INSIGHT | Levelling up to design for REGENERATION Think Act Regenerate

One of the core propositions of Think Act Regenerate is that today’s regenerative design thinking enables a rich smorgasbord of smarter, faster, funner win/win/win solutions that go WAY beyond 20th century “sustainability” and “efficiency”.

What IS regenerative thinking?

To me, it’s a new place to stand – because we can’t solve 20th century problems with 20th century thinking.

Here’s my take on what regeneration is about and why it has a strong business focus, illustrated with a heap of examples.


LINKS

Think Act Regenerate INSIGHTS email series: http://thinkactregenerate.com/insights

Think Act Regenerate INSIGHT on OPPORTUNITY https://thinkactregenerate.com/insight-a-world-of-business-and-career-opportunity/


Books and general links

BUSINESS LESSONS FROM A RADICAL INDUSTRIALIST https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781429997164/businesslessonsfromaradicalindustrialist


REGENERATION: https://regeneration.org/the-book

THE DEEP GREEN PROFIT HANDBOOK https://thinkactregenerate.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/DeepGreenProfit.pdf

Michael Porter: “Why business can be good at solving social problems” https://www.ted.com/talks/michael_porter_why_business_can_be_good_at_solving_social_problems.html


Project Drawdown: https://drawdown.org/solutions

Examples:

Precious metals being recovered from ewaste using the whey https://rpra.ca/the-hub/researchers-extract-gold-from-e-waste-using-a-cheese-byproduct/


Farmer upcycling excess produce https://thinkactregenerate.com/dried-bananas-food-vodka/


AMP upcycling skyscraper https://thinkactregenerate.com/upcycling-commercial-buildings-circular-economy-at-a-whole-new-scale/

Sundrop farms, using solar energy and seawater to grow tomatoes in the desert: https://www.sundropfarms.com/


Interface flooring, utilising land-fill methane to power a factory https://www.greenbiz.com/article/interface-flooring-powers-plant-using-landfill-emissions


Farmers installing solar panels to protect their crops and power their on-farm equipment
https://ceat.org.au/the-benefits-of-agrivoltaics-in-agriculture/


A Riverina renewable energy coop building a community solar garden https://switchedon.reneweconomy.com.au/content/australias-first-community-solar-garden-becomes-a-reality

Kua Coffee, utilising a social enterprise structure to serve its growers in Kenya https://kuacoffee.co/learn/why-does-kua-have-a-foundation-and-a-company


An Indian company making a vegetable-based “Leather” from banana waste: https://banofileather.com/



Plastic-free coffee pods utilising algae-based material to protect the coffee https://www.fastcompany.com/91056402/how-keurig-finally-made-a-coffee-pod-with-no-plastic



Waste processing powered by Black Soldier Fly for food waste: https://goterra.au/food-waste-management/



HarperCollins use design to reduce paper cost and save trees https://www.fastcompany.com/91071102/harper-collins-made-a-tiny-tweak-to-its-book-design-and-has-saved-thousands-of-trees-as-a-result


Totally Renewable Yackandandah – from solar panels to energy retailer https://totallyrenewableyack.org.au/


Melbourne business turns toner cartridge waste into road
surfacing material and vegetable garden modules: https://roadsonline.com.au/the-proof-is-in-the-pavement-with-close-the-loop/



WA farmer is using biochar and dung beetles to reduce operating costs, increase production :

https://www.wantfa.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/WANTFA_NF_Summer2015_Biochar-002.pdf
A family-run building company in NSW building super-efficient housing that sells itself https://thefifthestate.com.au/columns/news-from-the-front-desk/news-from-the-front-desk-issue-no-231/