THE FUTURE IS CIRCULAR
Let’s put circular design at the service of a sustainable future!
For a long time, our world has relied on a linear economic model that’s often described as “take, make, waste”. We take raw materials from the earth, use them to make products to sell and, once the products have reached the end of their useful life, we discard them in landfills.
This model has proven to be catastrophic for our planet given its finite resources. There is an urgent need to start designing products that remain in use for as long as possible, and systems that re-use materials and do so in closed loops.
Unfortunately, fashion as we know it is very much linear: it encourages overconsumption and short-term profit maximisation. What’s worse, we’re dealing with a complex, multi-dimensional and interconnected industry, one of the most harmful ones around. So, how do you go about changing it?
Image and video: Mortti Saarnia
At Aalto University, we believe that design is one of the most efficient ways to reinvent the rules of the fashion game.
With design methods, we’re pinpointing the areas within the fashion system where the biggest possible impact can be made.
We’re discovering hidden opportunities for development and identifying the challenges that need to be addressed.
When design, engineering, business and policy become intertwined, the status quo can be disrupted to build a real alternative to the old system that is failing us.
In practice, the circular design approach means:
1
Designing out harmful parts of the supply chain, such as waste, surplus, pesticides, chemicals and additives
2
Innovation, for example new textile fibres from virgin biomaterials and recycled sources
3
Equipping the industry with supply chain tracing capabilities and helping them implement tracking and tracing for their products
4
Raising awareness and nudging consumer behaviour, by changing shopping habits and encouraging people to cherish each piece of clothing
5
Trying to find new business models that are both sustainable and profitable
6
Helping decision-makers see the big picture and providing them with a roadmap to a sustainable textiles, clothing and fashion industry
7
In short, looking beyond a single product and a single user and instead designing a bigger system in a closed loop.
The circular mindset is about designing lifespans and only then creating the products and services that fit them.
A lot of the problems we face today are, in fact, the results of our previous design decisions. Now it’s time to become aware of the political agency design has. To rethink how design can be of service, not only in pursuit of our short-term goals but in the interests of future generations as well.
Let’s go circular!
Read more in the Aalto University study published in Nature Reviews Earth & Environment journal (2020).
Want to try it out for yourself? Enrol on the Design Bits online course, where you'll learn the basics of a designerly mindset. The course is free and open to all.
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