circular-economy-fnq

Systems Thinking Lab - Housing Tiny Homes & The Future Of Cairns

Tue, 24 Feb 2026 07:38:53 GMT

�� Challenge Question
Why Are Rents So High In Cairns — And How Could Tiny Houses Change The System?

�� Step 1: What Is a System?

Using Leyla Acaroglu’s approach:

A system is:

A set of interconnected nodes that produce patterns of behaviour over time.

We don’t focus on events.

We focus on relationships.

Housing prices are not an event.

They are an outcome of system structure.

�� Step 2: Identify the Nodes

Students work in groups to list all the “nodes” in the Cairns housing system.

Examples of nodes:

• Builders

• Developers

• Land prices

• Banks

• Rental laws

• Vacancy rate

• Investors

• Single-person households

• Birth rate

• Local council planning rules

• Infrastructure costs

• Tiny house approvals

• Construction materials

• Energy costs

• Climate risk

• Wages

• Tourism demand

Write each node on a separate sticky note.

These are not opinions.

They are components of a system.

�� Step 3: Map Relationships (Arrows, Not Opinions)

Now students connect nodes with arrows.

Example:

Low Vacancy → Higher Rents

Higher Rents → Attract Investors

Investors → Reduced Owner Occupier Stock

Reduced Stock → Low Vacancy

That’s a reinforcing loop.

Leyla calls this:

Mapping cause-and-effect chains instead of blaming individuals.

We’re not asking:

“Who caused it?”

We’re asking:

“What structure produces it?”

�� Step 4: Identify the Archetype

Using Disruptive Design systems archetypes, ask:

Is this:

• Fixes that Fail?

• Success to the Successful?

• Shifting the Burden?

• Tragedy of the Commons?

In housing, we often see:

�� Success to the Successful

Investors gain equity → buy more property → increase asset concentration → limit access for first buyers → investors gain more equity.

The system rewards those already positioned.

Recognising the archetype helps us design smarter interventions.

�� Step 5: Introduce a Disruptive Variable

Now introduce:

Tiny Homes / Right-Sized Housing

Ask:

If we increase small-dwelling approvals, what changes?

Students redraw arrows.

Tiny Homes → Increased Supply [passive houses]

Increased Supply → Higher Vacancy

Higher Vacancy → Reduced Rent Pressure

This creates a balancing loop.

Leyla’s method asks:

Does this intervention change:

• The structure?

• The incentives?

• Or just the symptoms?

�� Step 6: Identify Leverage Points (Donella Meadows + Disruptive Design)

Students now look for:

�� Low Leverage

• Subsidies

• Grants

• One-off programs

�� Medium Leverage

• Planning rule changes

• Fast-track approval processes

• Builder incentives

�� High Leverage

• Changing system goals (Housing as infrastructure vs housing as asset)

• Changing profit structures

• Changing financing models

• Changing Building Codes

Ask:

Which level does tiny housing operate at?

Which level does rent caps operate at?

Which level does demographic change operate at?

�� Step 7: Add Demographic Reality

Declining birth rate is a structural shift.

• Singles

• Separated households

• Downsizers

Ask students:

Is the housing production system aligned with demographic reality?

If not, that mismatch is a leverage opportunity.

Leyla calls this:

Designing for reality, not legacy assumptions.

�� Step 8: Add Environmental Science (STEEM)

Now integrate Environmental Science:

Large homes:

• More embodied carbon

• More land clearing

• More infrastructure load

Tiny homes:

• Lower material throughput

• Lower energy demand - passive housing.

• Smaller ecological footprint

Ask:

Can we solve cost-of-living and environmental stress with the same intervention?

If yes, that is a systems alignment opportunity.

�� Step 9: Elections as Leverage Windows

Elections are moments where:

• System goals can shift

• Rules can be rewritten

• Incentives can be redesigned

With:

• Local elections

• State elections

• Federal elections

• 500,000+ Gen Z entering eligibility

Ask:

If young voters prioritise housing reform,

does that change the system goal?

That is high-level leverage.

�� Final Challenge: Design a Disruptive Intervention

Each group must:

1️⃣ Identify one reinforcing loop causing rental pressure

2️⃣ Identify one leverage point

3️⃣ Design a tiny housing or planning intervention

4️⃣ Predict unintended consequences

5️⃣ Map how it changes the system

They must present:

• The nodes

• The arrows

• The leverage point

• The intended shift

�� Closing Insight for Students

Systems thinking teaches:

Housing crisis ≠ individual failure

Housing crisis = structural outcome

Tiny homes are not a trend.

They are a structural variable.

When demographic change, environmental limits, and economic pressure align, the system must evolve.

Your role is not to complain about the system.

Your role is to map it.

And redesign it.

How Politicians Cause The Downfall Of Societies

irene@circulareconomyfnq.org.au (Irene Portelli) — Mon, 16 Feb 2026 04:31:43 GMT

We Need To Talk About The 16 Lobbyists Per Politician In Canberra

Across history, collapses are rarely caused by one person, even though Epstein has made a big impact in our lifetime, he didn't act alone.

They usually emerge from systemic failures + power concentration + poor feedback loops .

Below are key historical case studies and the patterns they reveal.

Political Patterns That Contributed to Decline:

Corruption in the Senate [DOJ, Canberra - Prime Ministers who invite a war criminal and then give them red carpet treatment under the guise of anti-semitism]
Emperors consolidating absolute power [Trump, Musk, Netty, Epstein]
Military loyalty to generals rather than the state [ICE Agents, State Police in some countries �� and IDF soldiers]
Currency debasement to cover deficits [petro dollar being replaced by gold and silver]
Overexpansion beyond governance capacity [Greenland]

System failure lesson:
When leadership weakens institutions and removes accountability, the system becomes fragile. Rome didn’t fall in a day — it hollowed out over centuries.

And our Century is from it seems WWII and it is based around Eugenics - superior race, child trafficking and lobbyists workign their way through the backrooms of all governments, not just ours.

We are living through our own Systems Collapse and it is centred around Israel and it's web that it has built through human trafficking and ethnic cleansing while making inroads in not only our government.

As the information is coming thick and fast with the Epstein Files being released there is one thing that is for sure, no country is immune from the lobbying that that man did with his cluster of islands and his wealth.

The money he made was based on bribery and it is those millions that he used to buy politicians and powerful people over his time.
Michael Jackson was framed, he was actually protecting the children in Neverland. That bit of information over the past week literally broke us. Someone who had lived through DV abuse and had been seen as a pawn for his wealth was also witnessing the poweful using children to stay young.

When I first started writing this it was about the Kill Ai they are trialling in Palestine with Israel Military using Google and Amazon behavioural science data in drones to bomb and shoot known people of interest. Including Reporters which they have been actively targeted.

Everything we are discussing here has already been reported by News and Researchers, the curation of TikTok and YouTube videos are in this post to supply their first hand reporting based on their own research. Palantir stocks are plummeting because we the people are waking up & voting with our dollar.

Then Bob Carr talks about how Israeli Lobbyists under AIPAC in America = pro Israel - AIJAC - Australian and Israeli Jewish Affairs Council, is Australias version of the lobbyist, work both here and in the US political system and then our Prime Minister goes and not only invites but gives a war criminal Isaac Hertzog the Head of State of Israel who allegedly kissed the bombs they dropped on children in Gaza.

We need data sovereignty YESTERDAY!!!

