The Blue Economy principles permit to respond to the basic needs of all with what we have. It stands for a different way of designing business by using the resources available in cascading systems, where the waste of one product becomes the input to create a new cash flow. It aims at creating jobs, building up social capital and rising income while saving the environment. An international community of companies, innovators and scientists support the concept, providing open source access to develop, implement and share prosperous business models which targets to improve natural ecosystems and quality of life.
These are the 21 principles that define it :
1. Solutions are first and foremost based on physics. Deciding factors are Pressure and Temperature as found on site.
2. Substitute something with Nothing – question any resource regarding its necessity for production.
3. Natural systems cascade nutrients, matter and energy – waste does not exist. Any by-product is the source for a new product.
4. Nature evolved from few species to a rich biodiversity. Wealth means diversity. Industrial standardization is the contrary.
5. Nature provides room for entrepreneurs who do more with less. Nature is contrary to monopolization.
6. Gravity is main source of energy, solar energy is the second renewable fuel.
7. Water is the primary solvent (no complex, chemical, toxic catalysts).
8. In nature the constant is change. Innovations take place in every moment.
9. Nature only works with what is locally available. Sustainable business evolves with respect not only for local resources, but also for culture and tradition.
10. Nature responds to basic needs and then evolves from sufficiency to abundance. The present economic model relies on scarcity as a basis for production and consumption.
11. Natural systems are non-linear.
12. In Nature everything is biodegradable – it is just a matter of time.
13. In natural systems everything is connected and evolving towards symbiosis.
14. In Nature water, air, and soil are the commons, free and abundant.
15. In Nature one process generates multiple benefits.
16. Natural systems share risks. Any risk is a motivator for innovations.
17. Nature is efficient. So sustainable business maximizes use of available material and energy, which reduces the unit price for the consumer.
18. Nature searches for the optimum for all involucrated elements.
19. In Nature negatives are converted into positives. Problems are opportunities.
20. Nature searches for economies of scope. One natural innovation carries various benefits for all.
21. Respond to basic needs with what you have, introducing innovations inspired by nature, generating multiple benefits, including jobs and social capital, offering more with less
