Transformational Circular Economy Case Studies

Endless growth is the idea that we can and, in some cases, should grow indefinitely. It relies on the continued extraction of water, minerals, fossil fuels, or other energy sources to fuel the expansion of human development, production and consumption. Ever-increasing pressures on the environment are exacerbated by the excessive overproduction and overconsumption patterns of wealthy countries that are out of step with the realities of the climate crisis.

The Center for Biological Diversity is building an alternative economy work portfolio to push back against our extractive, endless growth economy and many projects have a zero-waste focus. After a short primer about the connections between zero waste, degrowth and alternative economies, we’ll provide an overview of four campaigns tackling waste and promoting reuse: our secondhand, reusable food serviceware, libraries of things and low-waste disaster campaigns. Attendees to this session will learn how to support individual and systems changes through different case study examples.