.svg)
In the run up to Cisco Live, I asked a question about sustainability and in particular why wouldn’t the most direct solution be to extend EoL (End of Life) dates for hardware products – you can find the article here. Off I went to Amsterdam and made obtaining an answer one of my goals for the week, and then dutifully spent time hassling the lovely people on the Cisco Sustainability stand.
I did in fact obtain several answers, ranging from the promise of the Circular Economy, how products received by the Takeback program are recycled and how we can now architecture for sustainability. However, none of these answers directly addressed my question and left me wanting. In the end, I did my own research, and this is what I found.
Cisco’s approach is based on “gradually decoupling economic activity from the consumption of finite resources and designing waste out of the system”. Essentially this means continuing to develop products, both hardware and software, that will drive economic growth but without using finite natural resources. This of course sounds wonderful because it means that we can achieve sustainability goals and save the planet, all while maintaining revenue, net income, and shareholder value. But two questions come to mind…
- Will it be enough?
- How will Cisco achieve it?
On the former, only time will tell whether we can maintain our way of life and our planet. Regarding the later, Cisco’s sustainability strategy is focused around three areas, in what they are referring to as “The Plan for Possible: Connecting a Regenerative Future”. This plan consists of three components.
- Net zero (Transition to clean energy)
- Circular design (Evolve to a regenerative circular model)
- Climate impact investments (Invest in resilient ecosystems)
Over the next few weeks, I will be exploring each of these components, as well as the approach of Architecting for Sustainability, which at Starfish we are starting to incorporate into our projects. In the meantime, feel free to get in touch via DM or the comments, if you’d like to connect, correct, or rant.