Aaryan Doshi

We were heading to the local computer store to get a new phone for my mom, and as a ten-year-old, I was overjoyed at the prospect of playing all my favorite computer games while we waited in line. Then I realized that my mother wasn't only buying a new phone but also trading in her old one. 

When I asked the woman helping my mom what she would do with my mom's old phone, she sweetly laughed back at me. Then I overheard her remark, "We'll trade your old phone, so you can receive credit points." This seemingly casual reply piqued my interest: "Do you get paid for trading an old item?" 

So I researched as much as possible about trading old phones, which is when I came across the circular economy concept. I also understood financial and transactional literacy was equally essential to incentivize more individuals to join this movement. 

During my journey, I realized how little this generation knew about the circular economy and its financial components. Who will be the change agents if the youth do not understand how crucial circular economy is to combat biodiversity loss and pollution threatening our planet? 

It dawned on me that the onus was on me to raise awareness of the circular economy and fintech among young people. And through CirFin (cirfin.org), I intend to build a global network of students and future leaders interested in the convergence of circular economy and fintech. 

The take-make-waste approach of the linear economy is unsustainable. Circular economy attempts to address this by regenerating waste and keeping materials in circulation longer. However, the lack of participation and financial incentives for the poorest members of the globe impedes its success. We must bring about a generation of changemakers that use fintech to help connect these members, be it bottle pickers in Africa, paper collectors in India, or waste pickers in America. CirFin aims to inspire youth globally to use advances in financial technology to enable a circular economy.  

Research from the Ellen MacArthur Foundation finds that our transition to renewable energy "can only address 55% of emissions. The remaining 45% comes from producing the cars, clothes, food, and other products we use every day." Next generational solutions to preserve our planet's fragile eco-diversity will require acquiring new skills complemented by incentives that reward the minimization of waste regeneration. However, this generation lacks even an essential awareness of the circular economy, let alone fintech. Through CirFin, I hope to create a sustainable global community of students equipped with knowledge about circular economy and fintech advances. This cohort can become the change agents in our society to advance the circular economy and ultimately protect our planet's fragile ecosystem. 

Resources:  

CirFin provides resources to young circular economists via online workshops. To inspire youth to understand the impact of circular impact, I make sure every one of our workshops and tutorials has an emphasis on ecological impact. CirFin incorporates fintech concepts like blockchain, asset tagging, and digital product passports into circular economy subjects like reusing materials, waste regeneration, and reverse logistics. CirFin resources demonstrate how these two sectors are intertwined so that whenever students encounter a financial transaction or a product purchase, they consider how it might apply in the context of "CirFin."  

Events: 

Using events like in-person workshops, panels, and competitions, I hope to pique students' interest in circular economy and fintech. After each conference, attendees from all over the world are added to an alumni community where they can network, find mentors, and discuss topics related to convergence of circular economy and fintech worldwide. 

Chapters: 

Through CirFin’s chapter leaders program, global volunteers can organize local CirFin chapters and activities. CirFin's four founding chapters have reached many young people in countries like India and the Philippines. 

Awards: 

CirFin awards program recognizes young people who have become agents of change and stewards in the fight to save our world from ecological disasters. 

Scale-Out: 

I aimed to scale our growth by integrating our platform beyond local libraries with other partners, such as local school districts and online education forums. The hybrid approach of online forums with school district partnerships paves the way for CirFin to continuously scale broadly across the globe. 

Multi-lingual: 

With 100+ international participants already, our chapter leads from more locations worldwide are actively working to make our current  curriculum materials accessible to thousands of non-native English speakers. 

Organic Growth: 

CirFin community constantly encourages middle and high school kids to develop new apps on themes such as eco-footprint, barcode tracker, and blockchain. By making these apps available as part of the CirFin family, we generate organic buzz and momentum in the high school community across the globe. 

Awareness: 

Students can simply scan CirFin QR codes at local libraries and schools and be directed to our website for workshop registration. While we have been profiled in community news coverage, we aim to contact national media outlets next year to increase awareness. 

Partnerships: 

We have contacted 15+ organizations, such as WellsFargo, Google, Microsoft, and PayPal, to sponsor our workshops and events. Through these partnerships, I plan to hold weekend workshops, reserve space on cloud platforms to fund our app growth. 

CirFin's four international chapters have made a difference for people worldwide, from India to Phillipines and beyond, in just a year. Through our in-person workshops and events in person, we've influenced over 250 students. Our online resources have impacted more than 1200 students from 8+ countries. 

CirFin has collaborated with like-minded organizations such as CodeBuddies, an initiative that brings technology to underserved youngsters. With the help of our partners, CirFin plans to reach over 10,000 young people this year. 

Students at CirFin have developed with novel approaches to issues that touch on the core concepts of the circular economy. To encourage circular vacationing, one team in the US developed a specialized app that points out recycling centers and provides visitors with disposable cutlery, water bottles, and tote bags for rent. A team in India prototyped directly connecting poor scrap collectors to recycling plants using simple SMS messaging resulting in increased financial payback. Our most recent project is the most challenging - developing a distributed ledger using blockchain technology to track the financial value of smartphones over their recycled lifecycle. 

CirFin has already inspired thousands of young people worldwide interested in the circular economy and fintech and will continue to inspire many more through our community of changemakers.