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Linear economy supply chain risk

Supply chain risk

The coronavirus is already highlighting supply chain risk and creating major headaches for many businesses. How can you protect your business in the face of the next mega-disruption, whether driven by extreme weather, disasters, or even geo-politics? We explore how those businesses working towards a circular economy are mitigating these potentially fatal flaws. They aim to recover their own resources, to prioritise local supply and decentralised production, and to slow down consumption instead.

Circular Economy Podcast Episode 20 How to be a problem hunter

Episode 20 – How to be a problem-hunter

In this episode, we focus on the ‘how’ of making your business circular, looking at the different ways people were getting to grips with the problem they wanted to solve. We also get an update on the new subscription model for ApparelXchange, and get some ‘bonus’ circular economy examples from David Greenfield (aka Dr Resources of the Circular Economy Club London).
How do we find a linear problem that needs a circular economy solution? Bec Evans, author of How to Have a Happy Hustle: the complete guide to making your ideas happen” suggests starting with what’s bugging you, and become ‘avid problem collectors’. We look at how our guests in the last series hunted down their linear problems and got clear on what the customer needed – the ‘job to be done’ in ‘Lean’ terms.

Inclusive Capitalism Circular Economy

Inclusive Capitalism – the basis of a just and fair circular economy?

We see increasing awareness amongst businesses that all key stakeholders need to be considered in directors’ decision-making. The work of Tomorrow’s Company heavily influenced changes to the Companies Act 2006, requiring boards to adopt an enlightened shareholder approach. US Business Roundtable is now promoting this approach, and B Corps encourage businesses worldwide be more inclusive, with a focus on people and planet as well as profit.

Circular Economy Podcast Episode 19 Asa Stenmarck of IVL

Episode 19 – Åsa Stenmarck of IVL on how to create circular behaviour

We talk to Åsa Stenmarck, of IVL, the Swedish Environmental Research Institute. Åsa works on projects that aim to create more sustainable consumption (including reducing consumption overall, sharing, waste minimization, recycling and so on), and she is particularly interested in plastics and food. We talk about return systems for food containers, food waste, behaviour change, ‘weasel words’, and how people expect both governments and companies to make ‘good choices’ easy for us.

Renting clothes is better for us, our planet and our babies

The ‘new normal’ – why renting clothes is better for us, our planet, and our babies

Renting clothing and fashion is going mainstream. We look at why it is better for people and planet, and how Eve Kekeh, founder of Bundlee, built a successful babywear rental subscription business by helping parents choose high-quality, sustainable options and get more value for money. We unpack the linear economy mindset of ‘sell more’, explaining why it’s a race to the bottom…

Circular Economy Podcast Episode 18 - Eve Kekeh of Bundlee

Episode 18 – Eve Kekeh of Bundlee

We talk to Eve Kekeh, the founder of Bundlee, the UK’s first baby clothing rental subscription. Eve started Bundlee to give parents a sustainable alternative to buying clothes that will be outgrown very quickly. With Bundlee, parents can rent their baby’s wardrobe and swap clothes for the next size up whenever they like. Outgrown clothes are professionally cleaned before being sent to the next family. We find out how Eve researched to problems associated with babywear, uncover some surprising obstacles she had to overcome, and hear about some of the advantages of the rental and subscription business model – for the business and its customers.

What I learnt from Al Gore about Circularity

The circular economy is an essential tool in mitigating the negative impacts of the climate and ecological crisis. We in the Global North need to do more than anyone, given that we created the problem in the first place. By taking on board the principles of a circular economy, engage in conversation with those around us, lobby people in power and take circular actions in our businesses and homes. This will mean we can move away from our current linear economy as well as reducing carbon emissions which will improve prosperity, enhance the reputation of business, and create healthier lifestyles to the benefit of ourselves and our planet.

Circular Economy Podcast Episode 17 Nancy Bocken of Homie

Episode 17 – Nancy Bocken of Homie

Nancy Bocken co-founded the company HOMIE, which is developing circular services for pay-per-use home appliances, starting with washing machines. Nancy has an academic background, and she is professor and research coordinator in Sustainable Business Management and Practice at Lund University in Sweden.
We talk about how Homie got started, and how the service works. Nancy tells about some of the challenges they faced, and the benefits of pay-per-use for customers, the business, and our environment.
Nancy gives us some great tips for those of you thinking about circular projects or startups, and we hear how Homie has built relationships with its customers so that a lot of the marketing is by word-of-mouth.