{"id":16723,"title":"A New Word Order","description":"The routines we learn growing up are important as they teach us how to get started in life and follow the way the World already works. The problem is that it locks in the way the world currently works, not the way we might want it to work, and some of those ways might not be good ideas at all.","content":"

When we grow up we learn how to play the game and follow the rules, like how to buy stuff at the shop or how to throw things in the bin. Those routines teach us how to get started in life and follow the way the World already works. The problem is that it locks in the way the World currently works, not the way we might want it to work, and some of those ways might not be good ideas at all. Yet curious things happen when we try to imagine alternatives.\"\"
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- We printed these limited edition tees with waste ink. So... is it still waste?<\/em><\/p>

Almost everything in the world is made the same way, based on the giant conveyor belt model. Humans take resources out of the ground and turn them into products that are designed to be thrown away. Most people can understand that but wouldn\u2019t describe it that way because most people come at this from a different perspective: Not as system designers or\u00a0 producers, but as consumers. Using our own words, we\u2019d probably say that people make stuff, we buy it, then throw it away. Either way, the effect is to decrease natural resources on one end of the system and increase pollution on the other.\u00a0 This is not sustainable. But because we only learned one way of operating, because almost everything is based on the same model, it is very difficult to imagine anything else, so we base everything on the same model. What an annoying trap. Part of that is down to how we think.\u00a0<\/p>

If someone said A, B, C, D \u2026\u00a0 we say E. But instead, try to imagine a totally new letter, not part of the alphabet. The curious thing is that both a totally new letter that you just made up, and the letter E, are totally fictional concepts. A person just made them up and both are equally valid, legit ideas.\u00a0<\/p>

That\u2019s just playing around with letters to make a point. But what happens if you start playing around with business models, this time for real?<\/p><\/blockquote>

Instead of a straight line, let's imagine we can bend a supply chain round and make the line a circle. Instead of trash pouring out of one end and resources hoovered up by the other, the material from worn out products is used to make new products so there is no waste. In that future, material would flow around and remain in use, instead of polluting the environment.\"\"\"\"\"\"
We did exactly that, making products from natural materials using renewable energy that are designed to come back and be remade. When materials flowed back, were remade into new products, and resold, it felt strangely normal.\u00a0<\/p>

Perhaps that shouldn't be a surprise. It would feel very unnatural to go back to a throwaway model, even with organic materials. Why would we ever want to throw away valuable materials? It\u2019s more natural to keep them in use. Literally: In nature the outcome from one process is food for the next. There\u2019s no trash.\u00a0<\/p>

Building a different model may have felt natural, but when we tried to describe it, the words just didn't come out: Instead of complete sentences, blanks spaces exist where letters and words we need don\u2019t exist yet<\/p>

What do you call a customer who is also your material supplier?\u00a0<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>

If they bought something, but then intend to sell the material back to you later, what was the product?\u00a0 Did you sell it or rent it and who owns the material? And how do you tell a story that doesn\u2019t have a beginning and an end?\u00a0<\/em><\/p>

Supplustomer? Prodoform? Materialcustodian? Flowtale? You might have better suggestions for these new words, each idea valid and legit.<\/p>

But perhaps more importantly, the fact we need new words is an exciting sign of progress. If we need<\/u><\/em> <\/u>new words for things, we have discovered a New World.<\/p>

And with exploring it comes the opportunity to break the deadlock, and make progress towards something more sustainable.<\/p>","urlTitle":"new-word-order","url":"\/blog\/new-word-order\/","editListUrl":"\/my-blogs","editUrl":"\/my-blogs\/edit\/new-word-order\/","fullUrl":"https:\/\/zavqelunrix.online\/blog\/new-word-order\/","featured":false,"published":true,"showOnSitemap":true,"hidden":true,"visibility":null,"createdAt":1645617630,"updatedAt":1651221094,"publishedAt":1648474362,"lastReadAt":null,"division":{"id":14,"name":"Rapanui"},"tags":[],"metaImage":{"original":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/lfnrf4ishzpnv5ppy6ujcpdzpbbvsh1rksr8w3wixfarjvze.png","thumbnail":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/lfnrf4ishzpnv5ppy6ujcpdzpbbvsh1rksr8w3wixfarjvze.png.jpg?w=1140&h=855","banner":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/lfnrf4ishzpnv5ppy6ujcpdzpbbvsh1rksr8w3wixfarjvze.png.jpg?w=1920&h=1440"},"metaTitle":"A New Word Order","metaDescription":"Material flow tracks the path of materials used to make stuff and where it ends up after its use. Here's how we recycle fabric to rethink what waste actually is","keyPhraseCampaignId":null,"series":[],"similarReads":[{"id":50628,"title":"Born at Sea: The Story of Stripes and Why They Still Belong There","url":"\/blog\/the-history-of-the-breton-stripes\/","urlTitle":"the-history-of-the-breton-stripes","division":14,"description":"The striped t-shirt feels effortless. It\u2019s a piece that reappears every summer \u2014 simple, familiar, easy to wear. But what makes it timeless isn\u2019t just the way it looks. It\u2019s a garment born from utility, designed for durability, and tied to the sea.","published":true,"metaImage":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/rl8uqtnvdzbt93enzymcwr9rkslsjkn3vqvxg7osc2nqlo8j.jpeg.jpg?w=1140&h=855","banner":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/rl8uqtnvdzbt93enzymcwr9rkslsjkn3vqvxg7osc2nqlo8j.jpeg.jpg?w=1920&h=1440"},"hidden":0},{"id":49797,"title":"Scaling up microplastics removal with Josh and the Nurdle team","url":"\/blog\/scaling-up-microplastics-removal-with-josh\/","urlTitle":"scaling-up-microplastics-removal-with-josh","division":14,"description":"Solving plastic pollution takes more than awareness - it takes action at every level. At Rapanui, we focus on designing waste out of the system by using natural materials and building products to come back and be remade. Josh and the team at Nurdle focus on the waste that\u2019s already here - removing microplastics from coastlines before they harm wildlife or wash back out to sea. Both approaches matter - and both are part of building systems that work better than the ones we\u2019ve inherited.","published":true,"metaImage":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/hn9k54zlqja3jnqrvzeix95j0eglqysshtstyzigcwtxytgh.jpeg.jpg?w=1140&h=855","banner":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/hn9k54zlqja3jnqrvzeix95j0eglqysshtstyzigcwtxytgh.jpeg.jpg?w=1920&h=1440"},"hidden":0},{"id":50034,"title":"The Ocean\u2019s Acid Test, and We\u2019re Failing","url":"\/blog\/the-oceans-acid-test-were-failing\/","urlTitle":"the-oceans-acid-test-were-failing","division":14,"description":"The health of the ocean is changing faster than we realised \u2014 and not just at the surface. A new study has found that ocean acidification, often called the \u201cevil twin\u201d of the climate crisis, has already crossed a critical threshold for planetary health. Scientists now say we\u2019re \u201crunning out of time\u201d to protect marine ecosystems \u2014 with the deepest parts of the ocean showing the most dramatic signs of change","published":true,"metaImage":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/ayfiuiy3gaciyslsgus1rsypzigfku0vcrjytk9dgr2k8tts.jpeg.jpg?w=1140&h=855","banner":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/ayfiuiy3gaciyslsgus1rsypzigfku0vcrjytk9dgr2k8tts.jpeg.jpg?w=1920&h=1440"},"hidden":0}],"labels":{"monitorCheckExcluded":"1"}}