We have had IDF soldiers come to Australia ahead of the Israel Head of States visit. The man that allegedly kissed and signed the bombs that have killed over 17000 children. Where statistically head shots of children are what is being reported by the Medicins San Frans in Gaza. Netty has spoken clearly about his plans for Israel.

We are on the cusp of ecological collapse and rather than uniting us our Politicians are actively dividing us.

Pauline Hanson is allegedly taking money from the NRA, partied in Mara Lago with Dutton, Gina and Trump post his election win. Prior to this open display of facisim 60% of Australians didn't trust our government and seeing how Albanese just did what Bob Carr would happen, then we know that the Epstein Files has something on just about everyone of power on the planet with findings that the Monarchy will collapse and so will the US Government.

The videos below are all from TikTok content creators who do exactly what I learnt in my BA of Internet Communications said would happen in times like this and in peaceful time, moments of collective intelligence. The Epstein Files is about pedophillic behaviour of powerful men and women. There are UAE Princes and other royalty. There are academics. If you hold a position of power and trust me, academia is a position of power, then you have most likely been a part of Epsteins impact to control and manipulate as a Mossad agent. Allegedly.

60% Of Australians Do Not Trust Government

When The Townsquare Is Used For Election Fraud

China is painting itself as a hero by showing it's low medical costs. Low food prices but underneath Super Trawlers and slavery.

We do not need any superpower but China has been positioning itself to be one around critical minerals, not the petrodollar which is what Trump is still going for.

Greenland Is About Shipping!!

This part matters because this how Super Powers, even though America is the last of them and China is trying to play the good guy on their way to becoming the next one under BRICS. Each of these countries do not belong as any super power which is why the EU is setting up their own frameworks making a new economy while bring the East more into the mix. Something Australia should have done ages ago.

For those of us who care about nature, #climatechange is a concern but for Russia and China its about a food bowl out of Serbia for Russia and being on the edge of a new trade route that will cut thousands of ks off freight and opening up Greenland for mining of previous minerals and fossil fuels, but the cost to access this is easy to disrupt with waste to energy innovations by flooding the market with lower cost fuels and precious minerals.

Which is why e-waste innovation is what we are focused on in our Circular Industrial Economy Transition Hub in Cairns.

It has a high transport footprint because it has a value that allows us to ship the high amount of e-waste we produce in FNQ due to 1 year warranties. Whereas a policy that would make it so that the waste is to be produced in place then that is one way that the local community can see that the products we buy that don't last are low cost to mine and we are better off building service industries around better quality tech.

That is also a part of the e-waste innovation education in our Hub. Who's profits go directly into community.

It does not pass into governments hands.

Because as we have seen with the $469million Social Housing White Elephant at Woree where a member of local government gave the tender outside of local content, like our Mountain Bike Track project and that has lost precious social housing in our region.

When people are hungry and poor Facism rises. But growing community is how we bring people back together with a lower cost of living, more libraries of goods and collective intelligence.

LNP > Katter Party > One Nation

Famous for all the wrong reasons.

Content creators globally and especially in the US have said to be wary of him.

So Let's Talk Socialist Party

Redefining and reorientation of the classist society we have to make it a more Star Trek-ish society.

We've never really had Communism.

Communist Parties have existed - China and Cuba.

But Communism has never been achieved.

So let's talk about it. Do your own research, this is a nation wide Socialist Party.

Mamdani, the NY Mayor, won his seat with the support of the American Parents Socialist Party.

Boy did they deliver.

Want to talk to us further about our topics, join us on our private community that you can access through our major sponsors website via purchasing a Tshirt.

The new social media Upscrolled developed by an Australian Palestinian innovator is growing fast and we will be moving our content over to that platform.

Because Meta, Google and X are all part of the data that has been used in Genocide and that doesn't sit right with us.

These social buttons will be slowly disappearing.

Systems Collapse reDistributes Power & That Is A Good Thing

irene@circulareconomyfnq.org.au (Irene Portelli) — Mon, 12 Jan 2026 12:12:25 GMT

Beyond Nostalgia; Solidarity Politics For An Era Of Collapse

This is from an interview I heard on ABC Radio, can't remember the Show but I let ChatGTP dilute what they were saying about as we let the shitshow unravel from the viewpoint of a climatologist; systems collapse in nature, systems collapse in geopolitics.

How this decade really Australia as an Annex 1 Country could deliver on their responsibility as the wealthiest nation, until Africa overtakes us, in the Global South. If you don't know what is happening in Birkina Faso, in a nutshell it has kicked France out in 2024 and in 1 year it has recouped $17billion in Gold revenue.

Gold is quickly taking over from the petrodollar [especially as the Fossil Fuels are becoming more and more expensive to mine] - from Oil reserves, as a countries asset backing up say America's, trillions of dollars in debt.

This was it's closing invitation but I am asking it first.

What would it look like to stop asking how to save the system - and start asking how to take care of each other as it changes?

Across the world, politics is increasingly shaped by nostalgia. “Take back control.” “Make the nation great again.”

The problem is not human nature.
The problem is a system that trained us into extraction, speed, competition, and obedience.

The Silence Around Collapse

For decades, people working in environmental science, activism, and policy have warned about accelerating ecological breakdown. Many have worked diligently, ethically, and tirelessly.

And yet, despite carbon markets, sustainability frameworks, international agreements, and endless education campaigns, emissions continue to rise, ecosystems continue to degrade, and inequality continues to deepen. From an economic standpoint it is this that is the most dangerous.

When these tools fail, despair creeps in. And despair, when left unacknowledged, often curdles into control.

This is where an authoritarian impulse emerges within parts of the environmental movement. Not overtly, but subtly: through censorship, deplatforming, narrative policing, and the insistence that certain conclusions must not be drawn—because they might make people lose hope, lose trust, or lose obedience.

The message becomes: calm down, don’t panic, don’t disrupt, don’t revolt.

But calmness imposed in the face of lived reality is not reassurance—it is denial.

People are not anxious because they misunderstand climate data. They are anxious because they can see systems failing around them: housing, food security, energy, governance, social cohesion. Suppressing analysis that names collapse does not protect the public. It protects power.

Collapse Is Not A Moral Failure Of Humanity

Why Collapse Opens Political Space

There is a quiet truth many institutions will not say out loud: collapse redistributes power.

Highly unequal systems depend on stability to maintain legitimacy.

When crises multiply—climate, energy, housing, finance, health—the narrative that “there is no alternative” begins to fracture.

What once felt immovable becomes negotiable. What once seemed inevitable becomes questionable.

This is not good news in a simplistic sense. Collapse is painful, frightening, and unjust. But it does create openings: for local agency, mutual aid, new forms of governance, and solidaristic ways of living that were previously dismissed as unrealistic or radical.

The real danger is not collapse itself, but leaving the interpretation of collapse to nostalgia politicians and strongmen.

From Progress Politics To Solidarity Politics

CEFNQ does not advocate despair, nor do we advocate violent revolt.

What we advocate is honesty—and solidarity.

A solidarity-based politics for an era of collapse begins with several shifts:

From control to care
From growth to enough
From individual blame to systemic responsibility
From false optimism to shared grief and shared action

This kind of politics does not promise a return to a golden age, nor does it promise salvation through technology or markets alone.

Instead, it asks harder, more human questions:

How do we reduce harm?

How do we adapt together?

What must we let go of?

What do we restore?

And who do we need to reconcile with—each other, the land, future generations, and our own mortality?

