Book review: Welcome to the Circular Economy: The next step in sustainable living
Key theme(s):
Media Type: Book
Title: Welcome to the Circular Economy: The next step in sustainable living
Author: Claire Potter
Year of Publication: 2021
“Welcome” is really the key part of the title here
I think it’s fair to say that the book aims to provide a fairly entry-level introduction to the idea and principles of the circular economy. I hope that doesn’t sound like a criticism, it’s certainly not meant to. I suppose it’s natural to an extent that as someone who spends all day thinking about these issues, very little of what’s proposed in the book strikes me as particularly novel. But I also suppose that that’s not what the author was setting out to do. After years of being exhorted to follow the 3Rs (the classic Reduce, Reuse, Recycle), the idea that recycling should be a last resort and that there is in fact a whole series of other options to exhaust first probably does strike most readers as counterintuitive. And the book does do a really good job of communicating those other options, and some of the theory behind like the butterfly diagram, in a really accessible and convincing way.
Do you know your 3 Rs? What about the other 9?
At approximately 150 pages (excluding notes etc.) arranged in 14 chapters, the book certainly presents its ideas in digestible bitesize chunks. And it does it by expanding the classic 3 Rs to a total of 12 Rs. Now, I’ll be honest, I only finished reading the book the other day, and I couldn’t list all 12 now off the top of my head. So they’re definitely nice bitesize chunks, but maybe there’s a few too many? It might be a matter of preference. Certainly as a tool for examining the impact your lifestyle is having on the planet, it’s probably a very useful format. I can imagine someone following this book as a sort of 12-step programme (for the addiction to our linear economy?) or a workbook, reading and absorbing each chapter, then trying to apply it before moving on to the next chapter. And in fact, I would have liked a sort of ‘one thing you can do right now’ tip at the end of each chapter. There is plenty of advice and practical tips peppered throughout the book, but they do sometimes come at points where you don’t really want to put it down and look something else up (a testament to how compellingly it’s written, of course). To an extent, this is the purpose of the “Rounding off and joining the dots” chapter at the end, but a little more internal rounding up might have been useful.
For reference, Potter’s full list of Rs is: Refuse, Reduce, Reuse, Repair, Refill, Retail, Rent, Redirect, Recycle, Resources, Regenerate, and Regulate and Restructure (these last two are one item, for any Oxford comma fanatics out there). Alright, you could argue that some of them are stretched a bit to get them to fit the pattern - Refill is really about eliminating excessive packaging, and Retail is essentially about eliminating unnecessary consumption. There is overlap between some of the chapters as well - this is not surprising, and to an extent the key messages about reducing consumption in all its various forms bear repeating. There’s always a balance to strike, of course. The same goes for the balance to be struck between individual consumer responsibility and industry responsibility, as in all areas of sustainability communications. In this case, there is perhaps a little too much onus on the individual consumer, but then it’s designed to be used by individuals, not to influence industrial policy, so maybe that’s not surprising.
The style sets it apart
Apart from its length, one of the reasons I got through the book so quickly is that it’s written in a style that is not dissimilar to my own - it’s quite informal, even chatty, and that lends it a directness and approachability that I find really effective. It’s also very much written to speak directly to the reader, and it makes really good use of a mix of anecdote and science. This particularly interests me because I believe combining the two is the most effective strategy for communicating about these issues. You take the science to lay out the issue and identify where solutions need to be found, then you take more anecdotal examples of solutions that have been tried. Together they make a really nice balance that highlights the problem and shows the urgency, followed by actual practical responses that can inspire your reader. And you need both - without the anecdote, you often just have a wall of science that is either incomprehensible or, worse, overwhelming. And without the science, you’ve essentially got no context - even the very best ideas become difficult to appreciate if you don’t understand the problem they’re aiming to solve. But take both science and anecdote together, throw in a knowledgeable but down-to-earth (no pun intended) writing style, and you’re on to a winner.
So, would I recommend the book to others?
That’s a little tricky. I think it would depend on who it’s for - if you’re someone who has been following the work of the Ellen MacArthur Foundation for years and already knows where all your local refill shops are, then I don’t think you’ll find anything particularly new in this book (though it is a useful synthesis if you’re feeling rusty on certain areas). It is, however, a masterclass in direct, engaging writing, so a good read for anyone who prizes clarity and approachability above all else in their writing. It would, I suggest, also make a great (second-hand, of course!) present for anyone who is at the start of their sustainability journey, i.e. someone who is becoming aware of their personal impact on the planet and looking for ways to reduce it. The web exercise at the beginning and end of the book is a really nice framing device that highlights really effectively just how much can be achieved in the space of reading one book. And more to the point, there’s very little out there on the market like it - I note for example that there are no other books in the further reading section. (There are, however, plenty of footnotes that do refer to actual books.) In that sense then, the book does make a useful contribution to the field of sustainability communication, as an easy-to-digest and very readable introductory resource. And there’s great value in that.
Takeaways for sustainability communicators
Don’t underestimate the power of a direct, personal style when writing in or translating into English.
Rhetorical devices like the 12 Rs work well, but there’s a limit to how many people can remember.
Combining anecdote and science can be highly effective, if done the right way.