JULY 2022 a business that I owned, and I wanted to figure out what I could do to contribute.” Around that time, Simon also learned about the concept of the ‘Earth Overshoot Day’ – which is the day in a year when humanity has consumed all the renewable resources that the planet can renew in a single year. Globally, that day is typically sometime in July, but the pandemic had caused the date to move into August. “What that proved is that we can’t stop the world from consuming, but that if we change our behavior, we can make a difference,” Simon says. Thus, the importance of contributing to a circular economy – which Urban+ was essentially doing anyway, Simon reiterates. “We were able to connect the language that Gary used about his values 20 years ago with this new language about a circular economy,” he explains. “We found that it was already pretty similar. So we decided that our identity was going to be purpose-driven and led by circular economy principles, not because it was vogue, but because it was something authentic to who we already were. We were able to tell our story about what made us different in a way that connected with a sustainable message that the world was crying out for.”
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