Envisioning Circular Boulder: ideas to shape our sustainable future

By Shelby Condit

As a culture, we buy, use, toss and repeat. This type of linear economy pulls resources from our planet and contributes to climate change and environmental degradation.

We are in an important moment in history, a time where urgent action is needed. This is an opportunity to imagine a city (and world) that functions like an ecosystem. One without waste. One that is resilient. One that enriches the health of planet and people. This concept is why the Climate Mobilization Action Plan is exploring the idea of a circular economy, which goes beyond incremental improvement and aims for a holistic and fundamental rethinking of the way we do things.

On November 13, 2019 the City of Boulder hosted an event to brainstorm ideas for a circular Boulder. During this event, city staff and partners presented results from this work so far, introduced some of the innovative work taking place around the world, and then engaged with community members to create a vision for how this concept can come alive in Boulder.

To help shape the vision, community members split up into groups of five or six to brainstorm the Boulder they want to see over the next one to 15 years. Some ideas have the potential to become reality in the near future, such as a food waste app. Other ideas, like building a comprehensive, centralized reuse market would take more time and collaboration. But every triumph begins with one small step, and this visioning session was an inspiring way to start the journey toward a circular Boulder.