by Rachel Elion Baird, Main Representative to the United Nations, New York, Servas International

New York, NY — During the 70th session of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (CSW70), Servas members and guests gathered for an evening of connection, dialogue, and shared purpose at the event “Let’s Talk About Peace.”

The gathering, co-sponsored by Servas US, highlighted the organization’s enduring mission to promote peace through intercultural exchange and meaningful human connection.

Servas US, partnering with Servas Women and the SI UN Team, played a key role in making the event a success, supporting promotional outreach, designing and distributing flyers, and providing food for attendees. Their efforts helped bring together a vibrant and diverse group, including Servas members, local New York hosts, and international guests.

The evening quickly became more than a meet-up—it evolved into a dynamic exchange of stories and ideas. Attendees shared personal experiences of hosting and traveling through the Servas network, reflecting on how these connections foster understanding across cultures and borders. Conversations also focused on how to expand Servas’ peace mission in today’s complex global landscape.

Several attendees expressed strong interest in joining Servas, including a diplomat from Turkey, underscoring the organization’s continued relevance and appeal to individuals committed to global peacebuilding.

“Even after the official end time, people stayed,” said Paige LaCombe. “The conversations kept flowing, and no one wanted to leave. It was clear that something meaningful was happening in that space.”

The event also welcomed a distinguished guest, Peter Pressi, President of the Conference of Non-Governmental Organizations in Consultative Relationship with the United Nations (CoNGO), who stopped by to meet attendees and express his support for the Servas community and its mission.

As the evening came to a close, many participants exchanged contact information, preparing the groundwork for future connections and collaborations. The energy and enthusiasm of the gathering reflected the power of grassroots engagement in advancing peace and understanding.

Events like “Let’s Talk About Peace” demonstrate how Servas continues to create spaces where dialogue thrives, relationships are built, and the vision of a more peaceful world is actively nurtured.

by Tim Sullivan

When will we learn acceptance? When will we learn violence and war only lead to more violence and war? When will we learn to elect leaders who are peacemakers and believe in the common good rather than people who believe that power makes right?  

 My impression is that people everywhere are basically good. I've come to this belief based on my experience rubbing shoulders with people who are different from me. Please let me share a few examples.  

 A few years ago, I had the opportunity to volunteer in a shelter on the Mexican side of the border. There, I met two young men about to risk their lives crossing the desert. One of them from Honduras had worked in a banana factory. We had an instant connection because I sold bananas that he boxed. He told me how much he made and how many boxes of bananas he could fill every day. Now I knew why bananas were so cheap. These were good young people trying to improve their lives, the only way they thought was possible. I did my best to talk them out of taking their dangerous journey but I'm sure I didn't succeed. I have no idea if they made it to where they were going alive.  

 At last year's Servas International conference in France, I was fortunate to sit next to the National Secretary from Iran. People had great fun taking pictures of the Iranian National Secretary sitting, talking and smiling with the USA National Secretary. I can tell you he was a good person and just like us proud of his country, proud of his family, and trying to create a good life and peace in our world.  

 And just this week I met a young man, his wife and child who emigrated from Pakistan to Spain where he runs a little produce shop. They were absolutely some of the nicest people I've ever met.  

 With such good people living in them, why then are all four of our countries involved in wars? Is it the leadership of our countries and their desire for power and wealth that lead us to war? Weren’t these people elected? Where is acceptance for others? What will it take to transform a world from acceptance of violence to an ethic of acceptance and peace?  

 Sadly, I have no answers to any of these questions. I have only hope in the common people of all countries, who I know are good people, that they will prevail in the end and make peace possible.   

 For my part, I will continue to plant and care for the trees on our little plot of land. I will help tend our garden so we can eat as much of our own food as possible. I will continue the ministry my spouse and I share with the elderly in our community. I will also keep volunteering for Servas, as it is one small way I can help build acceptance in the world. Thank you all for being part of Servas. I hope you will continue helping Servas foster increased acceptance throughout our world.

by Bill Magargal

Note: The opinions in this article are the author’s only and have not been discussed by the board. Please leave comments to share your thoughts.

During the past year, I have actively expressed my concern about the the U.S. decline into authoritarianism. I’ve participated in marches, stayed informed, contacted local representatives, and struggled with persistent anxiety about the country’s direction. Reflecting on history, I now understand how ordinary people in Germany could have witnessed the rise of fascism in the thirties without stopping it—the feeling of helplessness is real, and today’s events feel eerily familiar. As Yogi Berra said, “It’s Deja vu all over again.”

