Words by Smiley Team
The phrase "circular economy" is becoming more mainstream than ever before.
Rather than just living sustainably, living a "circular" lifestyle hopes to aim for a world where nothing, generally, ends up in landfill.
To achieve this, circular economy clubs are being set up around the world to encourage citizens and communities to learn new ways to look after our planet.
One of those is Circular Brighton and Hove, led by Steve Creed. The organisation started in 2018 and, until the pandemic happened, held around 20 monthly events with citizens of the city about the circular economy and living a more sustainable lifestyle.
These have continued throughout the pandemic. The organisation ran one in September 2021, in partnership with Sussex University, titled ‘Will we shop til we drop?’ They discussed what we can do about people’s behaviour, what people can do to make a difference, and also what we can do to ensure those in the supply chain are treated properly.
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In October 2021, the organisation ran an event: ‘Is net zero the solution or a distraction?”. Steve says they focused on the idea that balancing things was possibly getting in the way of making sure we’re reducing the amount of carbon emissions.
Steve has spent the last 25 years working in sustainability. “One thing I learned from all that, is that everyone is connected,” he says. “It’s all systems – the circular economy is another way of talking about systems.”
He has an engineering degree from Canada, and worked for a few years as a geo technical engineer. When he moved to the UK in 1979, he worked at a university as research assistant. Later on, he went to work for a construction company and became involved in the environmental side of things.
Steve ended up becoming a director at WRAP, the Waste & Resources Action Programme created by the government. “I spent 17 years there as one of directors, including the Love Food Hate Waste campaign,” he says.
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After moving to Brighton, he got involved in the Circular Brighton & Hove club – “We convinced City Council that they needed to do something about sustainability in its economic plan,” he says, “and in 2018, we convinced them to have a circular economy route map."
Circular Brighton & Hove (CBH) is a "multi-stakeholder network of individuals, SMEs, social enterprises, universities, faith groups, third sector organisations and companies". They have a diverse set of skills, experiences and contacts in local government and are united by a common belief that the circular economy can have a positive impact, not only on the environment – but also on our society.
“We’re simply trying to work with everyone and raise awareness of the circular economy,” adds Steve. “Individual citizens who are interested in it, or businesses interested.
“We’re just trying to raise awareness of the challenges and the ways we can all act to make circular economy a successful outcome. And organisations are starting to use these ideas.”
If you want to find out more or get involved, email [email protected]. You should also follow Circular Brighton & Hove on LinkedIn to see updates.