The Four Pathways Through Collapse

In this context, the “four R’s” offer not a blueprint, but a language for dialogue:

Resilience: What do we most value that must be protected—relationships, knowledge, ecosystems, #sdg14|15 community trust?

Relinquishment: What systems, habits, and assumptions must we release because trying to preserve them will deepen harm?

Restoration: What older or marginalised practices—especially Indigenous, communal, and place-based knowledge—can be brought forward, not as nostalgia, but as living wisdom?

Reconciliation: What losses must we acknowledge? What truths must we face? Who and what do we need to make peace with as we navigate limits?

These questions are not comfortable. They are not easily monetised. And they do not fit neatly into election cycles. That is precisely why they matter.

Choosing solidarity over silence

The greatest risk we face is not that people will panic if they hear the truth.

The risk is that they will be infantilised, silenced, and pushed toward authoritarian answers because no one offered them a way to face reality together.

Solidarity is not weakness.

It is a survival strategy.

It means refusing both the false comfort of nostalgia and the false safety of technocratic denial.

It means allowing grief without letting it turn into misanthropy.

It means naming power without scapegoating ordinary people.

And it means building local, regenerative systems—not because they are trendy, but because they are necessary.

Collapse does not absolve us of responsibility. It clarifies it.

Comments Prompt: Solidarity Politics In An Era Of Collapse

If we accept that multiple systems are already in decline, what does a solidarity-based politics look like—beyond nostalgia, beyond authoritarianism, and beyond false optimism?

Discussion questions:

Why do nostalgia-based political movements resonate so strongly during periods of crisis and decline?
How has the refusal to talk honestly about collapse shaped public trust in institutions?
Where do we see authoritarian impulses emerging within environmental or progressive movements—and why?
What does solidarity mean in practical terms at the community, regional, and economic level?
How can grief, despair, and fear be acknowledged without tipping into paralysis or control?
What should we be actively relinquishing as systems strain—and who gets to decide?
How can Indigenous knowledge and place-based stewardship inform adaptation without being tokenised?
What responsibilities do we hold to future generations in a world of limits?

How Geckos Contribute To Shorten The Lifespan Of Air Conditioners In FNQ

irene@circulareconomyfnq.org.au (Irene Portelli) — Fri, 01 Nov 2024 02:09:14 GMT

Air Conditioners Make Great Homes In Winter

So there are two critical things you can do to prevent this.

There is a button outside that gives the power directly to your Air Conditioning Unit, turn that off in Winter.

Then before you turn the inside unit on, just tap it to get rid of the nest geckos in there and then you are good to go.

The motherboard on the inside is always receiving current even when it is ON so take away the comfort factor.

So that is why Geckos find this the best nesting space in Winter. It's like a fire place to them.

So hopefully this little tip of how to live with an air conditioner and geckos in the tropics and not have to make a claim on your 5 month old air conditioner because geckos are not in your warranty plan. You are at the whim of a generous brand but even then they have to be able to recycle that e-waste and that is still getting to commercial stage.

Things are happening, we have been in some interesting rooms.

We will keep you posted as things progress both here and in our Resources tab.

How To Gecko Proof Your Air Conditioner

Learning Circular Principles From Nature

Go Watch Bill Gates Green Nuclear Innovation Ep3

It is just post the Queensland Election of 2024 and the Liberal Party have 8 years at best to deliver a Net 0 Runway in Northern Australia where there is waste data gaps in this space.

This can really be a design brief for our STEM students on how to keep Geckos out of the main brand design Air Conditioners, Product Designers are going to be like the Web Designer boom that we had in the past decade.

Net 0 = reusing, servicing, designing out, processing in place, refuse, reduce, redesign in a nutshell.

Even when you buy a good product if you are living close to nature, which we want to do even moreso then we need to develop clever ways to design the messy overlap between animal and human because our fear of it has made us kill 69% of the species left after the Ice Age.
The Holocene Epoch, the period is what we are just leaving is super short in comparison to others which have gone for 100's of millions of years.

This connects to Air Conditioner waste and how to reduce and then redesign.

Mining has contributed a lot to Climate Change over the past 125 years.

The King has just had multiple protests on his recent visit to Australia; treaty, cost of their visits on Australians, and Greens First Nations Senator, all women, 2 cultures. And the Samoan visit was about staying within 1.5 - the Paris Climate Agreement , while asking for Climate Justice and Mitigation that needs to be done and how to reduce Australia's increasing mining carbon footprint.

As an Annex1 country our mining clients have to pay for the impacts of climate change on a warming and rising ocean. Arguing the science so that they wouldn't have to shorten the commercial use of the mines before they reached their asset cliff - no longer safe or feasible to run.

Any new mine that is being opened is not only going to have bear the costs of a short mining life and also pay for the Climate Justice claim on them being developed in the UN with a data modelling tool developed by Kate Raworth. As we speak.

As mining companies wish to stay relevant in the new economy, mining is needed in the circular economy but a lot less of it & with an auditable Slavery Act Prevention and Reparation policy, they also need to get their cheque books out and start funding the environmental reparation of the impact of ignoring or modelling the science for their benefit .

Lithium batteries will be designed out as it was previously a solution but with it's safety concerns continually growing the innovations coming out of waste, like Graphene, will help us get down to using only 30% of the earths virgin resources and still thriving as an economy.

The linear economy is so wasteful even though it is filled with economies of scale. Because of designed obsolescence.

When we design that out we will see a lot of business models start to disappear.

The circular economy is old school working with and buying from the people who make what you need as close to you as possible. Circular Economy is rollback and innovation.

Predictive and Gap Analysis Data, feedback loops, equality.
Everything else will fall into place.

We need scalable e-waste solutions yesterday, luckily they are on their way to our region, with this system then over time we will have less and less demand on virgin resources.

We do not need Uranium mines for green nuclear because a closed loop zero waste one has been designed that uses the nuclear waste as it's main resource. By Bill Gates, hence go watch his doco on Netflix, he's human in it.

In Africa people are experiencing loss of land and lifestyle because of our demands on previous minerals.

There are wars and war crimes happening all over the planet because of mining.

Would love your thoughts, please comment below. This is a conversation.

Going Off Grid By Creating Biogas From Your Loo [Toilet]

irene@circulareconomyfnq.org.au (Irene Portelli) — Sun, 16 Jun 2024 10:30:50 GMT

First Time We Heard About This There Was 30mins Of Hmmmmmm

When you think of it, we waste a lot of things in our modern day systems due to inefficient designs of water, waste and energy.

One of the biggest challenges ahead of us due to climate change is water security, we're getting hotter, we have a larger population in regional and remote communities due to the cost of land and houses being cheaper than in our capital cities, slightly less now but still better, but infrastructure can't keep up.

Albanese announced we are building 1.2million houses in Australia to help with the housing crisis which has been contributed to by the increase of single house holds due to a high divorce and seperation rate due to COVID. We're also having the 4th wave of feminism where women would rather be on their own than settle.

But he stated we need to wait for the infrastructure to be built to support that development but he's using old school thinking for new world solutions and the math just doesn't add up.

So. We have bigger lots of land in general in remote areas and the HomeBiogas system is perfect for our climate so it's a perfect fit to trial as an energy source for going off grid with our Passive Houses.

There is this big drive for innovation but the reality is a lot of people have been working on getting away from the linear system for decades, since the 70's in fact and that means simple but effective designs have been used and working through those times. But biogas has been used for over 8 centuries so it's not a new innovation it just needs simple to use processes and there are exciting options here and coming.

