The Blue Economy is about doing business better. By implementing a zero-waste philosophy along with innovative business models inspired by nature, we can create jobs and stable economies that are 100% sustainable.
The Blue Economy evolved out of research at United Nations University in the mid-1990s spearheaded by Gunter Pauli. Today, there are more than 200 cases where the Blue Economy has been implemented in practice. These self-sustaining projects range from the regeneration of 8 hectares of rainforest in the Colombian savannah to the transformation of waste rock into paper that can be recycled for thousands of years. They offer strong business models that generate jobs and strengthen local economies while being 100% sustainable.
As promised, I’ve prepared for you, an array of resources that accompany the introduction to the Blue Economy half day workshop I provided last week through RDANWQ. Please respect that this resource page has been prepared for you as an attendee of the workshop and not for general distribution or posting. We encourage you however to share many of the individual resources provided.
Is Blue the new Green? Editorial to share. This opinion piece written for Eco-Business in Singapore provides an overview on the Blue Economy It was also reposted by the Singapore Development Board.This is an excellent resource to share with your colleagues and industry.
Video on the Blue Economy can be found here. A great resource to share.
For information on the Rise of the Circular Economy in Asia – check out The Eco-Business Magazine March – April, 2015 Again this is a good general resource to share far and wide.
Vortex Process Technology inspired by the Water Vortex developed by Watreco can be used to:
- Eliminate the need for chemicals in Cooling Towers allowing for water re-use
- Enhance yields, reduce water and fertlizers use in Agriculture
- Reduce the water required for golf courses
- Enhance or eliminate algae growth in ponds and river systems
- Improve aquaculture outputs
- Aid oil production and recovery
- Separate metals from water
- Prevent lime scale in homes, restaurants, hotels, agriculture etc
- Irrigation and much more.
A Watreco Technical background highlighting various applications of this important, game changing technology inspired by nature, that replaces something with nothing. Please share this freely. A U.Tube video on it’s application in Cooling Towers can be can be found here.
If you would like to receive a quote on using this application in your cooling towers A questionnaire to receive a quote for the IVG cooling tower application and we will let you know a price, overall savings, payback period etc. Note the average payback is less than two years – for some such as Heineken who rolled the technology out across all their cooling towers with government subsidy, payback period was less than a year. For quotes on VPT’s for use in agriculture, in river systems etc – just give me a call.
Case Study – Gunter Pauli share details on the Vortex Technology and how it is being applied in the Blue Economy
Case Study – Silk as a substitute for Titanium
Case Study – Interface The untold story of Mission Zero in Europe. The Net-Works video can be found here.
Case Study – Natural Evolution Green Banana Flour, FNQ
Case Study – Using what you have locally to add value rather than cut costs. The story of Lisbon Farm.
Case Study – Waste Waters in an Italian Abattoir.
Case Study – How Ian and Vanessa got mud-crabs, chickens and pigs from Coconuts and Vanilla in Tonga.
Case Study – Growing Food in the desert with no fresh water and close to zero fossil fuels.
Case Study – Uses for Coffee such as growing mushrooms and much much more. For those who want more information on growing mushrooms get the webinar with ZERI mushroom specialist Ivanka Milenkovic
Case Study – Green Chemistry BioRefinery using Thistles.
Case Study – Black Soldier Fly. See the original story of how the maggot is being used to heal and grow protein in the 100 innovations – by Gunter Pauli
For more about Stone Paper – Check out Rockstock – Stone Paper that rocks
Blue Economy Clusters and Autopoiesis – Case Study Detroit Reuse Opportunity Collaboratory (ROC) and Slides on ROC and Autopoiesis.
Recommended Reading:
The Blue Economy – 10 years, 100 Innovation and 100m jobs Report to the Club of Rome by Gunter Pauli.
Systemic Design by Luigi Bistagnino (aim for the PDF version – be careful you get it in English though).
The Upcycle – Beyond sustainability, designing for abundance by William McDonough and Michael Braungart.
The workshop you attended was just the beginning as the Blue Economy can help support every sector of the economy deliver a more sustainable future for us all. We all know there is no silver bullet, but with systemic thinking and game changing innovation inspired by nature with zero waste – it will go a long way to delivering food security, jobs and economic stability. So do let me know if there is anything I can do to help support your journey, that of your industry and or community.
Until then, all the very best.
Anne-Maree Huxley
Facilitator, Change Agent and Blue Economy Expert
