The thinking behind this theory is to describe businesses’ Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) through their decisions, goals and operations to integrate social and environmental issues. This theory had to be developed in order to inspire corporate structures to reduce their environmental impact while maximising the human impact in society like the description below:
“ The idea of Upcycle is valuable all by itself, beneficial to the community and increases quality. Upcycle has given me the opportunity to think out of the box, turn old or unwanted materials into something useful or creative with a higher value but a small footprint. It created employment and benefits the community by including them in reducing waste lifetime span of materials and products up cycling is a way of life.” - Siyabonga
At Upcycle, the human impact is promoted through the company’s goal to help inspire entrepreneurship amongst the youth. This is done through the sustainable business model, using trainers to teach interns skills they can develop and start their own businesses within their own communities. The four factors of sustainability are human, social, economic and environmental, proving that sustainability creates and maintains the conditions for humans and nature to exist in productive harmony. This concept further permits the fulfilment of social, economic and all the requirements of present future generations. Below is an example of how much value socially responsible organisations add to the working experience.
“My favourite task at Upcycle has been crocheting using t-shirt fabric. Even though I battled at the beginning to get used to the concept of crocheting and doing something that I’ve never done before, its quick to realise how fun and enjoyable it is to do. I love how both Lara and Winnie were patient to watch my errors and to teach me whenever I didn’t get it right. Another thing about upcycle is that it isn’t just focused on getting the task done, but it is also relational as well. By this I mean, Upcycle ensures that both in the morning and afternoon the team gets together and partakes in fun and creative games which challenge our thinking, listening skills and how well one can focus. I do believe that the most important resource a company could have is its employees and Upcycle clearly lives by this as they’re trying to ensure that our work experience is fun and enjoyable.” -Nompumelelo
Competition and profit should no longer be the deciding factors of the business world. The linear business model, the make-use-dispose way of doing business, is slowly being replaced by the circular business model which determines how the end of a product’s life will impact social and environmental factors. At Upcycle, the end of a product’s life is given purpose, a new way to be useful and a chance at saving the world’s natural resources. More importantly, however, the circular business model creates more jobs than the linear model and maximises human impact and fulfilment.