In fact there is only one in the domestic market, more in the commercial market though..

Which means there is a business opportunity for plumbing companies to use their R&D tax incentives to develop a domestic solution. There is a lot of commercial Biogas but the domestic market is severely lacking in this innovation.

This Video Started A 2 Year Journey On Biogas Research

Only 1 Brand Does Domestic HomeBiogas

Carbon Neutral In Place Solution

Short History Of Biogas - It's Old School But Works

This anaerobic process of decomposition (or fermentation) of organic matter happens all around us in nature and has been happening for a very long time. The bacteria that break down organic material into biogas are some of the oldest multi-celled organisms on the planet. Human use of biogas, of course, doesn’t go that far back. Anecdotal evidence traces the first uses of biogas to the Assyrians and the Persians in the 10th and 16th centuries. More recently, the 20th century has brought about a renaissance of both industrial and small-scale biogas systems.

Passive Home Mortgage- Bank Australia

irene@circulareconomyfnq.org.au (Irene Portelli) — Mon, 03 Jun 2024 11:12:08 GMT

Um Hello Read Their Opening Statement On Their Website

Seriously we are swooing over here.

Together with our customers, we’re creating a world where people and the planet thrive.

In FNQ, the sustainability in action rooms are 90% women, so hence...

Our ovaries are literally crying with relief. Finally a bank that speaks for people and planet.

We are buidling Passive Houses with an Australian Innovator who is an Architect and an Engineer. The 1 and 2brm house each diverts 3tonne of plastic from landfill in a high speed 3D printer that is an off grid micro factory, we know that you need to finance that build. After reading a copy of Sanctuary Magazine by Renew we discovered Bank Australia.

A bank that actually offers you a lower rate for your energy star rating on your house.

Reduced Rates For Going Green

What Do House Star Ratings Mean

Homes are given a star rating between 0 and 10.

A higher star rating means the home is more comfortable to live in and is cheaper to run. Lower star ratings mean a home is more costly to keep comfortable.

Below is a general guide to ratings:

a 0-star rated home is quite uncomfortable – too hot in summer and too cold in winter. It will require a lot of energy to heat and cool. QLDers!
a home reaching a 7-star rating will need some mechanical heating and cooling to keep it comfortable to live in.
a 10-star home is very energy efficient. It will remain comfortable year-round, with limited, or no mechanical cooling or heating.

Having lived in an off grid home that had no mechanical cooling or heating, there was a pot belly stove for Winter due to it being in Samford but it didn't need it, it was a want. What stood out in that build that it's not just the house design it is the orientation of the house on the block that also plays a super important part to the rating. That had a biomass internal wall. The fireproof plastic houses that we are bringing to Far North QLD will sit comfortably on the higher end of between a 7-10 Star rating which we will get certified for.

We believe that the time is over due where housing is sustainable.

Houses that are affordable.

Houses with a light footprint.

Passive Houses that can be printed in 1.5 days to 2 weeks and built in 2 weeks with zero waste. Australia Bank is going to love these houses.

Climate Change is coming much much faster, and having houses that allow the most vulnerable among us to live a life that is not comfortable in both Summer and Winter and has a low long term maintenance but has style. Reduced inequalities, SDG10, that matters to us. No one left behind, this is how we do it, sustainable low cost living housing.

Affordable because the long term savings in utilities due to a good ney great Star rating due to being air tight, with patented panels with biomass for cooling and warming benefits.

It's SDG13, Climate Action where each house diverts from 3 tonnes of plastics from landfill while having the load bearing that it can withstand a nuclear bomb, or a land slide in PNG.

This is what drives us daily, supporting entrepreneurs who are the real change makers, we just work with them to make sure their change making innovation is delivered to the people who need it most.

If you are looking to build a Granny Flat on your property for AirBnB, extra rent, Eco Tourism, Agri-Tourism or Cultural Tourism or a 3 bedroom home in FNQ.

Reach out as we are building them.

Making E-Commerce Circular with Air Robe: Simple Steps for Sustainable Shopping

irene@circulareconomyfnq.org.au (Irene Portelli) — Fri, 31 May 2024 11:28:53 GMT

Buy Better Buy Less - Air Robe The Circular Wardrobe

When AfterPay first came out, you saw all the big brands adopt it first.

This is the same with Air Robe.

All the high end labels are in there but I think this could be such an opportunity for sustainable craftspeople to get in there.

So as I follow a lot of ocean people in Facebook this brand Salty Dagger - its a thing in the ocean world, Salty is a popular key word. Anyways, I went down this rabbit hole and then on the cart page I saw this toggle. Air Robe it....

In life cycle analysis, the phase that can make the most impact on the planet is the USE phase which is why fast fashion is a killer for the planet, LITERALLY.

How It Works As A Consumer

How It Works As A Brand

what you do is reach out to them and set up an account, if it is like AfterPay they will have some widget you need to add to your site through a Developer and then you are off.

Honestly this is such an exciting opportunity for well made independent labels because you get to keep your customers happy and a third party site helps you get more exposure to your business in a good way.

Conscious shoppers are 3x more valuable to your brand.

Having a Sustainability Page on your website is a green signal that buyers are starting to search for.

By partnering with Air Robe it gives your brand more credibility as a business for good.

Jump on it, tell us how your experience was so we can add some extra insights to this blog.

How exciting. We hope.

3 Policies For Australia's Circular Industrial Economy

irene@circulareconomyfnq.org.au (Irene Portelli) — Tue, 21 May 2024 03:40:33 GMT

Product Stewardship Act - Slavery Act 2018 - Clean Up Politics Act

First and foremost do your own research on who you vote for with your attention, with your dollar - read labels PLEASE, and at the polls. Apathy votes when you are pissed at the status quo, doesn't move the needle, you get the politician you deserve.

The views here are based on our own research, which has been extensive because it's our job, to improve business and the democratic process in Australia.

Dr Monique Ryan did win some HECS relief but it was a superficial win as it didn't wipe student debt which is what we our kids need, the fact that the Australian Government makes more money from HECS than it does from taxing our Fossil Fuel companies. Tells you everything.

The key policies that haven't to date been used by our MPs to their fullest potential have actually been in place for 6 years for the Slavery Act 2018, has only this year in 2024 getting it's first commissioner. ��

Product Stewardship Act 2011 , yes 13 years. This is weaponised incompetence. By our own government. Administered by the Agriculture Fishery and Forestry. During this period this department was meant to create a recycling hub for e-waste and batteries. As it stands in Australia, the largest mining nation for Lithium, does NOT have a scaleable e-waste solution.

It was repealed in 2020 and now named the Recycling and Waste Reduction Act 2020 .

Our supply chain as it stands in 2024 is filled with Slavery, including our seafood . Even companies that do Supply Chain Audits these audits do not go more than one step back unless pushed for by the initial business, so it really does come down to being a business for good and asking harder questions. This was identified after doing some Circular Transition consulting with a large business that sells products from recycled plastic, there is a lot of work to do in this industry.

We strongly recommend if you are business for good to write a transparent Sustainability Policy page , including your transition strategy. The ACCC is going after businesses that are green washing and we have Ai and Natural Language Patterns that can identify the blatent copy and ones that written cleverly. This is Ai we support because catching out bad business is part of the way forward.

We also as of this year have a Voluntary Product Stewardship Act training though, so get on it.

