Guest Post by Ciruclarity Expert, Rachel Sheila Kan
Introduction
A new year often arrives feeling like a blank page, and for many businesses, it becomes a moment to reflect on how circularity fits into the way work actually gets done. Adding sustainability or circularity into business life can easily feel like one more demand layered onto an already full role.
I remember this clearly from my time as a design and project manager, where I could see what needed to change and why it mattered, yet had little clarity on how to make that change happen within the limits of my position.
Many people recognise this tension. Some are already trying to push change and meeting resistance, while others are experimenting quietly or wondering where a realistic starting point might sit inside their organisation. These lived experiences of change, especially the imperfect ones, are worth paying attention to.
Where Change Often Begins
To help people take an honest first step, we created the Circularity Score. It gives a clear snapshot of where you are today and only takes around four minutes to complete. It is not a test or a judgement, simply a way to understand your current position before deciding what comes next.
The truth is: transition is possible – and often begins in smaller, unexpected places.
Ken and I have both led change from within large and small organisations. We’ve seen the constraints, the internal politics, and the “this is too expensive” narrative. We also know how often that narrative is simply untrue.
Dealing With the Cost Objection: “Sustainability/Circularity is expensive!”
Not always.
Many of the most effective shifts begin with low-hanging fruit:
Quicker wins, small pilots, and “acupuncture points” – places of least resistance where value, efficiency, and savings already exist.
One example came from a peer in an industrial business: their engineers had reduced material weight by changing metal type, unintentionally lowering emissions and cost. No one recognised it as an environmental saving – until someone named it.
Sometimes, highlighting what you are already doing is the best first step.
Or take our collaboration this year in the fashion domain between Circular Earth and The Fashion People: implementing branded resale directly on company websites. Brands see positive ROI by the second quarter – from stock that would otherwise be lost to third-party platforms like Vinted.
And sometimes you need a little Ken-energy.
When he worked inside a major corporation, leadership blocked his proposal to shift warehouse packaging to recycled stock: too expensive, not how we work, no suppliers. He changed 30% of the boxes anyway. Quietly.
When the next meeting arrived, he presented the cost savings already achieved. Objection overruled.
Small, agile experiments are often the most powerful catalysts for organisational change.
How We Support Businesses
My company, Real Circularity, was built on the recognition that circular thinking only works when it is translated into the real constraints of organisations. This work is not about theory. It is about fitting circular action into commercial goals, organisational culture, and everyday decision-making.
At a consultancy level, we help organisations identify value-creation opportunities, design business models that work in practice, create internal permission for experimentation, and plan transitions in phases grounded in return on investment.
If you would like to explore what this could look like for your organisation, you can book a strategy conversation here:
https://bookus.page/Simple/Rachel
Building Capability and Staying Connected
Alongside organisational change, many people want to build their own capability. Some move into sustainability roles, others reshape their remit, and many are asked to develop internal expertise without a clear roadmap. This is where the Academy and Real Circularity 101 support practical skill-building.
You can explore these resources here:
If you missed our Real Circularity 101 blog for ‘Play it Green’, we are focused on applying circularity to business models and products alike. We have a combined 45 years of experience in the space, as our business partner, Ken Alston, worked on the original work with the founders of the Cradle to Cradle movement. I have many years in the fashion domain and have overlaid sustainability & Circularity over the past 10 years into applied innovation and strategy with businesses.
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