On November 20th, it's Circular Monday. A global campaign that, for the seventh consecutive year, highlights circular consumption and makes it simple for consumers to become "circulents," a necessary transition to achieve net-zero emissions. The event involves over 1200 companies, organizations, and influencers from more than 30 countries.
Circular Monday has been described over the years as "a counteraction to Black Friday," but rather serves as a solution to the overconsumption of newly produced items often resulting from Black Friday. Circular Monday makes it easy for the average person to find alternatives in goods and services that do not deplete the Earth's limited resources.
"According to Oxfam, 50% of the world's climate emissions are caused by just 10% of the global population. It's the wealthiest part, which includes you, me, and essentially everyone in the Western world who has a home and a monthly income. To manage the climate transition, we need to shift from being consumers to becoming 'circulants' and significantly reduce our consumption-based emissions. Circular Monday not only simplifies this but also helps balance the shopping frenzy we are fed with before Black Friday and the impending holiday season. Therefore, ClimateHero has chosen to organize the #CircularMonday campaign globally because without a shift from linear to circular consumption, we cannot resolve the climate crisis." says Robert Sabelström, Founder and CEO of ClimateHero.
Globally, the world has shifted from being 9.1% circular in 2018 to only 7.2% this year. Simultaneously, it's known that a circular economy is a crucial key to achieving net-zero emissions by 2045. According to the "Carbon Law" from the Exponential Roadmap Initiative, an initial halving of our climate emissions is needed by 2030, followed by continued halving every decade. "Looking at Sweden's figures in the Circularity Gap Report, we see that we are only 3.4% circular. We don't need more shopping days that promote the overconsumption of things we don't need. However, we do need to spread knowledge and make it easy to find all the fun and fantastic circular alternatives out there. That's why Cradlenet chooses to participate and drive Circular Monday," says Elin Bergman, COO of Cradlenet.
Circular Monday: A campaign that has evolved into a global movement.
Circular Monday was founded in 2017 by Henning Gillberg in Malmö. Shortly after, Alexandra Davidsson co-founded the campaign, partly driving it through the organization Medveten Konsumtion. From 2023, the campaign is organized through ClimateHero, an impact startup co-founded by Alexandra Davidsson.
The campaign's database gathers over 1200 participating companies, organizations, and influencers from over 30 countries, several of which offer circular try-out discounts on reused items, rental and sharing services, and repairs—a consumption that simply doesn't require new raw materials or result in any waste.
Consumption that doesn't result in waste is an important step toward achieving global sustainability goals. In fact, the Paris Agreement aims to regulate territorial emissions, and no government has yet set precise goals to reduce consumption-based emissions. One can consume as many products as they want as long as these products aren't produced within the country's borders. Similarly, unlimited international travel is possible because it doesn't fall under the regulated territorial emissions.
Therefore, reuse is the future. A report from thredUP shows that the resale market is growing five times faster than the linear market in many areas. Moreover, more people are becoming aware that the production of new products accounts for the majority of climate emissions during a product's lifecycle. Fresh figures from Inrego show that a reused IT product has as much as an 85% lower carbon footprint than a new one. A circular economy needs to be promoted, where extended product lifecycles and reuse become the norm. "Transitioning to a circular economy presents enormous business opportunities and is simultaneously a cheap and effective way to rapidly reduce our climate emissions. According to a recent analysis from Summa Equity, 1.4 percent of the EU's GDP would be enough to transition the entire Europe to a circular economy. This would simultaneously reduce our emissions by 55 percent and make us 80 percent self-sufficient in materials. It's a no-brainer, so what are we waiting for?" says Ingmar Rentzhog, CEO, and Founder of We Don't Have Time. Fact box
Brief Background
Founded in 2017 in Malmö by Henning Gillberg and Repamera.
Co-founded by Alexandra Davidsson in 2018.
In 2019, the campaign expanded globally, from Kenya to Canada.
The campaign changed its name from White Monday to Circular Monday in 2020.
Following Henning's passing in March 2022, the campaign was entrusted to Alexandra.
From 2023, the campaign is organized by ClimateHero, an impact startup co-founded by Alexandra Davidsson.
Always occurs on the Monday before Black Friday. This year, it's on November 20th.
Instagram @circularmonday
Website 
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Exciting News 👏
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@princess_nel_268 Thanks!
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#circularmonday is the new black
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@Robert_Sabelstrom 100%
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24 w
Everyday should be for circular!💚💚
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@gorffly_mokua 100%
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We need more days like this. And we need supermarkets to start to be on board for as many products as possible to be available solely as a circular product
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@gabriella_coppolecchia Well said!