Definitely a case of too many tabs open this time. There has been a lot going on at work and in our home so I’ve not been so active online.

I’ve begun talking about how I intend to begin the circular economy conversation in North Wexford, I’ll blog about it soon. Or ask me about it directly if your interested.

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What is the circular economy? You are going to hear me bang on about it a lot.

a circular economy aims to redefine growth, focusing on positive society-wide benefits. It entails gradually decoupling economic activity from the consumption of finite resources, and designing waste out of the system. Underpinned by a transition to renewable energy sources, the circular model builds economic, natural, and social capital. It is based on three principles:

• Design out waste and pollution
• Keep products and materials in use
• Regenerate natural systems

Ellen MacArthur Foundation Upstream a guide to the Circular Economy, plastic packaging and waste.

In a circular economy, upstream innovation is about tracing a problem back to its root cause and tackling it there. It means that rather than working out how to deal with a pile of waste, we prevent it from being created in the first place.

Capture untapped business opportunities

Not sure where to start with the circular Economy? Rethink the product, Rethink the Packaging, Rethink the business model. Great resources for any business focused on changing their approach to packaging. The website has case studied, presentations and workshop tools.

Climate scientists highlight impact of ‘unnecessary’, energy-consuming emails

Icelanders Turn $12 Cod into $3,500 Worth of Products

This week during the IDEN Virtual Cuppa I heard about the Overton window for the first time – it’s also know as the window of discourse on Wikipedia. Its a to do with what is socially acceptable to discuss

The Overton Window is an approach to identifying the ideas that define the spectrum of acceptability of governmental policies. Politicians can only act within the acceptable range.

Shifting the Overton Window involves proponents of policies outside the window persuading the public to expand the window. Proponents of current policies, or similar ones within the window, seek to convince people that policies outside it should be deemed unacceptable.

Lizzy Magie invented a game that many of us will play over the holidays, sitting around arguing, passing go, getting stuck in jail, buying property, staying in hotels or paying outlandish sums of money when we land on a street with houses or hotels. Do you know what it is yet? have you ever hear Lizzy Magies name before? No neither had I. A fascinating story of a feminist whom in 1903 patents a board game called Monopoly. One of Lizzy Magie’s heroes was Henry George. I learnt about Henry George and Georgism reading chapter 5 of Doughnut Economics, which I created a Padlet about & shared during the IDEN book club on Wednesday. The original game was called The Landlords game, a new book goes through the story of it, why we don’t know Lizzy’s name and why we think a man called Charles Darrow invented it in 1935! If you have ever wondered about who owns ideas, patents or used the board game as an illustration of innovation or creativity. This article is worth reading in full, nice one Mary Pilon.

Commons Engine, creating living economies for thrivability.

Reimagine contemporary place making in Ireland, Irish Architecture Foundation.

How to get smarter every day stay uncomfortable.

A very beautiful Peat Anthology , EU 2020 created by Re-Peat a youth led collective, shared with me some time ago by Deirdre Lane, I went back to find it and share it with a Dutch Artist I have been recently getting to know. She reminded me of Claudy Jongstra the Dutch Artist Feltmaker who breeds her own sheep and dies the wool using plants.

Interesting alternative sites supporting and promoting circular economy and environmentally meaningful businesses:

• reuzi – raise awareness on the environmental problems posed by single-use materials while making the solutions accessible reuzi.ie BTW this Eco-egg is a great alternative to laundry detergent, its cheaper and it reduces my plastic purchases.
• I discovered via a Greenbiz newsletter this week that Salesforce set a goal to conserve, restore, and grow 100 million trees by 2030. Not only that but they have a site near me in North Wexford that they are working with, go support it.
• Feedback Organic from Oz is just a brilliant example of circular economy working in communities with food. Its the kind of theing I can see working really well in Wexford. Collecting brown bin waste, converting it into compost, growing seasonal vegetables, a vegetable box for sale and the cycle goes again.
• Have you thought about becoming a Climate Ambassador?
• Community managed Eco-Funds, GreenFi tools help resource-dependent communities access and transparently manage international climate and environmental funding. The company is registered in Ireland and provides its systems globally with first use cases across East Africa.

The Role of Relationships in Complex Adaptive Systems

The Founder’s Dilemma: To Compete or Unbundle

The following poem often comes to mind. When it does I am reminded of my maternal grandmother. She loved purple. I discovered Kate Raworth shares the same birthday as her, so I sent her the poem for her birthday! She says its been one of her favourites since she was 16 years old!

Warning

Jenny Joseph

When I am an old woman I shall wear purple
With a red hat which doesn’t go, and doesn’t suit me.
And I shall spend my pension on brandy and summer gloves
And satin sandals, and say we’ve no money for butter.
I shall sit down on the pavement when I’m tired
And gobble up samples in shops and press alarm bells
And run my stick along the public railings
And make up for the sobriety of my youth.
I shall go out in my slippers in the rain
And pick flowers in other people’s gardens
And learn to spit.

You can wear terrible shirts and grow more fat
And eat three pounds of sausages at a go
Or only bread and pickle for a week
And hoard pens and pencils and beermats and things in boxes.

But now we must have clothes that keep us dry
And pay our rent and not swear in the street
And set a good example for the children.
We must have friends to dinner and read the papers.

But maybe I ought to practice a little now?
So people who know me are not too shocked and surprised
When suddenly I am old, and start to wear purple.

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APPs

Looking forward to an opportunity to check out consider.it – aims to have created a method by which large groups of people could civilly deliberate together online and find common ground, even on contentious topics. The research was conducted in collaboration with colleagues in Computer Science, Political Communication, Statistics, and Human-centered Design.

I’ve seen Kumu.io in action several times recently and I love it, cant wait to try it out with a client or for a project.

EarthHero is my favourite app at helping me take action on my carbon use, I reviewed my goals & I’m making progress.

I’ve not managed to use it yet but having had a quick look at it online I’m up for giving this app a go – Get your carbon footprint under control with this shopping app Evocco

Future learning

This course looks really interesting: Transition Design: Seeding and Catalysing Systems-Level Change 2022

Books to read:

To speak for the trees by Diana Beresford-Kroeger

How we show up by Mia Birdsong love her photo on the website, Mia has a podcast too.

Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer

The Case for Degrowth By Giorgos Kallis, Susan Paulson, Giacomo D’Alisa and Federico Demaria