‘Times change, values don’t’ ran an old advertising slogan for The Times.
That was in the 1980s – decades later we are in The Age of Change.
I grew up in the 1970s, when a common phrase to describe the way the western world then lived was, ‘the throwaway society’. And it was a pretty accurate description of the make-use-discard industrial and consumer processes of the day.
To be clear, the problems were apparent and recognised and this was also the decade of the first Clean Air Act, passed by the Nixon Administration.
But still throwing things away was the style of the day.
Times have changed.
So, when Lily and I attended the Recycling and Waste Management Exhibition at the NEC in Birmingham yesterday, we were delighted and inspired by the vast range of companies making all sorts of things – both industrial hardware and computer software – to enable the ‘circular economy’ to flourish.
Throwing away is no longer an option in the world of the 7 Rs – Reduce, Re-use, Repair, Refurbish, Remanufacture, Repurpose, Recycle.
This is a multibillion-pound industry that contributes a great dal to the carbon-zero targets of all nations.
Values have also changed: the future for the world’s children is now the driver for world economics.