Construction and demolition account for a large proportion of the total global waste produced. In order to reduce this burden on the environment we need targeted solutions. Material reuse has been identified as a possible solution but current practices fall short of efficient reuse of construction and demolition byproducts. To overcome this obstacle we must prioritize building materials and designs that plan for efficient end of life reuse (Principle 1 of circular economy).

Sometimes, protecting the built environment means bringing nature back into it.

Even if we replace the entire American fleet of gas-powered cars with electric ones, the power plants needed as a power source to produce that electricity would still emit greenhouse gases. While this wouldn’t equate to the amount produced under the current gas automobile regime, just flipping the switch to electric wouldn’t result in a carbon-neutral auto industry. 

The journey to zero waste requires targeted approaches designed to eliminate specific sources of excess. While it can be difficult to identify the changes that need to be implemented, there has already been significant work in the field across the United States and around the world that we can learn from. 

The “rational man” is exhausting the planet’s life support systems, leaving humanity short of materials essential to health and quality of life. If we care about future generations, we have to care about sustainability of the commons.

Amsterdam just published a five-year plan to invest in circular economy ideals. They focus on three supply chains, and the Triangle can too.

“Capitalism cannot function without growth and so here is the big thing that nobody wants to talk about and yet we have to, which is, if we can’t have growth we have to change capitalism.” - Dirk Philipsen

The pile up of plastic has been a long-standing environmental issue for quite some time now, with the world producing almost 300 million tons of plastic a year—most of it single use. With recycling out of the question as an efficient solution for various plastic types, there must be other solutions. That is where Crystal Dreisbach, Executive Director of Don’t Waste Durham and Founder of GreenToGo, comes in.

Materials marketplaces are novel technology-based platforms pioneered by the United States Business Council for Sustainable Development to encourage collaboration between different business sectors. They effectively identify uses for waste generated by one industry and facilitate its redistribution among many other businesses. This model generates value for all parties involved by allowing waste from one industry to be purchased and used as input material for another.

“If we don’t address the underlying problem, we’re going to move from one huge crisis to another,” says Don Addu, Southeast Director of Citizen’s Climate Lobby.

“The systems of oppression that have led to the deaths of so many Black people were the same systems that perpetuated environmental injustice,” says Intersectional Environmentalist, Leah Thomas.

As climate change increases the chance of stronger storms and heavier rainfall, the occurrence of harmful flooding events becomes more frequent as well. The three principles of circular economy can help us manage this problem.