With illustrations of Freek van Zoest

Frea Zwaag and Sabine Silaraja

Circular economy with future Freek

It’s 8 o’clock in the morning and Freek is getting up. He got a reminder from his cell phone that he needs to bring it back to the store today. He leased it two years ago and his contract has expired. The supplier will recycle the phone to make new ones out of the material, so he needs to pick up a new one today. He is really excited for this.

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For breakfast Freek eats a bowl of oatmeal, roasted nuts and cranberries. He can’t finish the bowl and has some leftovers, that he will discard in a special system. This system will make new material out of collected left over’s.

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Freek wants to give the leftovers to the farm, so he makes animal food from waste. He puts the new made food in a box from the farm. Now he can give it to the farm in the neighborhood.

Freek goes on a walk to the farm to feed animals. Farmer Klaas told him that he can feed the chickens himself, because it’s feeding time now. After feeding the chicken he can get some eggs in exchange.

As Freek prepares his breakfast he sees that the bottle of milk is almost empty. There is a digital screen in the kitchen that Freek can talk to. He says to the screen:

A free day

Every week all the groceries that he needs are delivered to Freeks house to fills his pots and bottles with new products without packaging.

“Hey, I am running out of milk.”

“Do you want low-fat milk or a normal milk?”

“I will order it for you”

“I want the normal milk, because I really don’t like the low fat milk!”

And the screen talks back and asks Freek:

says the screen.

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Because Freek has a day off he pays a visit to his parents, they live in the same building in their own apartment. Freek is grateful that his parents are both still alive and both are pretty vital and has an active lifestyle. But when time comes and they will need more care - Freek will take care of them. Freek’s mother asked Freek if he could make some coffee. He, as always, agreed. However, he noticed that there is not enough coffee anymore.

He said to his mother and left to a corner shop at the end of the street. He has a glass bucket with him. At the store, Freek fills the bucket with fresh coffee beans.

“Mom! I am going to the store to get some coffee. I’ll be back in a minute.”

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Before Freek leaves his home he turns his robotic cleaner on. This cleaner takes energy from the earth so it doesn’t take that much of power as the vacuum cleaner that he had in the past. The problem with his old vacuum cleaner was that it wasn’t energy saving enough and he had to manipulate it himself. Now, Freek can talk to the robot and it clean the house for him. Freek had given his robot a name. He like to talk to the robot because it is also talking back to him. The robot is a shared service from the building where he lives in.

Cleaning robot as friend

Freek noticed that the robot haves a disturbance in the system of working. The robot is all the time repeating the same move of cleaning the table. He called the supplier of the cleaning robot, luckily they immediately saw the problem and fixed the robot from a distance through their computer.

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After a while the robot needs to leave and go to his neighbours, the robot can go by it self but he decides to walk with it. He has not seen his neighbours for a while, so he spontaneously drops by for a talk.

It is not something that he does a lot, most of the time you make an appointment to meet, but he saw them returning home. They tell Freek about their short holiday in Australia. It’s really easy to travel by airplane and they advised him to go some day.5

Freek has earplugs that he wears when he is sleeping, it gives him a better night’s sleep. He has updated his earplugs with a new extra function. Now they will read the news for him in the morning. So you can keep the earplugs in during your breakfast and it will read the highlights of the news for you. Freek doesn’t really like to read in the morning, so this is really a good invention for him.

Virtual reality world6

There are news about virtual reality glasses. The government used the virtual glasses in schools to teach kids different languages. The children’s brain assumes that they are abroad and it helps to learn the language faster. You can walk with this glasses, the glasses is really tiny and almost not to distinguish from a normal sunglasses.

Freek also has virtual reality glasses but he doesn’t really like them. He agrees with the fact that you can learn much faster that way, and that it is also a great experience for gaming but it’s not good to use them daily because they harm your social life. He likes meeting people in person.

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Fast public transport

Freek thinks,

He gets on his bike to make it to the train station. Freek works in another city.

Freek leaves his home. It is sunny outside.

“How good”

“all my laundry will be clean by the time I return home.”

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In past Freek was living in the same city where he works only in a small apartment near his

work, but with a reform of public transport getting to and from work to home became a piece of cake -

100 kilometers away, but with the new vactrains it only takes one minute to reach.

Also, Freek has noticed, there is very little or no traffic. That must have to do with the recent updates in the cities smart grid power distribution system.