We are witnessing the resurgence of figures who promote authoritarian agendas and undermine democracy. As I watch this unfold, my emotions range from anger to hopelessness. I also feel chagrin for not doing more, for not standing up in ways that make a significant difference. I hope for leadership that can guide us out of this crisis, and I look to the upcoming midterm elections as a potential turning point. Yet I worry that these elections could be postponed or their results overturned.

Despite uncertainty, I remain hopeful that we can preserve our democracy. Organizations like Servas, founded on peace and humanitarian values, must move beyond passive concern. We need to transform hope into action, calling for leadership and cooperation to protect the peace and prosperity we’ve enjoyed for decades. Even though the future is uncertain, I believe collective action can make a difference.

It is time for US Servas to act. I know we have never directly engaged in political activism, but I believe this must change. Our leadership should issue a call to action to preserve our democracy and a world order based on laws and international cooperation, which has sustained eighty years of relative peace and thriving economies. I propose establishing and empowering a team of our Peace Secretary and board, and other interested members to address these challenges.

This panel could, among other things, do the following:

I am sure there is much more that can and should be done. Let this be a starting point.

by Elaine Heumann Gurian ( Summarized by Fouzia Bashir Bhat )

Foreword • Deirdre Araujo: Although she is not a Servas member, Elaine Heumann Gurian is part of an overlapping circle of people committed to dialogue, dignity, and peace. I’ve followed her work since her 2012 residency at the Exploratorium in San Francisco and have become a lifelong admirer. During the museum’s move from the Palace of Fine Arts to Piers 15 and 17, which could otherwise have felt overwhelming, her mantra “Done is Good” helped sustain us.

In her essay, Elaine reflects on what she calls the “Carney Plan,” inspired by Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney’s response to coercive politics and economic intimidation. Her central argument is simple but powerful: bullies succeed when others depend on them too heavily. The way to weaken a bully is to identify those points of dependence, reduce the leverage, and build alternative relationships before the threat becomes overwhelming.   

Elaine describes this approach as both strategic and moral. First, she argues for building diverse and flexible alliances so that no single power can dominate the future of a country or institution. She emphasizes that resilience does not come from perfection or total independence, but from reducing vulnerability enough to survive pressure with dignity.   

Second, she highlights the importance of fairness at home. In Elaine’s reading, resistance cannot be only geopolitical or economic; it must also protect ordinary people from bearing the harshest costs. She admires the idea that any response to bullying should preserve social justice, pluralism, and care for communities, including Indigenous communities and working people.   

What makes her essay especially relevant for peace-minded readers is that she does not limit this idea to governments. Elaine suggests that the same method can apply across sectors and communities: predict where pressure may come from, define what is non-negotiable, build unexpected partnerships, and refuse to let institutions or people be isolated and picked off one by one.   

At heart, Elaine’s essay is a call to courage, connectedness, and democratic healing. She writes from deep concern about the current political moment in the United States, yet her message reaches beyond one country. It is about how people and communities can respond to intimidation not with surrender, but with preparation, solidarity, and principled action.

For Servas readers, this resonates with the long tradition of building peace through relationships across borders. If fear isolates, then hospitality reconnects. If coercion depends on dependence, then peace depends on widening circles of trust. That is why Elaine’s voice, though outside Servas formally, feels close to the spirit of our community. Here is a link to Elaine’s full essay Carney Envy – Healing After Trump for those who would like to read it in full.

by Marguerite Hills

Every so often, we interviewers receive a response that captures the spirit of Servas in an especially vivid and meaningful way. I felt compelled to share this one with the rest of our Servas community.

What does peace mean to you? 

To me, peace is not merely the absence of conflict, but the presence of genuine human connection and empathy across borders. It is the realization that despite our different backgrounds, languages, or traditions, we share a common humanity and similar aspirations for happiness and security. By opening our homes and sharing our stories, we dismantle the "otherness" that leads to prejudice, replacing it with the kind of friendship that makes global conflict unthinkable. In the context of Servas, peace means being a bridge-builder. Every conversation over a shared meal is an opportunity to cultivate mutual respect. When we travel or host with an open heart, we contribute to a grassroots network of global citizens who value understanding over suspicion, proving that peace is a practice we engage in every time we meet someone new.

