The Third Generation of Pushing for Circularity

“Why do you care so much?” That is a question I have gotten to hear a lot over the past few weeks and months of trying to close our funding gap at The E-Waste Column and The E-Waste Learning Hub. It is honestly not the easiest question to answer, because there are so many layers to why I care about circularity and hence there would also be so many different answers I could give in response. That said, the final story from my series on “100 People & Organizations in Circularity to Follow in 2025” perhaps comes the closest to giving a good answer:

“My grandfather, Oiva Nikander was born in Finland, drafted into the Continuation War when he was 18, and never got the chance to attend university. Returning to his village as one of just three men from his generation to survive WW2, Oiva decided to dedicate his career to building a just, sustainable, and peaceful future. When Sitra was founded in 1967, he joined the innovation fund to conduct research into the electrification of mobility – work that he considered essential to safeguard the independence and future development of Finland as a democracy. Oiva was always repairing and mending things, and he believed that together ordinary people could do remarkable things. For him, circularity was strongly interconnected with peace, democracy, and the rule of law. He also believed that education, innovation, and community building were key for circular and sustainable development.”

My views and approach to circularity have been shaped by my grandfather’s story and work in countless ways, and I see the educational work that I do as a logical continuation to my family’s work around sustainability and circularity over the past two generations. Yet, my work is not about legacy or legacy building for me, but about a deep-rooted sense of responsibility to our democracies, our freedom, our future, and the generations that come after us – and I think those are things that are very much worth caring about and fighting for.

You can read the other 99 stories about inspiring circular impactmakers from my “100 People & Organizations in Circularity to Follow in 2025” series here.

This photo is of my grandfather and me fishing together in 1999. My grandfather is holding a repurposed and frequently reused bucket for the fish we caught.