Circular Monday has been described over the years as “a counter to Black Friday”, but rather serves as a solution to the overconsumption of newly produced items that often results from Black Friday and which, more often than not, generates quantities increased waste. Circular Monday makes it easier for the average person to find alternative goods and services that don’t deplete the Earth’s limited resources.
“According to Oxfam, 50% of the world’s climate emissions are caused by just 10% of the global population. It’s the richest part of the world, which includes you, me, and basically everyone in the Western world who has a house and a monthly income. To manage the climate transition, we need to move from being consumers to becoming “responsible consumers” and significantly reduce our consumption-based emissions. Circular Monday not only simplifies this, but also helps balance the shopping frenzy we’re fed before Black Friday. That’s why ClimateHero chose to organize the #CircularMonday campaign globally, because without the transition from linear consumption to circular consumption, we cannot solve the climate crisis.” says Robert Sabelström, founder and CEO of ClimateHero.
“We are making the transition from consumption for the sake of discounts to responsible consumption, reducing our climate footprint, purchasing sustainable goods and services, only when we really need them. Join us in making Circular Monday a reality – a decisive step for the future of our planet.” – says Alex. Laibăr, spokesman for Circular Monday in Romania.
Globally, according to the Circularity Gap Report, the world went from a degree of circularity of 9.1% in 2018 to just 7.2% this year. At the same time, a circular economy is known to be essential to achieving net zero emissions by 2045.
Electrical and electronic equipment alone contributes emissions comparable to the entire aviation industry, urging the adoption of circular economy practices.
Circular Monday was founded in 2017 by Henning Gillberg in Malmö. From 2023, the campaign is organized by ClimateHero, an impact startup co-founded by Alexandra Davidsson.
The campaign’s database brings together more than 1,200 companies, organizations and influencers from over 30 countries, many of which offer reused items, rental, sharing and repair services – a consumption that simply does not require new raw materials or reduce any waste .
Waste-free consumption is an important step towards achieving global sustainability goals. In fact, the Paris Agreement aims to regulate territorial emissions, and no government has yet set precise consumption-based emission reduction targets. You can consume as many products as you want as long as they are not produced within the country’s borders. Similarly, unlimited international travel is possible as it is not subject to regulated territorial emissions.
Therefore, reuse is the future. A report from ThredUP shows that the resale market is growing five times faster than the linear market in many areas. More and more people are becoming aware that the production of new products accounts for the largest part of climate emissions during their life cycle. New figures from Inrego show that a reused IT product has up to 85% less carbon footprint than a new one. A circular economy must be promoted, where extended life cycles and product reuse become the norm.
“The transition to a circular economy presents enormous business opportunities and is, at the same time, a cheap and effective way to rapidly reduce our climate emissions. According to a recent analysis from Summa Equity, 1.4% of EU GDP would be enough to move the whole of Europe towards a circular economy. This would simultaneously reduce our emissions by 55 percent and make us 80 percent self-sufficient in terms of the materials we use,” says Ingmar Rentzhog, CEO and founder of We Don’t Have Time.