When you hear “Peace and Understanding through Travel and Hosting” what comes to mind?

I think that means listening closely to others and sharing in respectful ways. When staying in another's home, I would treat it as my own, respectfully, and would like the same in return. When I hear "Peace and Understanding through Travel and Hosting," I think of the transformation of a stranger into a friend. It suggests that peace isn't a political treaty signed by governments, but a grassroots movement fueled by individual hospitality. By stepping into someone else’s home or opening our own, we move past stereotypes and media narratives to discover the shared values—like family, food, and community—that connect us all. This phrase highlights that travel should be an act of learning rather than just sightseeing. It suggests that the act of "hosting" is a powerful form of diplomacy; it creates a safe space for dialogue where we can ask questions and share perspectives. Ultimately, it means that the more of the world we see and the more people we welcome, the smaller and more connected the world feels, making conflict much harder to justify.

By Lilly Lombard, US Servas Peace Secretary

Dear US Servas Community,  

I am writing to you as the newest US Servas Peace Secretary. The decision to accept the role came to me after my closest college friend, a community member and medical doctor in Minneapolis serving immigrant clients–and herself a member of Servas–sent this letter. Her courage moved me, as I hope it does you, to act in solidarity–the greatest tool for peace that humanity has ever known. Please read her exquisite letter.  

In peace and justice,
Lilly Lombard

Letter to the Lilly (Saturday January 17, 2026)
Note: In accordance with norms typical of editorials in the United States, this letter is included its original format with some exceptions for minor grammatical and spelling corrections. 

Good Saturday morning to you all, my family outside of Minnesota,

As I sit down to write to you, my dog runs out to greet the neighbor shoveling my other neighbors' walk. Snow has fallen last night, and I slept fairly well, and the coffee tastes good, and I have all of you, whom I am thinking about, and all the love you showered on us this last week.

Because this is also happening at this moment: masked and heavily armed men roaming our streets, gas stations, schools, smashing windows and pulling people out of cars whose only crime was crossing up to 7 countries on foot in search of work. Many of my neighbors, immigrants from Mexico and Ecuador have not left their homes in 5 weeks, since this campaign of terror began. Some of those homes are two-bedroom apartments, housing up to eight people. Some of those people are newborns, or school age kids who their parents are keeping home as our city has offered online learning to keep them safe.

Eight blocks from where I sit flowers and candles accumulate on the roadside for a neighbor very much like me who was murdered for trying to be a witness. Dozens of parents stand guard outside of our elementary, middle and high schools each school day to protect students, staff and parents. No Spanish speaking patients are coming to my clinic, where 60% of the patients are immigrant and Spanish speaking. My Somali coworker carries her passport to come to work each day.

The business district, only 5 blocks from me, is empty, the stores shuttered, everyone is afraid to go to work and to shop there. My neighbor of 20 years was taken off the street on his way to work 8 blocks from here at a tortilla factory 10 days ago, and his family and lawyer still cannot locate him. I am having increasing virtual visits with my patients who are having constant panic attacks while stuck at home. This is a fraction of what we are witnessing, but I wanted to share with you because very little will make its way into the news. And, so that you can prepare where you live, should this reality come to you next.

So now the beauty: there are dozens and dozens of neighborhood-based efforts to accompany and witness and help folks. We call it mutual aid, because in turn, our immigrant neighbors are offering us a way to preserve our humanity, show up, and meet each other, so that whenever this all ends, we are more connected, more compassionate, more awake to the realities of each other's lives. One family who came over here to do their laundry told me it was the first time in the three years they have lived here that they have ever been in the house of someone “from here.” That is changing, and that is good. Every day in every neighborhood, dozens of neighbors volunteer to drive our more vulnerable neighbors to work to decrease their risk of capture, or bring them food, or shuttle their kids to school, or visit them to look at a rash or examine their sick child... Or post bond for their loved one or neighbor who was abducted without cause.

