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It depends upon the Cradle to Cradle context of how the reusable term is used. A 316 grade stainless steel or aluminum straw that is appropriately marked for a

It depends upon the Cradle to Cradle context of how the reusable term is used. A 316 grade stainless steel or aluminum straw that is appropriately marked for automated material identification (a very big gap in our current industrial culture) is easy to send back through a foundry to re-melt and reuse when broken beyond repair (likely by accident, as such a straw could conceivably last centuries when well taken care of). Same straw except made out of silicone, and unmarked, will still slowly (slower than say PET, but still minutely) leach polymers as microplastics into the environment. Better than a single-use straw, but we can choose better. I'm very partial to materials that can be fed as the sole feedstock into industrial processes without adding virgin feedstock. It is amazingly difficult as a consumer to find out these materials in the end products. Right To Repair is a part of this picture as well: you want to be able to repair the smallest piece possible to keep the overall artifact in use for as long as possible, and send back the smallest possible piece into the feedstock stream. There could be a Second Industrial Revolution built around standing up an infrastructure that emphasizes the agile manufacturing of reusable, cradle-to-cradle-recyclable, repairable artifacts, deliberately serving an S-curve sales chart because the artifacts last so long, and rapidly switching the majority of the manufacturing line into different, adjacent artifacts, and leaving behind only a smaller line that addresses marginal demand from population growth and parts supply. It could be the first step towards a proto-post-scarcity infrastructure.

jimmySixDOF 6y ago
+1 to that 100% We are right now in the process of borrowing money from future generations and so reinvesting it (for them) into building a connection between the production/sales and recovery/reuse cycles so we have a single business value chain is a much better long-term strategic return for everyone than whatever empty calorie derivative product wall st bets it all on these days at the moment. It ought to be illegal to sell me any product that you are not also required to take back when it's finished. Unilever & Walmart Et al. should own the garbage trucks, the landfills, and the responsibility to dispose of anything they sell me - and I bet they suddenly find creative ways to reduce, reuse, and recycle things we never thought to be possible.

jimmySixDOF 6y ago

+1 to that 100% We are right now in the process of borrowing money from future generations and so reinvesting it (for them) into building a connection between the production/sales and recovery/reuse cycles so we have a single business value chain is a much better long-term strategic return for everyone than whatever empty calorie derivative product wall st bets it all on these days at the moment. It ought to be illegal to sell me any product that you are not also required to take back when it's finished. Unilever & Walmart Et al. should own the garbage trucks, the landfills, and the responsibility to dispose of anything they sell me - and I bet they suddenly find creative ways to reduce, reuse, and recycle things we never thought to be possible.