What I Mean When I Say Circularity

And an argument against striving for “perfect” sustainability

I just got back to the city after being out of town for a few days. For the first time in awhile, this was a trip for fun, rather than business. My husband, my puppy, and I decided to head upstate for some R&R in an actual house with an actual yard and a real dining room table (vs. a tiny apartment with only a coffee table). I had no plans, no appointments, and no meetings. Incredible! It’s my first week off from work in more than 3 years. I was hoping to spend some time finishing this newsletter and doing some planning for The Ribbit Factory, but there were simply too many naps to take and leisurely dinners to cook. C’est la vie.

My puppy, Clementine, living her best life on a long line in a grassy backyard

Is Degrowth the (Only) Solution?

After I came back from Brussels a few weeks ago, I read another Substack about the Global Fashion Summit (I didn’t attend, as I was at the Textile Recycling Expo, but one of my clients, Refiberd, won the Trailblazer Program award!). The piece I read was lamenting the direction the industry is heading - towards recycling efforts rather than tackling overproduction at the source to reduce emissions. It was reminiscent of a few conversations I’ve had recently, all of which has me thinking about the difference between sustainability and circularity. Both words are generally used interchangeably, but they have different meanings, and can be attributed to different types of work. Too often, I think, the industry categorizes different responsible approaches into black and white, or “fine” and “better” and “best” buckets. I agree that some perspectives are more effective than others, but when it comes to staunch advocacy for degrowth as the number one priority over all other options, I tend to bristle. Not because I don’t believe in degrowth and lessening consumption, I very much do. But I think it’s unrealistic to believe that convincing corporations to reduce production volumes, or to always use regenerative agricultural farming methods, or to develop styles in only natural fibers will really work, at least not under global capitalism. In that same vein, it’s not realistic to expect that all governments across the globe will institute legislation that mandates degrowth under global capitalism. I can work as an individual to lessen my impact, shop natural fibers, and reduce consumption, and I can (and do) refuse to shop at large corporations that don’t reflect my values, but there has been study after study after study that indicates most consumers value price and quality over responsibility. I’m not suggesting that I want to give up on educating consumers about the importance of mindful consumption, or about the value of clothes, but I also think it’s necessary to support work that has the potential to move the needle much more quickly than a collective global reckoning might happen.

Clarifying The “Sustainability” Umbrella And a Circular Mindset

I tend to think of sustainability as a more broad, overarching umbrella that relates to environmentalism or preservation efforts, waste management or reduction, and emissions reduction. The U.N. officially defines sustainability as “meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” When I talk about sustainability, I add in the caveat that it’s not just about the earth and preserving our natural resources, or even solely about mitigating the effects of climate change. It’s also about people. It’s important to prioritize the environment to preserve our natural resources and wildlife, and to mitigate the effects of climate change, which disproportionately affect people who live in lower income regions. But even if we reached our warming goals, successfully saved our endangered species, held protections for our seas and our forests and our mountains, and were able to recycle all of our byproducts into valuable, new resources, what does it all matter if we can’t improve the quality of life of the human beings who are meant to reap the benefits of this cleaner, cooler Earth? I think when we talk about sustainability, we need to consider all of it.

That said, from an industry perspective, a sustainable brand or value chain often references what happens at the beginning of a linear value chain. Sustainability is attributed to improvements to the traditional manufacturing process. For example, a brand can take a look at how to grow fibers more sustainably through regenerative agricultural methods, or implement clean energy sources to power their factories, stores, or offices. They can also invest in equipment that uses less energy, less water, or eliminates toxic chemicals from their dyeing and finishing processes. This is where fair labor comes into play, and brands have a responsibility to pay their workers fairly and ensure conditions are clean, comfortable, and safe. All of this is focused on building a business that can be sustained for many years, not just through profit and growth, but by ensuring that the environment and people that power the business will last as well.

Circularity, conceptually, is a bit different. Rather than focusing on improvements to an existing model, a circular mindset considers an entirely new way of doing business, one that is circular instead of linear. Instead of the focus being on reducing waste, or substituting all materials into natural, sustainable fibers, circularity sees waste as value because the efforts of circular programs is to take those byproducts and transform them into new products, over and over again. A circular economy looks at the end of a linear value chain and says “actually, this is the beginning.” Where sustainability asks the question, “how can we limit production,” circularity asks “how can we take produced units and have them continue to create value, again and again, around and around?” Keep in mind, both schools of thought are important, and in both perspectives, an effort to reduce harm to the environment and to people is absolutely necessary. I’m not arguing that we adopt a circular mindset and continue to pump toxic chemicals into our clothes or encourage consumers to wear an item once before throwing it away. But, I’m skeptical of people who are adamant that we need to solve overproduction and overconsumption before we do anything else. I agree, things have gotten out of hand, we’re producing far too much, and the value of clothing has been degraded down to nearly nothing. However, I’ve found that it’s much more difficult to convince consumers, and more so, to convince multi-billion dollar companies to halt growth in the name of sustainability, than it is to introduce and encourage circular solutions that can allow for abundance without all of the environmental cost. Under global capitalism, it seems to me that changing the way the entire world does business would be an impossible task. I am personally an advocate for degrowth, and I practice mindful consumption myself, but I don’t know if it’s a realistic expectation to have for most of the country, much less the world. Creating pathways for solutions that prioritize utilizing existing production for renewed value, though? Using legislation to ensure that garment work is valued? Those are actionable solutions I can get behind.

Of course, everything we’ve talked about here really does exist under the umbrella that is sustainability, and no single method or mindset exists in a vacuum. We need lots of overlapping ideas and perspectives to move forward, some will be harmonious, and some will be dissonant. I chose to do this work with The Ribbit Factory because I have learned (and am learning) so much from my experience in reuse, refurbishment, and recycling with my clients in the circularity space. Repair is just a small piece of the puzzle, but it’s important in both a linear or a circular value chain to extend the lifespan of our clothes for as long as possible, both to reduce consumption and as a way of respecting the embedded value that has been poured into the garment from farm, to fabric, to closet.

Updates From the Studio

I’m still working through the core collection lookbook, and looking for signups from subscribers who would like to be involved in a focus group for a complimentary repair at the end of this summer. Share this newsletter with your friends and family - if they subscribe, they’ll be able to enter their name on a sign up sheet next week to participate.

As always, thanks for being here.