Yesterday I went down to our federal building to do that. The hallway to the bond office was swarming with cocky flack jacketed and masked ICE agents, cavalierly joking about tear gas and their day. I met a man there, an immigrant from Liberia, who had driven 8 hours to try to pay the bond of his partner, herself a correctional officer for the state, who was taken on her way to work 6 weeks ago. We were both told that despite what the website said, bond could not be paid in person. We then spent the next 6 hours together at my house trying to figure out the online system and get the bond paid. It took us 8 hours to figure it out together. When we called the line for help, there was an option to press a button “if you want to report someone you think is here illegally.” We had his partner on the phone often with us during the day, checking in from her detention facility. (Most folks do not get to do this.) At the end of the day, we were both tired, but grateful for each other, and the solidarity to get through this really frustrating process to pay for the temporary freedom of folks we cared about.

Today there will be a group of roaming solidarity singers in the streets from 2-3, a silk-screening pop up to raise bond money for folks where you can silk screen shirts saying “migration makes MN Beautiful” and “ICE OUT” (the latter with a picture of a loon spreading its wings.) Rides to work, food delivered, and sidewalks shoveled. There will be gestures small and big of love and care and solidarity.

Thank you for yours: Your texts with heart emojis, your checking in, your rallying your friends to donate to our mutual aid projects, your own donations. Everyone here is pretty exhausted, me included, and so it is hard to respond with much more to each message than a true thanks, and that the situation is horrific here. I wanted to give you more of an idea of the day to day and send love.

If you know of anyone who still wants to help our neighborhood solidarity efforts, they can go to this website: https://www.standwithminnesota.com. The Bancroft school is the elementary school in my neighborhood, and the Calvary food shelf is the place I volunteer and deliver food from. But truly, donate to any of these causes (you will also see their individual petitions from families, and please consider those as well). Please continue to spread the word to your friends, your church, and your workmates. The needs are truly endless. I will try to write next Saturday. Know that your love means so much to us, gives us heart, buoys us when we wake up and can’t believe this is still going on. Thanks, Angels of the Get Through.

XO

By Tim Sullivan 

As we turn the page on 2025, I often hear people say, ‘Thank God.’ Indeed, it was truly a violent year. There is much peacebuilding still needed in our world and in our country. 2026 is starting out with state-sponsored violence in Minneapolis that we could not have imagined. It's hard for me to believe that some people condone this type of violence.  

In response, the people of Minneapolis, Minnesota and elsewhere are demonstrating a type of nonviolent resistance that is certainly inspiring me to do more. At this moment, I believe we are all called to some form of nonviolent resistance. There are many forms of nonviolent action. While we might all like to be in the streets of Minneapolis, it's just not possible for all of us to join them. I suspect that most SERVAS members are engaged in nonviolent peacebuilding in their own communities. I believe being an active member of SERVAS is a form of nonviolent peacebuilding. It's clear our work is still needed, important, and we need to grow our efforts. Despair is not the answer. We must continue to engage with peacebuilding and as our new board member, Jeff says, “Find joy in the beauty of our world”.

I am grateful for all the US Servas volunteers that support our mission. I'm especially thankful for the new team of board members whom you elected this past October. While I'm just getting to know them, my first impression is that this is a talented group of folks who care about peacebuilding. (I am, of course, also thankful for our returning board members who have been working hard).  In our recent retreat we outlined the following priorities for 2026:

1. Advance peace through meaningful people-to-people connection, with clear and measurable impact.
2. Grow membership and engagement in balance with interviewer and host capacity.
3. Strengthen communications, storytelling, and brand clarity.
4. Improve governance, leadership, and organizational capacity.

It seems to me that all our objectives include a foundational emphasis on communication and relationship development in our efforts to build peace. In our first board meeting, I already saw liaisons creating goals to implement these objectives. All members are welcome to join board meetings, which are held on the 4th Monday of the month at 9 a.m. PT, except when they fall on a holiday. Let us know if you would like to join us and we will send you a link.

There's a line in Rumi's poem “The Road Home” that rings true to me. It says: "The essence of every human being can see, and what that essence-eye takes in, the being becomes." Folks become what they experience and what they take in. Travel and actual conversation with the other makes this happen. Isn’t this what Servas does; we transform hearts with the experience of the other through our hospitality.  

