Eric Corey Freed

Cheat Sheet / Updated 09-30-2021

Waste doesn’t exist within the natural world — every output of a system acts as an input for another. Material lifecycles within nature are circular, not linear. And though waste doesn’t exist within the natural world, it most certainly — at a highly accelerated rate — exists within the human world. Populations and the demand for resources continue to surge, and the rate at which materials and products are purchased and disposed of increases as well. To avoid waste, the modern management of material lifecycles must transition from a linear model (one based on the take-make-waste philosophy) to a circular model (one based on designing out waste, keeping materials in use for as long as possible, and regenerating natural ecosystems). Making this transition will require that the global economy reject waste as a necessary component of the global economy, rethink how material lifecycles can be managed to maximize product resiliency and recyclability, and redesign how the human race manages its resources in the future. The circular economy throws away “waste” as a necessary part of human life. This Cheat Sheet offers an alternative vision.