Toward A Circular Pōneke

I’m privileged to be a Councillor on Wellington City Council at a time where we are taking bold steps to make the transformation needed so that we are a low carbon, fit for the future capital in one of the most progressive little nations in the world.

These bold steps must be accompanied by an economic direction, which the first draft is here now as @Wellington’s Economic Wellbeing strategy. The purpose is to guide a stronger, more sustainable, creative and inclusive economic future for our city.

The strategy is supported by six outcomes and an action plan to make the strategy a reality:

? sustainable business and career pathways

• transitioning to a circular economy
• a business-friendly city
• centre of creativity and digital innovation
• celebrate our capital city status
• a dynamic city heart and thriving suburban centres.

All of these six outcomes make a lot of sense to me but the one I am wildly excited about is - Transitioning to a Circular Economy.

?After 25 years with my own brand and retail stores in the fashion industry, it became obvious that churning our more and more clothes was unsustainable, even though we were trying to make them as least harmful to the environment as possible.?

Joining the Sustainable Business Network, and learning about the concept of a circular economy has given me hope. And it was refreshing to find the willingness to make change and attitude of opportunity from many other businesses making the transition toward the Circular Economy.

In the words of founder Ellen MacArthur, “A circular economy gives us the power to grow prosperity, jobs, and resilience while cutting greenhouse gas emissions, waste, and pollution.

Probably one of the best global examples is Interface carpets, which pioneered modular carpet tiles, with a take-back scheme so they could be remade in a zero-carbon manufacturing environment.?

Wellington already has some good examples and leaders in this space like Usedfully pioneering circular textile systems @KaiCycle is taking food waste, replenishing the soil and growing more food, @Wishbone bikes reusing materials to make award-winning bikes, Sustainability Trusts Curtain Bank is a takeback scheme who at 10 years has given out 16,670 sets of curtains to 4,636 home, kept 75 tonnes of textile waste out of the landfill and @Flight Plastics are tipping the plastic mountain with a circular system for recycled No 1 clear plastics.?

A circular economy also means pushing us toward the sharing economy like our friends in Taiwan who would only think about “renting” a washing machine as the objective of the organisation is to make sure it is serviced so that it lasts as long as possible. In Wellington, Mevo car share has taken off as businesses realise they don’t need to own or pay for parked cars to get business done with their clients.

Regenerative business models like @Commonsense Organics also fit into this category. And there is an exciting opportunity for the Māori Economy to take a lead in this space.

I’d really love to see Poneke Wellington be a leader, an enabler and a partner in the success of the Circular Economy in Aotearoa. But to get there we do need your input, ideas and opportunities we can tap into. Please take some time to feedback on our strategy. Please submit by April 25th - more here

Ngā mihi nui to those already doing the hard graft pioneering in circular solutions - for our future we really have needed you to do this work.

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