Why should We Strive for Sustainable Circular Economy?

We will talk about recycling in this post. However before we begin talking about practical methods let's go through a couple of concepts, one is a philosophical topic from the vast sea of the Vedic literature and the other is a concept, first raised by two British environmental economists, which has been adopted by European Union, UK and few private companies in the USA as well.

#1 What is a Prarabdha Karma?

According to Vedic philosophy, every action will result in a reaction; i.e. every effort we make has a reaction on our destiny (by the way destiny here simply implies a future state, not fate) during an appropriate time. We as humans beings are making choices every moment that affects our now as well as future(s). 

And all of these actions (Karma) impact our circumstances, preferences, tendencies etc. And by the way, Karma is not to be confused with fate. We always have the free will to act on our choices. However, we must bear fruit to all our actions; whether in this lifetime or the subsequent ones. 

And the portion of the Karmas that impacts our current life is called the Prarabdha Karma. The word Prarabdha (प्रारब्ध) literally means "begun or set in motion". So our previous efforts are always impacting the current circumstances we face as well as future ones.

#2 What about Circular Economy?

In the simplest of words, this is a way to give back to the system (in our case the pale blue dot we call our home and yet are so careless about it) through various processes like recycling, reusing, refurbishing and concepts like waste management; and this is achieved via long-term sustainable designs. 

We, as in human beings or industries or businesses, are constantly consuming resources available to us, with little or no mindfulness on the aftereffects of the consumption cycle. Once a resource is consumed it generates a waste, whether in form of chemical, biological or in a lot of cases a non-biodegradable waste; which impacts everything that surrounds our 'home'. 

The mindset that European Union, UK, and other countries are trying to adopt is of a sustainable future by promoting circular economy as a society. Mckinsey estimates that moving towards such an economy can dramatically lower Europe's mobility, food and built-environment (these are the three basic human needs) cost by 2030. 

Now what?

So there is both a philosophical as well as economical case for promoting a mindset where 'use-and-throw-and-forget' is not the first choice; rather human beings, society, countries, and world as a whole promotes sustainable long-term practices that are going to benefit us all in not just current lifetime but future too; especially if you think future generation is not disconnected from you, rather it's you in a different lifetime!

In my next article I'll talk about some methods that can help you reach your personal sustainability goals; beginning with a mentality shift and moving on to practical methods like recycling. But you can check out the following references to begin some reading on your own.

References:

You can read more about Karma here:

• http://veda.wikidot.com/karma
• https://books.google.com/books?id=Fb6MAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA270&lpg=PA270&dq=kriyaman+karma&source=bl&ots=Dq5dwB73vt&sig=zGERRe9wQCXq2UHH10vq2EAqRn8&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjFvtmuh6HZAhVFd6wKHRuOAS8Q6AEIngEwFw#v=onepage&q=kriyaman%20karma&f=false

You can read more about Circular Economy here:

• http://www.wrap.org.uk/content/wraps-vision-uk-circular-economy-2020
• https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/sustainability-and-resource-productivity/our-insights/europes-circular-economy-opportunity
• http://www.wrap.org.uk/about-us/about/eu-vision-2020