Climate Watch: Envisioning a circular Evanston - Evanston RoundTable

Climate Watch: Envisioning a circular Evanston - Evanston RoundTable

Part of a series of occasional articles about what climate change means for Evanston and what we are doing locally to make a difference.

Leaning toward a circular economy

We are used to thinking about buying and using stuff as a straight line: Raw materials are manufactured into things we want, which we purchase, use or consume and then dispose of. But what if we can change our thinking to a different model, a regenerating loop?

A circular Evanston would mean businesses, residents, institutions and government are cooperating to purchase, donate, share, compost, reuse, repair, repurpose, recycle and use food and material goods in a circular supply chain. A circular economy manages our local materials in ways that can promote equity, create good jobs, help businesses compete and strengthen connections among neighbors.

And it’s much better for the planet.

Why circularity?

It’s hard to avoid noticing emissions from nearby sources we can see or smell, like fumes from a gas car engine or furnace, or smoke from a factory. These emissions contain not only the fine particles and chemicals that contribute to smog and toxic air pollution, but also methane and carbon dioxide – the heat-trapping gasses that are warming the globe. We’ve learned that the less of them, the better for our health and the health of the planet.

But what about the hidden, or “embedded,” emissions – those that went into obtaining the raw materials and then making and delivering the food you eat and materials you buy – your computer, your clothes, your child’s toys? Each of these steps used energy and released emissions that contribute to global climate change. Embedded emissions accompany food as it is grown, harvested and processed; they follow the extraction of minerals and oil from the earth and as they are manufactured into products; and they accumulate as these products are transported, packaged and distributed to stores.

Consider packaging, that one-time function intended to protect and label your product, which uses up vast amounts of energy and materials. These include cardboard boxes, fiberboard, foam, and all types of plastic, metal and glass containers.

Some manufacturers are engaged in a practice called “Extended Producer Responsibility” where the environmental impacts of the design and production of products and the management of those products after their useful life is shifted to the manufacturers themselves. A long-standing example is a deposit/refund system for glass bottles. This approach is leading to many innovations in product design, processing, shipping and handling.

How do we start?

Some easy adjustments can have a large impact on reducing our emissions:

First, purchase less stuff. When you repair, share and repurpose the items you already have, you are avoiding all of the energy and emissions embedded in new products.

Encourage the highest and best use for each material or product you no longer need. For excess fresh food, always feed hungry people first, then domesticated and farm animals, then compost. For material goods, think about whether you can meet your needs by sharing instead of owning, such as using a neighborhood tool library. Be creative in thinking about how each product or material can be used again for the same or similar purpose or the ways to retain the value, usefulness and function of each item.

When you do shop, think green. Buy products that are durable, repairable, reusable, fully recyclable or compostable, and easily disassembled. Buy products made with recycled content whenever possible. Buy used, and donate your old items to make sure others can reuse them too!

- Avoid products with excessive packaging. Packaging accounts for nearly a third of all municipal solid waste in the U.S.
- Buy local food and material goods whenever possible.
- Reduce your food waste by buying only what you need, composting food scraps and donating unused food to food banks or shelters. Food is the largest category of material placed in municipal landfills, where it emits methane, a powerful greenhouse gas.

Action by local businesses can make a huge difference. Businesses can cooperate to buy in bulk to reduce shipping and packaging, and support manufacturers who practice Extended Producer Responsibility. Companies can also look for ways to match the wastes and undervalued byproducts at one facility with users of these materials at another. Together, they can result in cost savings for the participating businesses and help to create and retain jobs, divert waste from landfills and reduce energy use.

Support Sustain Evanston businesses and restaurants. These local businesses have implemented sustainability measures to align with the goals of the City’s Climate Action & Resilience Plan, reduce operating costs and better serve their customers.

How else to get involved?

Recent articles by Meg Evans in the RoundTable offer helpful tips about the reuse and recycling of glass and a wide range of materials.

Here is the most current guide developed by Climate Action Evanston’s Beyond Waste initiative. Check out the Beyond Waste web page.

Participate in the Evanston Repair Cafés co-hosted by the Evanston Public Library at 10 a.m. on the second Saturday and second Tuesday of every month at the Robert Crown Community Center Library. The Evanston Public Library has details online.

A group of residents, working with the City of Evanston’s Solid Waste Coordinator Brian Zimmerman, opened a dialogue among Evanston residents about circularity at a March workshop at the Rebuilding Exchange.

Coming up on Aug. 5, Evanston’s Sustainability Division and the CARP Implementation Task Force will focus the next Community Climate Convening on this topic. Sign up for the city’s Sustainability Newsletter and updates from Climate Action Evanston to learn more.

Jerri Garl is a member of Circular Evanston and on the Board of Climate Action Evanston where she co-chairs Environmental Justice Evanston. During her career at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, she worked on sustainable materials management.