Climate crisis: The opportunities

Every crisis opens the door to numerous opportunities. The urgency alone motivates us not only to work harder but to find new ways of seeing, thinking and addressing it. The ongoing pandemic is one of them. Just imagine how many billions of dollars pharmaceutical companies raked in because of this crisis. The manufacturers of PPEs, facemasks, face shields, etc. are likewise making a good kill. Arguably though, when the pandemic is over, the windfall disappears. 

There are crises, however, that provide continuing opportunities to the go-getters. One of them is climate change. Notably, according to credible scientists, climate change does not only refer to rising temperature. It talks about extreme weather that is caused largely by carbon dioxide emissions out of the production of fossil fuel and the use of it. The good side is, the supposed cureled to the rise of the circular economy.

That is why we’ve heard calls for us to recycle, reuse, repurpose, remanufacture, refurbish, share, etc. If you are keen enough, these are all aimed at reducing wastes and minimizing use of resource inputs (like raw materials coming from trees, mineral deposits, marine life, etc.). All part and parcel of what we call circular economy.

Simply put, as opposed to the traditional linear economy which has a “take, make and dispose” model, according to Wikipedia, the circular economy “aims to keep products, equipment and infrastructure in use for longer, thus improving the productivity of these resources.” Then, “waste materials and energy should become input for other processes through waste valorization: either as a component or recovered resource for another industrial process or as regenerative resources for nature (e.g., compost).”

For one, renewable energy (solar, wind, etc.) is given a vigorous push to minimize reliance on fossil fuel. So that, today, Clean-Tech 2.0 is creating a stir.  In fact, no less than US President Biden’s made a call for clean energy. Notably, huge and influential investors (like Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos and Richard Branson) are either joining or bolstering their investment in clean technology. Markedly, this call opened opportunities to manufacturers of solar equipment like panels, batteries, etc. 

Moreover, the race to improve such technology led to the development of electric vehicles. A breakthrough that led to the circular economy of the electric vehicle battery.  Particularly, on the reuse of lithium-ion batteries before these are ultimately recycled. 

We may say, these are all big and are too expensive to do. That we, ordinary mortals, can’t do anything about it. But wait, if we care to go deeper into it, this initiative includes minimizing our wastes like plastics. Why? Because climate change is caused primarily by our neglect and indiscriminate disposal of all kinds of wastes.

As individuals, where can we contribute?  Apart from reusing and recycling of plastics, in the disposal of used clothes or should we say, preloved or preowned items. Or, in buying too.  Some may just have a few but others, like trendsetters and fashionistas, have a lot. Unless they opt to dump them in a trash bin and become pollutants, they can always sell them. In doing so, not only that they can recoup a portion of what they’ve spent  in buying them, the buyer will be delighted on the fact that those items were once in the hands of a trendsetter, a person who knows fashion. Also, it will be a good feeling for the buyer (especially if an environmentalist) to be able to support the green initiatives by avoiding further drain of our natural resources (for raw materials) in manufacturing new products. Not to mention, the consequential pollution during production.

Just in case, you feel too little about buying preloved or preowned items, consider these facts.  Back in 2015, credible researchers “estimated that the wider circular economy was a US$4.5 trillion opportunity (this includes the many services as well as goods sold between people).” In November, last year, it was estimated that fashion alone was a US$5 trillion circular economy opportunity. Yes, this big, as several platforms exclusively dealing with preloved items have sprouted.   

True enough, we are now in an era of fast fashion. So, if you are a trendsetter or a shopaholic, your closets must be awash with garments by this time. Your racks must be filled with shoes and bags to the max. So, instead of just letting those rats and termites feast on them or dump them in the landfill, sell them and recover a few pesos for your next buys and help prevent natural disasters.