Resource Scarcity

There is no planet B

On December 24, 1968, Apollo 8 astronauts Frank Borman, Jim Lovell, and Bill Anders became the first humans to witness the Earth rising above the moon’s barren surface. From that moment on we were in awe with the beauty of our little blue planet. We could also no longer ignore that it is a tiny spec in the universe, a fragile system that has clear boundaries. We better take care of it!

The picture also shows that the earth is a closed system with a finite mass. Anything we use and convert stays on earth, so if we use a linear approach to take make and waste we will end up with less valuable resources for new products. With the fast-growing global population and rising average spending power this effect speeds up dramatically. Some of the key materials we use in daily life have a real horizon when there are no new places to be found where they can be extracted. The table below gives an overview of key resources and the moment from which the extraction of these materials reaches its peak. The recycling rates for each of the resources show in how far we manage to cycle the use of these resources.

That’s why we have started a new circular era with our Arapaha way of rethinking design: bio-based products in a closed loop system that lasts forever. Fossil free. Climate friendly. Closed Loop.

We are driven to guarantee that every item we design, can be disassembled, and recycled. We are fundamentally changing how the things you love in and around your house are made and remade.

And we make it possible for everybody to embrace a fully circular way of living.