How Much Plastic Do You Eat?
Waste nothing, recycle everything
Waste is a myth, that is how the circular economy works. It is very easy, actually. The concept of the circular economy is a process where nothing is wasted. Everything that we produce, even our waste, eventually is turned back into food and products. If you like it or not, this is how our planet works. Everything is recycled, millions of times until the end of time.
Recommended: Circular Architecture 'The GreenHouse': Utrecht, Netherlands
Consuming from the heart
As mentioned above, we consume a lot, and we consume until we cannot consume anymore. We consume from a state of fear and insecurity and eat our way through the "buffet" of nature. You cannot only understand the circular economy by using a calculator; it must be understood from the heart. The circular economy means being happy with what you have. Consuming to sustain yourself, not to stuff yourself. Consuming because you need things, not because you compete with your neighbour who is the first to go to the moon, or something like that. We are made to consume, and that is fine. But we put the all-you-can-eat Buffet out of action.
We need to understand the painful truth that destroying the planet is actually part of our destiny as a species, written in our biology and also a simple function of our population that increases exponentially until it becomes unsustainable. But we are incredibly smart and powerful. We can overcome our biology and change our destiny. We can put uncertainty and competition aside and work on it from the heart. Just like the heart, which takes up the blood and then pumps it out, we have to learn to give and take. We have to embrace the circular economy.
Recommended: Blue Planet Earth: The Amount Of Water You Use
Did you find this an interesting article or do you have a question or remark? Leave a comment below. We try to respond the same day.