Circular Outdoor Collective
Short: COC
With the Circular Outdoor Collective we aim to build a network of enthusiasts who want to initiate and implement solutions for a better future. Our philosophy is to observe the systems surrounding us, collaborate to identify opportunities and implement them, while transparently sharing the process to inspire more and more people to join the change. Too much theory? Keep reading – we’ll explain our Approach in greater detail shortly.
We are convinced that there is no lack in solutions and technologies, neither are they too expensive to afford. We’re just lacking implementation and execution. So we want to encourage action now and shape the world we want to live in.
Two sides of the COC
One the one hand, the COC is the online platform through which the Collective can grow and ideas and experience related to sustainable projects can be exchanged. On the other hand, it will be a physical place where these ideas can be implemented, representing an example of what sustainable living might look like. The place will be a combination of a small farm, a few camping pitches and a bed & breakfast. We call this project HAFH – Home away from home – and that’s exactly what it should be. For us, our guests and the Collective, no matter if you’re already an enthusiast or on the tipping point.
The Objective: Sustainable, future-proof lifestyles
We strongly believe that there is a realistically reachable sustainable way of life for every one of us. Individual lifestyles that suit everyone’s unique circumstances and can be sustained without limits. So that future generations are given the chance to live a life at least as pleasant as ours.
Instead of discussing who – politics, industries or individuals – are in charge of taking responsibility for our future, we changed our point of view. Because in the end we consume what others produce and we vote for people making political decisions. So we stopped philosophising about the chicken-and-egg problem and asked ourselves:
“What can we do to be part of the solution?”
Our answer to that question is the concept of so-called sustainable lifestyles. Plural, because there is no “one-fits-all”. But there is a widely recognized approach on how to reach yours. It is based on two dimensions: The individual environmental footprint and the ecological, social and therefore political handprint. It’s inherently important to understand, that one can never reach a future-proof way of life by neglecting one or the other. Believe us, we’ve tried.
The main goal of that approach is to reach lifestyles that align with the objective of limiting global warming to 1.5°C. In numbers: less than 2 tonnes of CO2 equivalents per person by the year 2030 and 0.7t by 2050. We won’t dive into the details here, but let us know if you’re interested or check out the onepointfive-lifestyles website, an inter-european research project. Simply put, the first dimension is about our individual impact – which is hard to reduce below 5t if you live in a European country. Wait – 5 is still far away from 1.5! Right, that’s where the second dimension kicks in: everything that goes beyond ourselves and touches others.
Dimension One: Reduce the footprint
True sustainability can only be reached when it touches every aspect of our lives – because that’s where each individual has the most power to make a change: their own decisions – their circle of control. In the beginning it might seem hard to find alternatives for the big points like energy, construction, mobility and food. A good starting point is to quantify your current footprint or the impact of a potential alternative with a carbon calculator (most accurate results are achieved by using your country-specific calculator). In everyone’s day-to-day life there are low-hanging fruit, like filling your drinking bottle with tap water, buying local products and correctly seperating waste. Start with those and stay on top of things. Eventually, more and more pieces will fall into place. We believe in a holistic and transparent approach in order to support each other during this transition. It’s not about making grand global changes, it’s about individuals making small decisions in their everyday lives that multiply to make a substantial difference.
Dimension Two: Increase the handprint
The handprint is all about initiating structural change. Generally, in our countries, municipalities and societies but also more particularly at work, in associations, with friends and family. At first it might seem hard to achieve anything. But hope is born through action! We can start small, for example by putting our money at a bank that does invest in the fossil fuel industry, slowly gain experience and team up. It’s a grassroots movement: we can sign petitions to accelerate sustainable change at a political level, but we can also put them into practice at a personal level right away. It may start with supporting initiatives for cycling-lanes or public transport, carry on with motivating local institutions to reduce foodwaste and suddenly we are committing ourselves to a farming- or energy-cooperative in our region. Due to the scale of our jobs, the impact we can achieve by introducing small ecological changes here is even more significant. Everyone’s handprint looks different, what matters is to get involved, start conversations and get going. Because more important than finding the best solution to the problem is to start solving it at all.
Our Approach
Our Approach is built on consistency – striving to find a sustainable solution for every decision we make. To help our decison-making process, we rely on Circular Economy principles, most commonly known as 3Rs: reduce – reuse – recycle. The idea is to keep resource-use as low as possible by keeping materials in the loop for as long as possible. This is all about reducing our footprint (1st dimension). Additionally, transparency is essential to our Approach – if we don’t share our projects, successes and failures, inspiring anyone as well as being inspired will be a difficult task, just as much as collaboration will be. This is where the 2nd dimension comes into play: increasing our handprint. With the support of the Collective, we aim to achieve organic growth, allowing us to continuously develop projects and improve solutions, while encouraging members to start or continue their journey, because: we don’t aim for permanence.
Growing organically
The idea of organic growth is to grow from within – in a natural way. On the one hand this means, not growing faster or bigger than necessary: sufficiency. On the other hand, it means growing using our own resources along with the knowledge, time and financial support of the collective. Instead of taking out a loan from a bank, without knowing what our money will be invested in and paying interest, which could be used for a better purpose, we rely on our own funds and the financial support of the Collective. Thereby ensuring that all of the invested money will be spent on reaching sustainable, future-proof lifestyles. Eventually, members who believe in our vision will be able to invest in projects they would like to support. In exchange, they will get a voucher representing the value of their support, to be redeemed in our online shop or for their next stay. In this way, the financial support will equal a credit and not a simple donation, because the way of life we strive to inspire to should not only be environmentally and socially but also economically sustainable.