Circularity in an age where talk is cheap and cheap is fast

Talk is cheap, and cheap is fast, but how do we slow down and can we even slow down? We’d like to think so, but let’s take a closer look. 

We have it easy. So easy that at the touch of a screen or the click of a button we can have almost anything we want delivered to our doorstep that very same day. A decision made more quickly than we can process, without room for pause or thought, an order, a transaction, completed before our brain could even start to play catch up. 

We like things fast.

We like things quick. 

We like things cheap. 

The volume of things is increasing and the quality has been dwindling to say the least. What once was coveted is now commonplace, and what we used to regard as quality is regarded as too expensive. 

But, it hasn’t always been this way. We used to worship craftsmanship, pay homage to our artisans, and choose items and pieces based on what would last a lifetime. 

Somewhere along the way it got confused, and those standards fell away and something lesser shimmied into its place. 

Each year, the UK alone produces around 190 million tonnes of waste each year, opting for rubble rather than regeneration, reuse, or recycle. But, is the average consumer to blame? Arguably not. In an age where we are told we need the newest, shiniest, latest thing, and where it’s harder to go against the grain than to be swept into the tide. 

It’s not all doom and gloom. 

The tide is changing and times are changing. 

We’re seeing an uprising, a rebellion of sorts, those looking to slow it back down, to cherish quality over quantity, a revival of vintage, thrifted, and well-made pieces. There is a generation and a movement of people who are saying no. 

No to fast.

No to quick.

No to cheap. 

Because they want a better future, a better world, and better things. 

We need less, not more. 

We need things to live a thousand lives, not one short one. 

We need a world where we know the value of the things we use, the things we own. 

These people, these communities, they’re happier to wait a little longer, to hunt down the perfect piece, instead of having something from the cookie cutter that is found in every corner of every office, every home, every space within a ten mile radius. 

We want pieces that tell stories, spaces that come alive, and have the tales to tell this time around and next time, too. 

We want a world where circularity is a given and not an exception. 

Things are slowing down, and it’s the perfect time to take a pause, take a moment, and think about the future that you want to live in, too.