Ellen Macarthur Foundation. Rethink the future

Ellen's Blog: Re-Thinking Progress

Ideas, perspectives, new ways of thinking – that is what we deal with at the Foundation, with one goal in mind: to inspire a generation to re-think, re-design and build a positive future.

Ellen's blog: the morning papers

Having been invited to take part in BBC4’s morning press review by Patrick O’Connell on the 5th of June, I boarded the first Sunday morning ferry from Cowes, a big pile of newspapers tucked under my arm.

Ellen's Blog: The way we learn...

We are faced with one of the biggest challenges in history. We are more dependent than ever on reserves of materials, which we are constantly depleting. We are in the process of entering a new era. Thinking in systems, developing materials flows, re-thinking and redesigning the way we operate is, I believe, a vital and central part of this.

Ellen's blog: A tale of vision and leadership

The Spanish Island of El Hierro is small and with a population of 10,500 it would seem insignificant on the scale of change – but through the most incredible leadership it is not. The government of the island stated, several years ago, that rather than spend the $8 million they would use to buy oil per anum they would instead invest that money to be totally independent.

From Ellen's blog: "A busy international week"

It’s been a busy week as usual, Ken and I heading up to Manchester for the day on Tuesday, and today having been in Lille for the World Forum. Our role in Manchester was giving a lecture which was part of the Leadership Programme – a group of students who are looking at the ‘bigger picture’ and learning about leadership.

An inspiring visit to Holland

Over the past three days we’ve been researching further the idea of a circular economy in The Netherlands, and have been enthused and impressed by the progressive nature of what is happening there.

Our first event… Bradford Ten+One International Conference

Our conference in Bradford is approaching quickly when the team from the Foundation will be heading up north.

It's over!

Finally early this week I finished the book tour for the book, which has taken a large part of this year up. The past year has been one of the busiest on record for me, and I am now just about coming up for air!

Welcome to my latest journey

Getting to the stage of launching our new Foundation has been a roller-coaster, not unlike sailing round the world, but this time the challenge is different.

Too big, too fast?

As an ocean racer, monitoring boat speed and being sensitive to its variation is in my DNA, so naturally when I recently read that “it” had dropped from over 20 knots to around 14 in just a few years, I had to dig deeper and find out what was happening.

What we’re talking about here has little to do with sporting achievements or round-the-world racing, but actually it’s one of the most striking indicators of the economy literally slowing down: as it turns out, the average speed of the container ship fleets criss-crossing the world’s oceans is now down to 14 knots, having dropped by roughly 30% in 10 years.

Shipping is at the heart of today’s economy, and it is estimated that 75% of goods are transported by cargo ships. Obviously, the financial crisis and the rising price of oil are bound to have an impact, but 30% seems like a staggering drop, doesn’t it? Looking at the situation more closely, it appears that maritime transport, like many other sectors of the global economy, has fallen victim to a “bubble effect”, which explains why the fall has been so brutal: between 2000 and the current crisis, there has been a massive boom in container shipping, partly sustained by China’s accession to the World Trade Organisation. The Western world had found a new supplier of cheap electronics, toys, clothes, appliances etc, and those goods could remain very competitive despite the additional cost of transportation to market.

On local examples and global challenges

Two years ago I paid a very interesting visit to Island Waste, the Isle of Wight’s household waste collection and management company. The big news at the time was the imminent inauguration of a brand new gasification plant, which was the latest addition to a series of tools dedicated to turning waste into energy.

Necessity being the mother of invention, and our island being a relatively small territory cut off from the large scale facilities available on the mainland, the valorisation of waste started more than 20 years ago here, a fact that very few people actually know. Of course, the beginnings were a bit experimental and the results quite modest, but by 1992 the plant produced enough electricity to power 500 homes. Today, thanks to the new plant, that figure is up to almost 10,000 homes – quite a rise, isn’t it?

Looking at the big picture, for better practices

Being naturally drawn to anything related to the sea and the maritime environment, the new international regulations concerning ship dismantling have caught my interest, because I believe that issue can help us understand the bigger picture.

I know it’s sometimes hard, for those who have never seen it, to imagine the density of commercial traffic at sea – snapshots of a seemingly lonely cargo ship setting out for new horizons hardly compare to footage of a bank holiday weekend motorway congestion – yet the reality is that marine transport handles roughly 75% of all the goods carried in the world today. Modern ships are fast, reliable and their sheer size speaks volumes about the amazing ability of mankind to create machines that push the boundaries of technological prowess further and further.

But what happens when these sea giants have reached the end of their career, what become of their extremely complex structures and massive carcasses? Sadly, human genius does not come into the picture at that stage, and the current state of affairs is utterly shocking: old ships are sent to Asia, where the vast majority are dismantled using a technique called “beaching”. Get in the bay at high tide, and just wait for the ebb to do its deed. Another version is to push the boat’s engines to the max one last time to rush the hull onto the sand. An army of workers then start taking the ship apart, often without any protection at all, and come in contact with a long list of hazardous substances – asbestos, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), tributyl tin, large quantities of oils and oil sludge… all of which also contaminates the environment of course!

The power of the crew

At sea, especially when sailing singlehanded, the bond that develops between the skipper and his or her boat is amazingly strong, almost organic. I’ve often found myself thanking my boat for having taken me back home safely, for having “sustained” me, in the literal sense of the term.

Offshore, you take care of the boat and she takes care of you, there’s a sort of mutual tacit agreement… A sailing boat is a little world of its own, with limited resources and a notable vulnerability – since any gear failure can have catastrophic consequences – and that little world is the only element guaranteeing your survival.

This is no different from the relationship between humanity and the planet it lives on. Yet, in that case, the “boat” takes care of all of us, but do we really take care of her? The key is to reconnect, to understand what we rely on and what needs to be cared for in order to safeguard our future: as much as it can be overwhelming to consider the global situation, I find it quite useful to break things down and go back to local level. And it seems I’m not the only one, because I’ve noticed that the notion of “community” is making a comeback these days: rather than trying to fix all of the world’s problems by applying a blanket solution, why don’t we just start locally and try to make a difference around us?

Does common sense have a colour?

When communication rules, it is sometimes useful to sit back and reflect on the meaning and substance behind the words we use, or the ones we sometimes feel we’re bombarded with.

Moving from guilt to optimism

Global issues like the depletion of our natural resources and the deterioration of the environment have found their way to the mainstream media, after a rather long process punctuated by economic mishaps, fluctuating energy prices and alarming scientific discoveries.

Gradually, those topics have moved away from the confined circles of the “eco-conscious” few, and we’re slowly realising that we’re all in the same boat – if I may use a sailing analogy – facing a storm that transcends political inclinations, social or national barriers. When the future is at stake, labels do not matter and I hope we now have come to understand that all aspects of the problem are linked. Of course, this strikes me as a welcome step forward, yet the overall level of awareness is obviously still insufficient and as a passionate communicator I’ve been thinking about efficient ways to get the message across.

I never cease to be amazed by the degree of passion that comes into the debate, but unfortunately too often what comes out are rigid positions that generally leave the majority of the public on the side of the road. Things are presented as black or white, and in everyone’s perception you’re either on the good or on the evil side! In reality of course, things are more complex and most of us are in the grey zone, trying to do our best but still functioning within a system that will have to change. The key word here is “transition”, and I would like to see it being used more often: we all have to move from the industrial revolution-based model to the next chapter, if only because the resources this model relies on are now threatened. And while I acknowledge the urgency of the situation, we can’t shake off more than a 100 years of habits and behavioural heritage in a snap. As unfortunate as that may be.