A Ken Untener prayer that Archbishop Oscar Romero often used, has been an inspiration to me when I felt my work wasn’t accomplishing enough. Romero was assassinated by the USA supported El Salvador government in 1980. This prayer makes it clear we are not expected to do it all, and we cannot know how our Servas hospitality might change some person’s life. Here is an edited version of the prayer:

"Prophets of a Future Not Our Own"

This is what we are about.
We plant seeds that one day will grow.
We water seeds already planted, knowing that they hold future promise
We lay foundations that will need further development.
We provide yeast that produces effects beyond our capabilities.
We cannot do everything and there is a sense of liberation in realizing that.
This enables us to do something and to do it well.
It may be incomplete, but it is a beginning, a step along the way
We may never see the end results, but that is the difference between the master builder and the worker.
We are workers, not master builders

Your involvement with SERVAS may plant seeds that grow beyond your wildest imagination!  Help us expand the foundation we lay. Invite your neighbors and friends to join us in our nonviolent peacebuilding. And if you're looking for new ways to be more active in peacebuilding, join our volunteer team. We may not be in the streets of Minneapolis, but we are planting seeds of future peace!

Thank you for being a peace worker for US Servas.

Tim

from the UNA-USA Pasadena Community Feb. 2026 Newsletter 

Paige LaCombe, Chair of Servas Women and former UNA-USA Pasadena board member, led the United Nations Association Pasadena’s first coffee talk of the year. LaCombe presented her work with Servas, including Servas Women, to members of the UNA Pasadena community on January 17th. LaCombe invited members to participate in her talk, with self-reflection and opportunities to share, creating an intimate space to consider what it would mean to welcome an international visitor into one’s home and to travel abroad to stay with a host. 

LaCombe, who has served as the elected peace secretary of Servas, helped build Servas Women to encourage women to travel internationally safely and sustainably while advocating for global women’s rights. Per Servas’ website, “Servas International requests UN Member States to take all possible steps to stop arms delivery and redirect military funds to humanitarian causes; protect women and girls from gender-based violence; and promote women’s involvement in leadership roles in ending conflict and building peace.” LaCombe's work with Servas Women has taken her around the world to hear women's stories and collaborate with them in advocacy. 

As an international non-governmental organization (INGO), Servas consults with the United Nations’ Economic and Social Council. Servas encourages sustainable travel and a symbiotic exchange of cultures in addition to advocating for human rights globally. This March, UNA-USA Pasadena Chapter President Ann Diederich and Paige LaCombe will present at the annual UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) Forum in New York. 

Reflection questions: What would it mean for you to open your doors to an international visitor? How would you welcome an international visitor? How would you feel staying with a host in another country? What would you share from home? 

by Tim Sullivan, Board President

As 2025 comes to an end, I thought it might be appropriate to share some reflections on peace. The first thing I did was ask AI to give me some quotes from famous people on peace. As you can imagine there were lots of them, really good ones, comments on how to find inner peace, how to create world peace, and on what peace really is. In the end, it felt like I needed to share something from deep within my own experience.

I began to reflect on the world realities, and by any measure 2025 has been a difficult year when it comes to peace. Between wars, gun violence, injustice and environmental destruction this quickly became a very dark paragraph. Once again, it was a place where I didn't care to stay.

And then something remarkable happened. I received a WhatsApp message from Francisco, who is the Servas International Co-Peace Secretary. It was a message of hope and action from a young person who is working hard to build peace. He introduced me with a photo to his new niece and his father. This is some of what he said:

“Hi Dear Tim,

I'd like to introduce you to my niece and my dad. She's the youngest member and he's the oldest member of Servas in Mexico. They are my greatest inspiration and motivation for contributing and doing my best as a volunteer for Servas through peace building, prompt hospitality and kind actions. These are my main ways to promote peace.”

Wow, as I reflected on Francisco's message, it brought a tear to my eye, and I realized my reflection on peace also needed to be one of hope and action.

I'm at a stage of life where I know all my hopes and dreams for peace in the world will not happen in my lifetime. Once I heard a scientist say, “If you expect to complete the work you're doing in your lifetime, you are thinking too small.” In most cases, I believe this to be true. So, I'm okay with not seeing my dreams of peace coming to complete fruition before I die. I trust that somehow all is well in the universe and humanity will eventually get its act together. 

••  If you expect to complete the work you're doing in your lifetime, you are thinking too small ••

An example is my practice of planting acorns from our native oak trees. If you plant a walnut, it grows like a weed, but an oak is a lot slower. When that walnut tree is six feet tall, the oak tree you planted at the same time, is maybe one foot tall… if you are lucky. This work is definitely for the next generation, and I love it.

