Thanks for sharing, Thomas! Interesting example... would love for that company to succeed on that vision, showing that scale and sustainability doesn't need to be a contraction. There is much power in this case and can set a precedent. By the way, do you have any other examples of companies headed in that direction?
That's an interesting model, but the term "degrowth" might sound misleading (at least to me as a non-native speaker of English - that may be the cause). It seems to imply that growth is opposite to sustainability, circularity, etc. and there can be no good model for growth. However, scaling sustainability, modularity and other such practices to mass audiences worldwide is crucial for a better future for everyone. That means a new model of growth is necessary, ie sustainable growth - it would be interesting to see that in practice.
I know, the term 'degrowth' sounds a bit negative and lots of people, also supporters of the idea, actually don't really like the term. What is meant by it is however simply a de-growing of the economy which will however lead to growth on overall wellbeing.
Lots of proponents of degrowth or similar ideas do make the case that green or sustainable growth is a myth. I encourage you to check out Jason Hickels work that I linked to in the article. And here you can find specifically his stance on "sustainable growth":
Thank you for the links! The reasoning in the articles is rather convincing - innovation+restricting resource use, especially for such industries as commuting, advertising and disposable goods (why not fast fashion and streaming in extra high resolution, by the way?). I believe regenerative paradigm instead of the sustainable one is also promising; it's clear that we are going to use resources, so recreating them seems a more reasonable solution in the longer term than trying to just minimize use.
Thanks for sharing, Thomas! Interesting example... would love for that company to succeed on that vision, showing that scale and sustainability doesn't need to be a contraction. There is much power in this case and can set a precedent. By the way, do you have any other examples of companies headed in that direction?
Hi Karry! This article here looks at a few other fashion-related degrowth inspired companies: https://www.voguebusiness.com/sustainability/degrowth-the-future-that-fashion-has-been-looking-for.
You can also find more (non-fashion) examples here:
- E.g. EWS Schönau (my electricity provider ;)), Biokaiser, Peerby.... https://thechoice.escp.eu/tomorrow-choices/business-for-degrowth-a-flip-in-perspective-for-truly-sustainable-development/
- Some examples from Germany in this paper: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2623920
- No examples here but interesting article referencing to more resources: https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/businessreview/2021/01/29/degrowth-inspires-business-model-innovation-for-a-sustainable-post-covid-economy/
- Also VAUDE seems to investigate degrowth: https://csr-report.vaude.com/gri-en/vaude/degrowth.php
- And more examples here: https://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/2014/aug/01/companies-degrowth-sustainable-business-doing-less
Awesome, thank you!
That's an interesting model, but the term "degrowth" might sound misleading (at least to me as a non-native speaker of English - that may be the cause). It seems to imply that growth is opposite to sustainability, circularity, etc. and there can be no good model for growth. However, scaling sustainability, modularity and other such practices to mass audiences worldwide is crucial for a better future for everyone. That means a new model of growth is necessary, ie sustainable growth - it would be interesting to see that in practice.
Hi Olga! :)
I know, the term 'degrowth' sounds a bit negative and lots of people, also supporters of the idea, actually don't really like the term. What is meant by it is however simply a de-growing of the economy which will however lead to growth on overall wellbeing.
Lots of proponents of degrowth or similar ideas do make the case that green or sustainable growth is a myth. I encourage you to check out Jason Hickels work that I linked to in the article. And here you can find specifically his stance on "sustainable growth":
https://foreignpolicy.com/2018/09/12/why-growth-cant-be-green/
https://static1.squarespace.com/static/59bc0e610abd04bd1e067ccc/t/5cbdc638b208fc1c56f785a7/1555940922601/Hickel+and+Kallis+-+Is+Green+Growth+Possible.pdf
Thank you for the links! The reasoning in the articles is rather convincing - innovation+restricting resource use, especially for such industries as commuting, advertising and disposable goods (why not fast fashion and streaming in extra high resolution, by the way?). I believe regenerative paradigm instead of the sustainable one is also promising; it's clear that we are going to use resources, so recreating them seems a more reasonable solution in the longer term than trying to just minimize use.