Curation Of TikTok Videos On The Clean Up Politic Act - It's Overdue!!

Slavery Act 2018

The Act requires annual reports to be made by Australian based entities and those operating in Australia that have a minimum consolidated revenue of $100 million (reporting entities). Other entities can elect to report voluntarily. The Commonwealth Government is also required to publish its own annual modern slavery statement, which may be relevant for suppliers to the government.

The Act defines ‘modern slavery’ with reference to the Commonwealth Criminal Code and international law. It captures: • conduct that would constitute slavery and slavery-like offences, whether or not the conduct took place in Australia; • human trafficking; and • the worst forms of child labour. Slavery and slavery-like conduct would include forced labour, deceptive recruitment and debt bondage.

Cobalt is every single rechargeable product.

Right now, 5.9million people are displaced in the Congo because, Glencore, Samsung, Apple and Tesla are the 4 largest companies that mine there. They are subject to this act and we need to take action because not only is genocide happening but the stats say 49 women per hour are losing their freedom hourly to men doing what they shouldn't to them.

Glencore has a Slavery Policy for the UK and Australia, not for the DRC, Congo. go to YouTube and watch this video as there are links for the Blue Carbon Project into the Great Artisan Basin they tried to pass in 2024 �� They are now paying $1.1billion in fines that ' Glencore admitted to paying over $100 million in bribes to government officials in US, UK and Brazil through a series of subsidiaries, middlemen, and intermediary corporations in violation of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA). Glencore’s principal objectives were obtaining unfair business advantages, acquiring state-owned operations, and mitigating or outright dismissing legal liabilities.' from this article. Another link >>> The Department of Justice in the US ruling link

Not all businesses out of Switzerland or the EU in fact are good for people and planet. Do your research people and duet us on TikTok if you want to have deeper conversations on that platform. #peoplepower #votewithyourdollar

How Ai Can Help Catch Businesses Who Are Greenwashing - Lenaion Labs

Mon, 13 Feb 2023 02:21:00 GMT

ASIC Has Given Out 4 Greenwashing Fines Since November 2022 & Counting.

If you have been working in or concerned about sustainability this news before Christmas was definitely a Santa moment.
Nathan, the founder of Lenaion Labs, is one of the Unicorns coming out of JCU Ideas Lab atm for his Ai software which has an algorithm especially for greenwashing terms that are easily to identify. Unlike ChatGTP which is a more generalised Ai engine, Lenaion is being constantly fed key signals that makes it highly tuned to catch green washing by business. The above image is one of the businesses that was fined by ASIC since November, 2022.
Here are some slides from his recent pitch at JCU in Feb 2022.
The problem is unless you are studying, working or living within the framework of Sustainability, if a business says they are green there is very little to verify that claim. Yes carbon calculators are coming, early days and it's a long play solution measuring the supply chain to calculate the elements like energy and transport and materials that add to that total calculation.
But it is the claims that you don't very like carbon neutral gas, there is no such thing but the business below wrote it in its documents and that is what ASIC is going through and auditing. Imagine Lenaion being used inside ASIC, how many more greenwashing fines = buyer awareness of where to use their green dollar to vote on whether to support a business.
In the 2022 Australia Post Ecommerce report, 3 out of every 4 buyers say their choice is influenced by a businesses sustainability claims. P.24; Businesses are responding, with 88% today having some form of sustainable practices and products. Of these, 34% have experienced improvements in

customer loyalty and company culture as a result.

Having worked in marketing for 12 years the above claim would make businesses go gah gah over customer retention improvement. Especially as COVid and the results of not so many humans in places like Venice which saw dolphins return for the first time in forever.

Why Lenaion Labs Greenwashing Ai Solution?

Now Nathan is top of his field in Natural Language Pattern identification.
That's it really.

He also has some super nerds on his team that took me 3 different discussions to get the awesome under the hood of their software. One of Nathan's programmers is a genius and is also working on a virtual lab inside JCU atm. Can you explain the details of how they are building the code to make it an exciting innovation, now, but over the coming months as we get more businesses to start using Lenaion Labs on their docs that they use in their business we will be putting more stories and Case Studies in this post.
All you need to know at this point in time is that this is another Santa moment.
Where those big verticals who have been making claims they are doing good, will be caught and the fines are relative to the turnover of their business.
Change is coming because the tools we need to make them happen are coming onto the market.

Exciting times ahead.

Want To Start A Plastic Recycling Business At Your School Or Community Centre

Sat, 14 Jan 2023 04:34:00 GMT

There is money in waste, especially when you put the goggles of micro-factories on.

Walter R. Stahel is the grand father of the Circular Industrial Economy, the OG of Circular Economy Specialists.

This is his graphic above and he has strongly recommended the use of Micro Factories in regional and remote locations for the Innovation Phase - Reuse, Repair and Remanufacture stage.

A micro factory is a small-scale manufacturing facility that is designed to produce a specific product or range of products. These factories are typically smaller and more compact than traditional manufacturing facilities, and they are often used to produce smaller quantities of items, such as custom or niche products.

Micro factories can be used to produce a wide range of products, including in our case passive homes, bio char and bio oils that can be sold in the place they are processed. There are additive manufacturing units for plastics and metals, and from 2024 it can be used to take the end of life of products to supply brands with a Product Stewardship Certification.

This takes the 'away' of waste disposal out of the sole responsibility of the consumer and puts it on the producer.

When this is more widely adopted it will influence product design. If you are a high school student or a parent of one reading this, this is going to be an exciting green job for your kids.

Micro factories, including the ones we have designed, often use advanced technologies such as 3D printing, CNC machines, and robotics to manufacture products quickly and efficiently. We have some innovation Ai data modelling that can develop predictive analysis from consumer and waste behaviour, a fantastic feedback tool for the Life Cycle Analysis - especially the USE phase.

Advantages of Micro factories include:

Flexibility: Micro factories can be easily adapted to produce different products , and they can be quickly reconfigured to change production processes.
Speed: Micro factories are often able to produce products more quickly than traditional manufacturing facilities, which can be beneficial for companies looking to get their products to market faster.
Cost-effective: Micro factories can be more cost-effective than traditional manufacturing facilities, as they require less space and fewer resources.
Local production: Micro factories can be set up in local communities, allowing manufacturers to produce goods closer to their customers and reduce the environmental impact of transportation.
Customisation: micro factories have the ability to produce small batch, customised and personalised products which may not be feasible for large scale production.

Micro factories are still in a relatively early stage of development and it remains to be seen how they will impact the manufacturing industry in the long run.

The Lesson From Red Cycle - who's branding is still on packaging nearly 2 years later.

When the news that Red Cycle had issues with their key partner after a warehouse fire and that they were stockpiling their plastics. This wasn't a failure in a sense because we collectively managed to send in through Coles and Woolworths collection points 5000 Tonne soft plastics a week to them.

We want to be part of the solution. We just need a sustainable roadmap to follow.

We have one and a solution that will keep waste in place in Far North QLD and create Industry 5.0 jobs .

But what if we stopped moving waste from where it is and process it in place. That is where micro-factories come in for plastics, the open-source solution designed Precious Plastics has a full suite of video training to help you understand how to sort and recycle plastics with their systems and we can niche it down into a few things.

Like recycle plastic lids/bottles into handles for kitchens or cupboards .

Knife handles for Caddy, Japanese knives, which had a hugely successful crowdfunded campaign.