Each of us can only do our own small part. My work is in many different areas, it is kind of like the saying, “A jack of all trades and a master of none.” I try to live lightly on the land and not be complicit in violence of any sort. But I recognize that many times I fail. In general, I'm not a person to be in your face with my viewpoint, rather I attempt to share my perspective by the way I live my life. A wisdom teacher of mine often says “Rather than complaining, we to try to teach by practicing the better.” I think that's very much in line with what we do at Servas. We are practicing a form of travel that is lighter on the planet and attempting to transform hearts, minds, and so lives with cultural exchange and our hospitality.

One thing I do know is transformation of hearts is necessary and only happens with a deep experience of the other. One of my most intimate experiences was living in a migrant shelter on the border in El Paso. When you get up in the morning to brush your teeth and you share a sink with an indigenous woman from Guatemala (who certainly does not know English and maybe not even Spanish) and her two small children, you begin to see we are all one with the same desires and hopes for our children.

As members of Servas, this is what we do. In our own small way by traveling and hosting, we are attempting to transform not only others but our own hearts.

Practicing non-violence and peace building is something like meditation. In attempting to empty my mind during meditation, I must continually repeat the process when my mind strays. This is true of trying to live in the moment which is critical to living a non-violent and peaceful existence. I constantly have to bring myself back to that peace-filled place.

•• by traveling and hosting, we are attempting to transform not only others but our own hearts ••

One of our practices at our home in Western Iowa is to restore native tall grass prairie. An image I often use to start my day focuses on the Big Bluestem grass. It is a grass native to the Midwestern prairies. It first grows roots that can go down 16’ deep and then grows tall. It provides seed for birds, deer, and the next generation of Big Bluestem as well as winter shelter for many small animals. In addition, Big Bluestem sequesters a significant amount of CO2 as it gives off O2.

I reflect on my desire to live in the Spirit of the Big Bluestem, with a deep foundation in the Earth (or if you prefer Divine Love). My desire is to be fruitful on this particular day; with the people that I meet, the next generation, and for the entire planet.  Finally, I think about my desire to respond calmly and with kindness in the face of adversity as the Big Bluestem responds to wind, storms or fire; always returning upright and simply doing what Big Bluestem was created to do. What would it mean for humans to just do what humans were created to do? Could it be to create a community of love and peace? It seems that is exactly what Servas is all about. Thank you all for your peace building efforts through Servas!

My new year wish for Servas members and all of humanity is a life lived in the ‘Spirit of the Big Bluestem’!

by Karen Morian (with thanks to the Ellen MacArthur Foundation)

The problem (and the solution) starts with design

For too many products that we consume, there is no onward path after they are used. Take a potato chip package, for example. These multi-material flexible plastic packages cannot be reused, recycled, or composted, and so end up as waste. For products like these, waste is built in.

Although it sometimes feels like waste is inevitable, waste is actually the result of design choices. There is no waste in nature; it is a concept humans have introduced. Our 21st century economy is filled with things that have been designed without asking the crucial question: What happens to this product at the end of its life?

From linear to circular

By changing our way of thinking about production, we can address waste as a design flaw. In a circular economy, a requirement for any design is that any remaining materials re-enter the economy at the end of the product’s use. By doing this, we take the linear take-make-waste system and make it circular (true re-cycling).

Many products could be recirculated by being maintained, shared, reused, repaired, refurbished, remanufactured, and, as a last resort, recycled. Food and other biological materials that are safe to return to nature can regenerate the land, fueling the production of new food. With a focus on design, we can eliminate the very idea of “waste.”

The first principle of the circular economy is to eliminate waste and pollution. Currently, our economy works as a take-make-waste system. We take raw materials from the Earth, we make products from them, and eventually we throw them away as waste. Much of it ends up in landfills or incinerators and is lost. This system cannot work in the long term because the resources on our planet are finite See 3 min. video  

The second principle of the circular economy is to circulate products and materials at their highest value. This means keeping materials in use, either as a product or, when that can no longer be used, as components or raw materials. This way, nothing becomes waste, and the intrinsic value of products and materials is retained. See 3 min. video  

The third principle of the circular economy is to regenerate nature. By moving from a take-make-waste linear economy to a circular economy, we support natural processes and leave more room for nature to thrive. See 3-min. video:  

Although thinking in circles is a waste, circular thinking might just keep our planet from spiraling into a wasteland.