Why a Circular Economy is Crucial
Going Circular
“Let’s use our ingenuity to become once again, native to this planet.”
One of the main reasons why Biodynamic® agriculture is considered the gold standard in regenerative farming is its early adoption of circularity as a methodology to its practices. Since its creation by Rudolph Steiner in the late 1920’s, before the term “organic agriculture” existed and before the surge of the production of plastics after WWII, Biodynamic agriculture has stipulated that a farm must be a closed loop. The “waste” of one aspect of the farm (say, manure, food/plant surpluses, or materials at their end-of-life like wood) must be reincorporated into another use, most likely through the process of composting or recycling. Already observing the devastation of synthetic chemicals as fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides, and fungicides on the land in the early turn of the century, Steiner had the foresight that a farm must not contribute to what would, long after his death, become known as climate change.
Of course we know that we (primarily, though not exclusively, those cultures designated as “Western”) did not heed his early vision. Industrial Farming, Big Ag, etc adopted policies of spraying more and more synthetic and toxic chemicals on their crops and soils, decimating insect and microbiota populations. Once the formulas started to become less effective, they began selling seeds to farmers that where genetically modified to resist the pesticides and herbicides. This “take, make, waste” linear manner of thinking led to what is happening now where it’s becoming more and more clear that we simply cannot outsmart Nature. A recent article in the New York Times Magazine, titled “Attack of the Superweeds”, details what is currently happening to farmers around the country after decades of using industrial herbicides: https://nyti.ms/39nl912
The concept of circularity and a closed loop has grown in popularity and support as climate change from human influence has become more widely accepted. Without detailing our dire situation, let’s say that our collective “take-make-waste” attitudes and habits are having vast and long-term detrimental effects on the overall health of our planet.
Spot spraying chemical herbicides
Perhaps the most widely known book on the subject, “Cradle-to-Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things”, by Michael Braungart and William McDonough, takes a deep dive into the problems that the mindset mentioned above has led us to, and submit some of the possible steps we all must take to avoid the destruction coming our way if we do nothing. Much of what they discuss is applicable to an even greater extent today than when they wrote the book almost 20 years ago:
“While space exploration/travel has an attractive pull, like the moon itself, the idea also provides rationalization for destruction. A hope to find a way to save ourselves if we trash our planet. Humans have evolved on the earth and we are meant to be here. Its atmosphere, its nutrients, its natural cycles and our own biological systems evolved together and support us here, now. Humans were simply not designed for lunar conditions. Let's not make a big mess here and go somewhere less hospitable even if we figure out how. Let's use our ingenuity to become once again, native to this planet.”
– Michael Braungart and William McDonough, Cradle to Crade (2001)
At Maison/Made, we approach every aspect of our brand with a keen awareness and watchful eye. All of our products are 100% biodegradable and non-bioaccumulative, meaning they pose absolutely no threat to the environment if disposed of. Every decision we make is rooted in this principle. We create skincare that follows the foundation of Biodynamics: production that adds more to the environment than it takes from it. The ultimate goal is for everything we make to either end up on your skin, or find its way back to the soil and promote regeneration.
For our ingredients, the regenerative Biodynamic methods we utilize provide a net benefit to the soil, rather than just extracting from it and spraying toxic pesticides and herbicides. Our winter and cover crops draw carbon dioxide and nitrogen down from the atmosphere into the soil, an essential component of soil fertility; our nutrient-dense compost provides additional nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium, to create vital nourishment for early plant growth. Over the winter, we plan the garden layout for our annuals, rotating crops consistently to encourage soil health and creating a biodiverse habitat for our flora and fauna.
Regarding our packaging, we encourage everyone to reuse our elements as much as possible. For this reason we wanted our secondary packaging (our paper tubes) to have an aesthetic that people would WANT to use again. Either as a pencil holder, spice container, travel case (for our or other products), jewelry case, hair tie case, etc, so that its usefulness could transcend the simple protection of the products during transit.
Another way in which we try to reduce waste and unnecessary production is through a small-batch production system. Most skincare companies are terrified of running out of stock and therefore purchase more ingredients than they need in order to avoid being sold out. We really don't mind if we sell out of a particular product because we try to only produce the amount of ingredients that we currently need. If we run out of product prior to what we had planned for, it pleases us to know that every drop of it came to good use.
This shift to a circular economy is not an easy or fast transition, however, nor is it only in the skincare market. It will require that consumers demand it, because if we were to leave it up to large corporations, they would just keep on with business as usual. So becoming informed is certainly Step #1. Then, we also recommend reflecting on how important the convenience of purchasing from, say, Amazon is to you. Are you buying things that are being packaged in fossil-fuel derived plastic mailers and driven on fossil-fuel powered delivery trucks that could easily be bought in your local hardware, book, toy, grocery, fill-in-the-blank store? Is the food, or products, you’re purchasing coming from regenerative (or, preferably, Biodynamic®) sources rather than factory farms?
What we’re saying here is that a collective shift in consciousness and demand for a circular economy will be necessary for our continued, healthy existence on our collective home, our planet Earth. We hope that you join us in trying to help facilitate this shift!
– Adrien