A circular economy is an economy that works to reduce waste to the smallest amount possible because everything is continually reused to the best of the firm’s ability and stops the linear reduce-reuse-recycle pattern that inevitably creates more waste. The linear economy does not work because when a product’s life cycle ends so abruptly, it makes waste pile up. Unfortunately, people do not recycle as much as they should, and even if a product is recycled, it usually loosed much of its functionality and only goes through one recycling cycle. A circular economy solves this and is heralded as the best solution for the environment from an economic and supply chain lens as it gives as many pieces of an item a reusable and life functional life for as long as possible.

These kinds of economies work very simply. According to the reading, there are three simple steps: designing out waste, keeping products and materials in use, and regenerating living systems. Firms that employ this method live by these steps to make things as sustainable as they can. Designing out waste essentially means that all portions of a product have been engineered not to harm the human experience in any way. This includes the emission of unnecessary greenhouse gases and traffic congestion. This could look like a company utilizing electric cars to get materials from one place to another or not using plastic in packaging but opting for something else. The second step is really just about encouraging as many reusable parts of products as possible to give these materials a long and useful life. The third step is really about focusing on using renewable resources and not squandering the limited supply of fossil fuels and other non-renewable resources.

This economy goes hand in hand with the concept of cradle-to-cradle business models. It essentially seems like a different name for a circular economy but on a smaller scale within a firm. The amount of businesses, especially within the European Union, working towards a cradle-to-cradle approach is incredibly promising and inspiring. Getting to read business plans gave me a new level of respect for companies that make this a main aim.

At the end of the day, society needs to realize that recycling is not working. SO few things actually get recycled. effectively ad it is a pointless and fruitless system. Slowly transitioning over to a circular economy is the only chance at rea hope society has to beat the climate crisis and start rehabilitating our planet to a point where wildfires are not globally catastrophic anymore.

I really enjoyed getting to hear from both the speaker at the embassy and the speaker from the ACG office of sustainability. All of these women were incredibly insightful and opened up so many new perspectives to me.

I loved hearing what the sustainability office is doing and how they are incorporating so many wonderful ideas into the college as a whole. What really interested me about her presentation was when she talked about implementing the ability to bring reusable plates and cups to university dining and how students ( I believe) could get a discount on food if they brought their own materials. I really resonated with her talking about how nobody pays attention to flyers or posters on campus, and really, the only way to spread this kind of information is through word of mouth and such. Having an on-campus position at CofC, I have experienced much of the same frustration. Speaking of CofC, I believe if we implemented some of her policies, I think there would be a decent amount of people who take advantage of these policies.

Speaking of policy, when she spoke about the fundraising team’s reluctance to accept donations from questionable companies, it reminded me of a paper I wrote for my Arts Policy class about gift acceptance policies and how important these types of policies are for an organization. Setting boundaries with donors is an incredibly important- and sustainable- practice that needs to be utilized more in the nonprofit field as a whole. I also found it really interesting when she spoke about how the university tries to follow best practices of US schools and how that plays into what they program.

As for the embassy speaker, I loved her talking about the office of commerce positions that are available and how that ties into business. If I ever decide to move abroad, I could see myself potentially doing something similar. It seems to be a really fulfilling position where you get to make an actual change. I loved her talking about how she works with the film agencies to get different films authorized and produced here in Greece. Also, the way she acts as a liaison between different countries and their marketing teams. That office seems like a real asset, and I am incredibly glad that I know about it now; in the case, I am ever part of a firm that wants to expand overseas, I can reach out to them in the case of need.

Hydra was an amazing and culturally rich experience. I am so lucky to have seen the different parts of Greece and how they operate together. The one thing I really liked about Hydra was the about of local entrepreneurs there were in the area. There were so many handmade and Grecian-made items it was really great to see! Greece has such a special way of contributing to the tourism economy, and I love that they use small entrepreneurs to do so and that there are fewer chain stores on the islands too. The islands are so removed from developed society it really can be like stepping back in time. I loved getting to experience this.

Hydra was also so different from Mykonos in that you can really tell one is built for tourists and that one is not. The food and gifts on Hydra were much more reasonably priced than that of Mykonos- there was also much less nightlife. Hydra definitely felt more like a local vacation spot rather than a tourism hub. I kind of thought of Hydra as taking a day trip to Savannah! It is crazy how different the two experiences are with the same general amount of travel time.

Over the last three days, I have learned a lot about supply chain management. I did not know much about supply chain management and how to handle the supply chain in a sustainable manner. I learned the difference between linear and circular supply chain and the different types of waste management that comes along with them. The videos we watched made me think a lot about where all of the waste goes and especially about how waste gets dumped onto third-world countries that don’t have the infrastructure to handle it. It isn’t fair to these countries- especially when plastic products are pushed onto unsuspecting communities who did not ask for this large company intervention.

I also have learned a lot about circular and linear economies and how that affects how waste and how this can be done sustainably if handled properly. In a circular economy, there are bits of products that are remanufactured and simply used to reduce waste overall by simply not creating as much- this is essentially a cradle-to-cradle approach. Cradle-to-grave mirrors the linear economy where there is a plan for all portions of materials from inception to disposal. The main goal of cradle-to-grave is to eliminate waste in a responsible way.

Cradle-to-Cradle is by far the more sustainable option and it goes hand in hand with industrial symbiosis which is where different industries communicate with one another and find ways to use parts of a material that do not normally get used. This is a great way to be sustainable because it finds creative ways to use all portions and create less waste. So many things are useful in ways not seen at first glance and it just takes a different view point to see there is a different and better way to do things that is helpful to the environment as a whole.

Being in Greece has given me a very different perspective on consumerism and how obsessed the US is with buying stuff and how influential it is to the rest of the world and how it can negatively affect smaller countries that cannot compete with the US on that level. We are offered so much immediate convenience in the US that other countries simply do not prioritize, These countries have so much history and creative ways to preserve their communities in sustainable and environmentally conscious ways. The EU is such an influential force is incredibly helpful in helping keep countries accountable for their actions. Hopefully, the US can take a page out of Europe’s book and prioritize ways to use the new three rs and be a sustainable world leader.