Sadly though there is some bad news bubbling up about Precious Plastics, which is sad because over 500k micro businesses are making great products from it. Please do your own research and assessment but personally Circular Economy FNQ does not recommend it.

We do not endorse Precious Plastics because of the off gases in injection moulds done manually. We are starting to have feedback that more and more of these kinds of micro factories built on this system has health concerns which is why we have developed our own cluster of industrial micro factories.

How Schools Can Be Part Of The Solution

We have a need for 5 types of plastics for one of our printers.

HDPE, PP, PETG and ABS - every passive house we build we need 3 tonnes of it. If your school would like to be part of our supply chain we can invite excursion Advance Manufacturing Students into our Micro Factory to learn the CAD system to prototype other designs that have economic possibilities.

The other printer we have coming will take PET and HDPE and print with them without the need for sorting.

If you would like to be part of our supply chain for that and have the same opportunity to design something that is needed and has profit margin we are inviting Far North QLD schools to come in on excursions.

There is money in waste in fact there is an entire new economy in it and it will help us save the planet, lower the cost of living and make more business opportunities for those who are passionate about being part of the solution.

For an interactive educational toolkit for upper secondary high school educators and students to integrate circular thinking into the classroom, please click the link below.

It is for Teachers to download the workbooks and the educator support materials for in-class planning. Visit the educators’ hub for a range of extra resources that help to design incredible in-class learning around the Circular Economy.

We like to blend Kate Raworths system thinking over Unschools, we find the two go exceptionally well together.

Enjoy this learning curve, you will see the world of systems so much clearer once you consume both the course above and this book below.

We look forward to future discussions with your team or school.

Plastic Circular Innovation - Salty Monkeys - Diving Fins SDG12 SDG14

Thu, 08 Sep 2022 21:02:00 GMT

When you grow up in Paradise but the worlds waste is invading your backyard.

Dennis from Salty Monkeys, a business he promotes well made storytelling videos from the Torres Straits through his successful Youtube Channel & Instagram page with the rest of Australia and the world that after witnessing the plastic pollution in his dives to producing a non-virgin plastic set of quality designed fins with local indigenous artworks on them.

This story reflects not only the power of the internet and some quality editing can do to make a big impact even if you live in a remote part of anywhere on the planet but that we all have the power and influence to do something about it.

SDG12 - How Salty Monkeys Are Crushing It

SDG 12 is responsible consumption and production.
One of the key steps in changing our linear lifestyle is easy, #buybetterbuyless.

Now these fins are going to be priced so that they are an investment but they are also being made to last.

The key step in this product that we love is the attention to detail in the design. When you make something good it is made to last, you know like the good old days or if you are younger than 30 how we used to do it.

When we had service skills not just stuff.

When you could take something back and get it repaired, which anyone who has a boat knows, when you're out on that water, you learn how to fix stuff the only thing at your disposal is a good toolkit.

SDG 14 - Life Below The Water

The unique issue of plastic waste in Torres Strait is that the currents up there bring plastics from Indonesia and other regions right to to their doorstep and they wash up in remote beaches.

In some places the plastics are feet high [pictures are coming]

But Salty Monkeys have a project that will help solve this problem while promoting the need for better quality plastics so we don’t have to sort and process 7 different types of plastic.

There is a long way to go but we can all do our part by making sure we buy non-virgin products and return it at end of life so it can recycled properly.

Businesses coming on board to join Plastic Free Cairns and kicking off Plastic Free July

Wed, 09 Feb 2022 01:57:00 GMT

Soon, businesses all over Cairns will be proudly displaying their ‘plastic-free’ status under the Plastic Free Cairns program to reduce single-use plastic in the region.

Plastic Free Cairns is run by peak not-for-profit group the Boomerang Alliance as the next step in achieving change away from plastic pollution, and is partnered with Cairns Regional Council and funded by the Queensland Government. Cairns is the fifth community in the Boomerang Alliance's national Plastic Free Places program and any food retail business is able to join!

Plastic Free Cairns is a free service for all Cairns cafes and restaurants to reduce six key single use plastic items that are commonly found in the litter stream - plastic water bottles, straws, coffee/cups & lids, takeaway containers, foodware (cutlery, cups, plates, sauce or ice cream containers etc.) and plastic bags.

“All of these items have readily available reusable or compostable alternatives - our job is to work with businesses to show them what the alternatives are, where they can source them and how to save on packaging and costs. We provide tailored packaging advice making it easy and cost-effective to be plastic free", said program coordinator Helen Reilly. "Once they have eliminated the single use plastics we're targeting, we crown them as 'Plastic Free Champions'.

The program quietly commenced at the beginning of March about the same time when Covid-19 forced many cafes and restaurants to close their doors or do takeaway only. Despite the slow start, there are already 14 official members (not long reaching 20 members) and 2 Plastic Free Champions, with more than a handful of local cafes and restaurants interested in joining every week.

The primary goal of the program is a 50% reduction in the number of identified single-use plastic packaging used by members and to sign up 100+ food outlets as members of the program in the first year, with a view to implementing a plastic free system that could be extended to include more businesses over time.

Blackbird Espresso Warehouse in Bungalow and Laneway in the CBD are Cairns’ first ‘Plastic Free Champions’. Upon becoming a Champion, businesses receive a unique sign that identifies them and a Champion listing on the website www.plasticfreecairns.org.

From the first time Troy and Daniela Furner, of Blackbird Espresso, witnessed a straw lodged in a turtle’s nostril 8 years ago at Townsville’s Reef HQ, they knew that they simply just had to do what was right by the environment.

“As a small business in a location that sits amongst one of the world's seven wonders and world heritage listed rainforest, we ourselves have the opportunity to make decisions in our own business that directly affect the natural area we live in” said Troy. “The Plastic Free Cairns program is a great initiative for businesses to be given guidance and mentoring on where to find and how to implement plastic free products throughout their supply and set an example to other businesses in the region."

‘With the Queensland State Government planning to phase-out certain problem single use plastics in 2021, there has never been a better time to join the program.’ said Helen. "I've never been more proud of the Cairns local business community, rallying together to reduce single use plastics. It's clear to me that many food business owners of Cairns still care about the environment, despite Covid-19, and are open to better packaging options for the environment."

But it's not just businesses who can get involved..have you thought about reducing your use of plastic? No better time to make a start than to register your pledge at Plastic Free July!

From its humble beginnings in 2011, the award-winning Plastic Free July campaign, run by a passionate team in Australia but operating across the globe, encourages everyone to make a pledge for July to avoid as much plastic across different areas of everyday life, at home, school or university, work (as an employee or employer), shopping/cafe/retail shop owner or council employee.

By registering your details at https://www.plasticfreejuly.org/take-the-challenge/, you can join 250 million participants from around the world and receive weekly emails with tips and tricks, the latest plastic free ideas, read stories from other participants and find long lasting solutions in your lifestyle. Together we can make a difference and be a part of the solution.

Importantly, also choose to support those businesses who are actively working to reduce plastic - you can find an updated list at www.plasticfreecairns.org. Let them know you appreciate what they are doing and give them some love! Look out for the special 'Plastic Free Champions' sign - only given to those businesses who have eliminated all six items and significantly reduced their plastic use.

