One: From Line to Circle

The rapid decline of resources—from coal to tuna to vitamin C in a typical tomato—means that one way or another, all of us will have to find a new path forward. That path, however, is not new at all—indeed, it has been perfected over the course of millions of years by nature itself. You see, nature does not have waste. Waste of one process becomes food for another, in perpetual cycle. When an animal dies, its body is not thrown into a landfill; instead, it becomes a source of valuable nutrition for millions of bacteria that in turn produce waste products that are essential for the formation of soil. Soil in turn churns out vegetables, consumed by those same animals.

Similarly, the line that describes the global value chain of goods and services can be transformed into a circle, where the waste of one process becomes food for another. The “Cradle to Cradle” approach and many other potent concepts have turned companies that have discovered this secret into industry champions. From line to circle is the central principle of the Overfished Ocean Strategy, but to make it work, four more “secrets” are essential.