Circular Economy
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Contrary to the linear economies of take-make-waste, circular economies aim to tackle climate change, biodiversity loss, waste, and pollution by emphasizing the design-based implementation of the three base principles of the model: eliminating waste and pollution, circulating products and materials, and the regeneration of nature. So, significant to circular economies are transitioning to renewable energy and designing products that consume less energy in production and use. One example of work at Stanford is developing the use of photon upconversion to enable a circular 3D printing economy.