Reflections on Circular Triangle’s beginnings
by Kristin Schillings
Circular Triangle began as an informal breakfast networking group. Wanting to give people interested in a Circular Economy a forum to exchange ideas, Jennifer Hill Carrigan, Crystal Dreisbach, and Stacy Glass found a group of like-minded people thinking about better ways to make our cities work. Meeting at Mad Hatters in Durham, an community of people interested in working together to move towards a more sustainable future was formed.
Encouraged by a positive response, the group looked for things they could do to make a meaningful impact in the Triangle. The 2019 Circularity 19 conference in Minneapolis seemed like a logical next stop, even if it was a 15-hour drive.
Finding inspiration in the largest circular economy event in North America, they found an opportunity to bring some of those ideas back home. In partnership with Burt’s Bees, they brought the circular design company IDEO and urban design firm Gehl back to Durham to participate in a local presentation and visioning exercise on the Circular Economy. With attendance high and interest sparked in the community, the visit highlighted the need for local organization around circularity in the Triangle to most effectively utilize this momentum.
Inspired by the example of cities that had established collaboratives or had circular economy already baked into their infrastructure, they looked for ways to effectively encourage circular practices at a municipal level. With this motivation, Circular Triangle was formed in January 2020 and the members of the monthly networking group came together to serve as the board. With a background in Public Health and Behavior Change, Jennifer’s perspective on using system and organizational change to affect people’s behavior made her a good fit for the position of Executive Director. Sponsorship from Upstream Works ensured that, although they would still need to find their own funding, Circular Triangle’s status as a non-profit was assured.
Getting a Circularity Assessment commissioned in Durham became a focus, as it is a powerful first step in understanding where we are and how we can best move forward. Realizing that starting with one waste stream was a good way to narrow down the overwhelming need to move everything to a more circular system, they looked to focus on building & construction waste, a significant waste stream in a community rapidly expanding its population. Even given the pervasive impacts of the pandemic, the first two years for Circular Triangle were fruitful. Partnerships like the one with Durham Community Land Trustees to bring the first Living Building Challenge certified affordable housing to North Carolina is an exciting step towards a sustainable future for everyone. Creating opportunities for industry members is an important focus of combating building & construction waste, and we are looking forward to seeing the impacts of our waste management plan developed for Haven Design and Build with the Duke Nicholas School of the Environment. More about Circular Triangle’s work can be found here.
Continuing to create collaboration opportunities for private sector partners, working to advocate for circular solutions within our local governments, and raising awareness in our community are all things that Circular Triangle is excited to continue as we move forward. There are lots of ways to help as this organization grows and does its part to move our community towards a healthier and more regenerative future. Join us!