During Plastic Free July, Plastic Free Cairns is running a competition to win a Plastic Free Prize Pack – valued at $200

• 1L Stainless Steel Water Bottle

• Artisan Glass Reusable Coffee Cup

• Stainless Steel Bento Snack Box

• Bamboo Cutlery, Straw & Chopsticks Travel Pack

• Fresh Produce Bags (Boomerang Bags)

• Carry Bags (Boomerang Bags)

• Palm Cove Solid Hair Care Bar

• Crystal Cascades Moisturising Body Bar

• Bamboo Toothbrush

• Bamboo Sporks

• Loofah Kitchen Sponges

To enter the competition head to Star FM https://www.star1027.com.au/win/win-now . Competition begins on the 6th of July 20 with the winner announced Friday the 24th of July 2020.

Stay up to date on exciting developments in the Plastic Free Cairns program on social media Facebook or Instagram (@plasticfreecairns).

To find out more about the program, view the current list of members or to join as a café or restaurant, visit plasticfreecairns.org .

Do you really know the volume and knock-on effects of food waste?

Tue, 08 Feb 2022 23:00:00 GMT

Today, an estimated one-third of all the food produced in the world goes to waste.

That is equal to about 1.3 billion tons of fruits, vegetables, meat, dairy, seafood, and grains that either never leave the farm, get lost or spoiled during distribution, or are thrown away in hotels, grocery stores, restaurants, schools, or home kitchens. It could be enough calories to feed every undernourished person on the planet.

But wasted food isn't just a social or humanitarian concern it's an environmental one. When we waste food, we also waste all the energy and water it takes to grow, harvest, transport, and package it. And if food goes to the landfill and rots, it produces methane a greenhouse gas even more potent than carbon dioxide. About 11% of all the greenhouse gas emissions that come from the food system could be reduced if we stop wasting food!

As the world’s population continues to grow, our challenge should not be how to grow more food, but to feed more people while wasting less of what we already produce!

Thankfully, there are plenty of actions we can take at the consumer level to make a significant difference. From delivering leftovers to those in need, to freezing food, shopping smarter, and composting to keep inedible scraps out of landfills, we can all take responsibility.

Preventing food waste is the most effective way to shrink its impact on the planet. If we avoid producing food that we don't eat, we can save the land, water, and energy that would have been used to make it. And awareness is a good first step educating consumers about food waste could prevent 2.3 million tons of greenhouse gas emissions, adopting circular economy principles to prevent food waste is the first step.

What is the Circular Economy?

A circular economy is an alternative to a traditional linear economy where (make, use, dispose of) in which we keep resources in use for as long as possible, extract the maximum value from them whilst in use, then recover and regenerate products. For businesses adopting circular models, benefits include greater efficiency and profitability, less waste and cost, better innovation, and stronger relationships with customers.

However, for many the concept of circular economy models and the shift required in mindset and business processes can seem overwhelming, there is a need for a greater understanding of what circular economy means and how businesses are successfully adopting circular models.

By fighting food waste through a circular economy model, there is a real advantage to be gained for businesses, communities, and the environments in which we live, work and grow.

As local businesses having a better understanding of the negative impacts of food waste, they become more armed with the knowledge to make positive choices. There are many off-the-shelf solutions available to turn food waste into a resource, and keep it away from landfills, whilst reducing your carbon footprint, but first, we all need to be mindful and take responsibility on how we are creating food waste.

ONSITE COMPOSTING IS THE SOLUTION NO LANDFILL NO CARBON FOOTPRINT CREATE A USEABLE RESOURCE FROM FOOD WASTE COMPOST.

By Tina O’Hagan Foodservice Design and Business Consultancy

The Board at Circular Economy FNQ are trialling 3 different onsite Food Composting solutions through our Circular Business Transition Program that we are piloting in Port Douglas this year, 2022.

We are then bringing the insights from our Pilot to in Cairns and Palm Cove in 2023. We are working with CRC Fight Food Waste who is funding our Pilot this year.

If you would like to be involved in our program please reach out to us as we are identifying food waste solutions from small Cafes to Hotels to Apartment buildings. We are data driven so what we identify will not only save you money on your Waste Management but includes change transition training to make sure we reduce the contamination in waste so that the end resource is of high quality.

We are working with key stakeholders in Ag, Business, Schools and community groups as well as our Local Councils and State Government to create a truly Circular Economy in FOGO, food organics, garden organics in FNQ.

Our Transition program will be what is behind our Circular Business Membership that will be available 2 x a year from 2023.

Reach out, we'd love to hear from you.

There Is A Lot Of Money In Waste

Mon, 03 Jan 2022 22:11:00 GMT

COP26 saw Australia get some negative press in both social media, news and offline media, think big billboards in lights on busy city intersections kind of messaging.
The reason why the world was looking at us in disbelief is probably because they saw David Attenborough's; Life On Planet Earth and his statement of how we change to save it. We have to do some huge changes a lot sooner than 2050.
We have till 2031 to lower our carbon footprint by 50% to keep our temp increase to 1.5deg otherwise we are going to slide into irreversible climate change taking us out of the Holocene era into an era that will lead to a loss of 50% of the worlds species. And not a large amount of insects either. Polar Caps gone, Polar Bears, gone, Great Barrier Reef, gone.
So how do we stop this? We squeeze every last drop out of the resources we are extracting or have extracted from the planet and reverse the damage we have done and create less waste along the way. Nothing is wasted in nature and nature is the key to finding a use for everything we produce/use.
POSITIVE CHANGE IS COMING - BUT WE NEED TO WORK AT IT
Waste As A Commodity
By 2024 we can no longer export our waste. Due to the National Recycling Act by 2024 we can no longer export our waste, so this presents some exciting opportunities for people who have a head for business.
This one policy is going to change a lot of things, especially how we produce, sort and repurpose the things we consume.
There is going to be an abundance of waste and sending it to landfill because that's what the linear economy did with it. What we didn't realise till it became a problem too big to ignore is that it produces Methane and reducing our Methane is one of the fastest ways that we can reduce our impact on climate change so that is where the disruption is happening first. But there is a lot more.
Illisa Ocko's Ted Talk will get you started on your research and why it's a key piece to data we will be reporting in our Mapping The Doughnut Project we are starting this year, 2022. It's a critical driver to fast results.
2022 + beyond is going to be exciting, the reduce climate change puzzle is coming together.
Repurposing this waste is going to change the way we produce things as we need to reuse and reduce at the same time and that is where the skillset of regenerative design will create new products, new systems and easier sustainability in both a home and commercial situation.
When there are policies, acts and grants we have business disruption, when 90% of our waste is high quality we have the beginnings of a new economy. The solutions offer cost savings for the existing business owner and a low cost commodity for the waste entrepreneur and then a low carbon commodity for industry to use and get Australia on track to hit Zero Carbon emissions faster.
That's it in a nutshell, unpacking it is what we are doing in the rest of our blogs, vlogs and tutorials.
Important Facts + Links;
National Recycling Act - Trevor Evans Federal Member For Brisbane
By 2024, we can no longer export any waste. We have to deal with it here.
The Recycling Modernisation Fund for QLD was only $20million from Fed, $20million from State; EXPIRED
National Waste Action Plan 80% recovery rate from waste by 2030, halve organic waste to landfill < methane issue, we should make it 100% FOGO Bins can fix this.
Regenerative and Distributive Design - the key to circular economy.
ReMade Australia Campaign; <<< Click There
Remember that the green dollar, buy 0 to low carbon products yes we can track that, can influence change before policies and grants pick up on it. �55357;�56474;

What Is Circular Economy And How Can It Help Save The Planet?

