Something old, something new: COVID-19 inspired us to find innovative ways to save our environment.
You are probably reading this article at your home just like many of us who are practicing social distancing. COVID-19 has changed our lifestyle as we know it, and although things will go back to “normal”, we still don’t know when or what that will be. However, there are optimistic changes we can add to our “new normal” lifestyle.
What COVID-19 Pandemic Taught Us
To avoid COVID-19 or another virus to spread globally, we need to reduce unnecessary interactions. This means instead of a global economy, regional trade will develop as we deal with disruption in the global supply chain. One outcome of a regional economy is the acceleration of creating a localized, circular and sustainable marketplace.
Upcycling locally is the Ultimate Sustainable Solution!
The COVID-19 pandemic showed us a worldwide supply chain may not be sufficient enough in order to sustain the economy of our local communities. An idea that pops into our heads is what if we keep our businesses local?
Regionalization of the economy, where we trade with our close neighbors is key to creating a sustainable local economy. Not only will this prevent a similar pandemic from happening to this extent, but we can create a sustainable local economy.
By keeping the circular economy local, businesses are less likely to be disrupted by overseas problems. If businesses were not dependent on different regions for components of their supply chain before the virus had spread globally and ceased production in many countries, then companies would not have had to worry about the effects of reduced capacity and thus would not have needed to brace themselves for shortages and disruption.
Besides the pandemic, trade wars and geopolitical tensions have also accelerated the trend for a localized economy. Thus, keeping a localized circular economy is one sustainable approach with benefits, such as reducing carbon footprint and greenhouse gas emissions and sustainability in upcycling local resources.
Imagine a world where products are locally produced and locally consumed. A world where a business is not disrupted by an epidemic occurring abroad or other issues. CRUST {https://www.crustbrewing.com/}, a Singapore-based food tech is trailblazing the way we consume in this pandemic. CRUST’s entire business model is built around minimizing food wastage and maximizing local resources. Their model makes them sustainable with increased resource-use efficiency.
For example:
- The packaging is biodegradable and they continue to find new ways to transform surplus ingredients or food loss into new products.
- Their Research & Development team constantly strives to create a technology that manufactures products from all sorts of food wastage and to be able to consistently reuse/recycle their products as well.
- They use food loss and find a re-purpose for their production waste, work with local farmers, set up locally and manufacture their products for each market entered, CRUST is creating more jobs and earnings for the individual market they enter.
As a result, they are reinventing a more sustainable way of functioning in a business sense, helping the market create less wastage and more products concurrently. CRUST also strives to educate each market they are in, with regards to circular economy. This will also reduce carbon footprint and greenhouse gas emissions. Imagine saving only 3kg of bread can reduce 23kg of greenhouse emissions. This is a huge impact we are all contributing to our environment. COVID-19 certainly has accelerated our growth and impact to a locally sustainable economy. And that includes the way you and I drink!