Fri, 19 Nov 2021 22:11:00 GMT

What Is Circular Economy?

Now before this book came out would I have thought I would find economics so exciting but when someone takes something super complex and teaches you how to comprehend it and spread it, then that's something to get excited about right.

Because it is the key to the puzzle that makes policies in Government change, it provides proof of impact and strategies to change without making things worse before they get better. It's like using data to make changes and that truly excites me.

Our economies run on systems and processes, economics is the foundation of governments as JFK said in his speech that GDP is the way out of stagnation in the American economy but not so good for the planets resources over time and as we grow in population.

If we do not stay within the safe boundaries of the planets resources the environment will change to create changes that will make the next generation look back on our version of the world with wonder and awe and a little regret that we didn't keep it this way.

To put this in context, 1.5 degrees increase in temperature means we get to keep the Great Barrier Reef, it will be bleached to hell but we can revive it, at a cost and usually that cost comes out of tax payers money if we don't have Blue Carbon Credits set up and functioning properly. Anything above that means there will be no World Heritage Listed GBR, it will be gone. Science Friction Podcast - ABC Environment Reporter Nick Kilbert
COP26.

There are 3 pillars of Climate Action that we need to act on and fast;

Mitigation

Adaption and

Loss and Damage - this one is going to be hard as we are seen as an Annex 1 nation which means we are going to be called upon to fund the clean ups of the impacts of Climate Change on developing economies.

Even more reason to design out the inefficiencies in the linear economy so we can help others especially our neighbouring Blue Continent. Pacific Islands, Melanesia and Polynesia.

The Roadmap For Circular Economies

What I love about this framework is that no one is left behind. Locally or internationally.

We look at how we are not living within our means and we use the innovation of business and the policies of government, done right not like how the Carbon Tax is being distributed to farmers without the correct increase of 20% not 20% of land even if you have 18% already covered then this policy only means you have to increase by 2% which makes little impact and has little leverage on farmers to go further into regenerative farming practices.

We have the policies we need that are good for business, society and the planet we have had the Slavery Act since 2018 but it is only just getting it's first Commissioner in 2024, and we have had the Product Stewardship Act since 2011 but sadly neither have any real teeth. Even with the Climate Election done and gone we have this same old politics of fear mongering and posturing with tokenistic change. But this change was always going to be #grassroots in nature. The people who benefit from a disfunctional system are not going to change, but thankfully due to social media and especially TikTok a platform based on sharing knowledge and mental health solutions through comedy we are learning how to mobilise at an accelerated rate.

Circular Economy is the new economy that some cool economists have devised is the way that we can live on this planet without exhausting her resources as we travel towards 11billion inhabitants by the year 2100.

It creates what is known as the S curve, instead of the GDP constant upward trajectory curve of consistent GROWTH. It is the economy that visualises the impacts of re- & up-cycling in a way that designs out the imbalance that GDP economy has created. It talks about virgin + non-virgin resources, = waste, and how by making these changes we will see the beginning of the 3rd industrial Age as we move into our new way of walking lightly on the planet. So exciting.

These 7 x 3 minute videos give you a fast lesson in the principles of the circular economy.

Doughnut Economics Explained

Change From Linear To Circular

Old Economics Doesn't Serve Us As A Planet

Factor In Free Labour - GDP Doesn't Value It

We Need A Change Of Systems To Make Change Efficient
Economists Are More Like Gardeners Today

Address Increasing Inequality, It Is A Failure Of GDP Economic Design >>>Distributive Design<<<

The benefits of growth does not trickle down in fact it is widening the gap between the haves and have nots.

Redistributing Wealth is a core part of the doughnut economics framework.

REgenerative Design

Linear to Circular Economy; Recycle, Reduce, Repurpose, REUSE.

We Need Economies That Make Us Thrive Whether Or Not They Grow.

Life Cycle Analysis - Key To Systems reDesign

We blend 3 different types of study to create a unique way to address a transition in your business to reduce Scope 3 emissions.

The Micro Factories that are being launched in Cairns will take the end of life products to provide a Product Stewardship Certification processing solution. This is how we will execute Sustainable Development Goal 12 in full completion as well as SDG10, 8 and partials of 6 other SDGs.

So How Does ecoBiz Fit Into The Circular Plan?

Wed, 01 Sep 2021 22:11:00 GMT

What Is ecoBiz?

ecoBiz is a free program funded by the Queensland Government and delivered by the Chamber of Commerce & Industry Queensland (CCIQ), which helps Queensland businesses and organisations audit their resource use and reduce costs from waste, water, and energy bills. After a free two-hour coaching session with one of our sustainability experts, businesses receive a written report with practical and actionable recommendations, which are often no or low cost to implement.

Every year, ecoBiz specialists analyse how participating businesses have progressed.

Here are the key ways we see ecoBiz plays into not only the first steps in going circular but acting as a foundational framework for waste management.

ecoBiz Coaching

... for your team
ecoBiz is a program that is being rolled out in Queensland, how lucky are we. It is no secret that the circular economy framework is being rolled out in Melbourne and SEQLD with great uptakes in the business model. Government and patterns in the framework are being developed, we just have to tweak it so it suits our environment and location, and stage of development.

If you want to learn, take a course, if you want to learn fast, get a coach. That’s where ecoBiz comes in.

100% Free - Fiona, our FNQ ecoBiz coach

To access Fiona you have to register on CCIQ website and that is how you come up in Fiona’s schedule to start to work with your business. They use data to measure the change in your waste; Energy, Water and Waste, and how a change between a 10-25% drop in waste can earn you one in each area of these coveted stars. The Star Partner program.

What's Involved?

ecoBiz is there to encourage and support and do the report you need to see where are the greatest opportunities for change and who is willing to step up to it to handle it.

Your ecoBiz coach will spend time doing the survey of your bills to identify what you can change and how from that you might just save $’s in waste management fees as well as educating your people on how to waste less across Power, Water and rubbish.

The Other Stakeholders

We attended the ecoBiz awards this year and the passion and excitement in the Small Chamber Of Commerce and the support they are offering for businesses that attain ecoBiz Star Partners and ongoing optimisation of their ratings was very heartwarming. There was a lot of hope in that room.

Supported by data and systems this framework is something we are getting behind at circular economy fnq. People who are aware of council and grant funding opportunities are looking towards circular business frameworks as those they wish to support to make a strong difference in the region to handle our current and future challenges with a collective approach.

Data and systems and shared intelligence is how we are going to navigate the change that we need to see in every industry that thrives here to make them handle the change to true sustainability with as much grace as we can provide. And most of all with as much hope as they need.

Where Circular Economy FNQ Comes In

To support the impact that ecoBiz and BCorp provides we are looking at other software and stakeholders that are helping make the goal of a circular economy a reality. Green KPI. We have done a Green Ripple Effect story on the co-founder Johanna Kloot.

circular-economy-fnq

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So How Does ecoBiz Fit Into The Circular Plan?

What Is ecoBiz? ﻿

ecoBiz Coaching

What's Involved?

The Other Stakeholders

Where Circular Economy FNQ Comes In

�� Challenge Question
Why Are Rents So High In Cairns — And How Could Tiny Houses Change The System?

The problem is not human nature.
The problem is a system that trained us into extraction, speed, competition, and obedience.

We Need A Change Of Systems To Make Change Efficient
Economists Are More Like Gardeners Today

What Is ecoBiz?