While he is in the train he thinks about cars: His boss has one - a self driving Tesla. As beautiful as it may seem, having a car these days is a choice in lifestyle, not a necessity. Self driving vehicles are all wirelessly connected, they “see” each other and act accordingly on the road - they start and stop at the same time which means that yes, there are less accidents, but the feel of taking your gasoline BMW out of the garage and beating everyone on the highway is just not there.

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Freek arrives at the Central station. From there he takes a tiny single door electric vehicle right from the door of the station that takes him to his work, and then leaves by itself to charge and update system in a special parking place.

Day at the office

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Freek works for the government in a city development department. The building itself shows example to others - it is fully sustainable by collecting solar energy from the roofs solar batteries and also has a green facade that partly supports catering service available in the department building.

Today his task is to finalize proposal for a new sprawl before giving it to public discussion. In this democratic way sometimes projects are rejected,

but often new insights help in finding the best solution.

In the cities plan, new living district could be built with a center five kilometers away from the nearest center, with a green area used for agriculture and recreation and water separating the districts. That way future inhabitants are encouraged to choose bicycles as primary way of getting around. This scheme of garden city by itself is old, but is being put in a full use only in the most recent decade.

Plan looks finished. However, he feels like it could need some form of an art. Good that his department supports employees willing to study, so today he will leave earlier to a seminar on “Urban landscape and sculptural objects.”

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Education is free and shared. That’s why it’s easy for Freek to study, but of course he need the support from his work, otherwise there is not enough time to study. When he thinks about the past he really enjoyed learning. It was the most interesting time of his life, he met different people and tried a lot of different things. The problem was that he didn’t really know what he wanted and it was not easy to find his strong points. The system is that you can learn what you want, it is focused on personal development.

Learning in process

During his learning process he found out what he wanted to achieve. When he was a little kid he always build little cities and castles with Lego. He remembered that there was a big change right before he was growing up. The toys for kids where not focused on gender anymore. All the toys are gender-neutral and kids are growing up in equal world for women and men.

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Freek is now learning for a seminar that is connected to his job. He want to expand his knowledge. His teacher is foreign artist that makes beautiful objects. Freek is learning with a group of people, all round the same age and also already working. It is a better environment to learn with people who are in the same state of life.

Freek received a call from his nurse Sofie. His mother is in the hospital and he needs

to come over. When he is travelling to the hospital he is thinking about his mother. Freek knows that the doctors detected

cancer in her breast, but it was not a big deal. The doctors found the cancer really

fast with nanobots. The nanobots detected the cancer and removed it immediately. His mother was healthy in a week.Ho

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In the hospital Freek is looking for his mother, but he can’t find her. Freek is worried so he is in a hurry and ignores everything around him. A nurse is stopping him and asked where he is looking for. Because the hospital systems are focused on a more personal approach, she asked which nurse belongs to his living area. The nurse made contact with a system where everything about his living area is archived and brings Freek to the right place.

Freek is happy to see that his mother is fine. The doctor tells him that the she needs a new kidney. The 3d printer is already making one for her, so she can come home the next day already. He can stay with his mother in the hospital if he want, unfortunately he can’t because he has an event tonight. Sofie suggest to stay, so he doesn’t have to miss the event.

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After work Freek is a little tired, but he still finds energy to work on a hobby project. 3D printers

have been around for a few decades and it is a common thing to have one in your

household. However these days they are so advanced, that the owner can

directly recycle old pet bottles into fabric, for example.

Freek has a hobby

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So Freek recently got one of these devices and is experimenting with thermoplastics - he wants to make a flexible material that is also waterproof for use in the garden to collect fallen leaves. Almost all materials around are biodegradable, so when there is a need for something that will last, good old plastics can still be found so someone like Freek who likes making his own products can make them under his own responsibility to recycle them the right way when time comes.

No surprise, today he makes a progress and manages to write a code for a yarn that stretches even without woving. Next step would be coming up with a waterproofing method and Freek knows that best solutions can often be found in nature, so he commits to research bird feathers and how they repel water.

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Now, more than ever, people are connected through internet. Daily life is now more productive since introduction of a set of digital self improving tools that creates a daily agenda based on his past experience. When a reminder went off Freek new it is time to start cooking because two colleagues are coming over for a dinner. He quickly flipped through virtual pages showing him what they were talking about last time they met. He saw that one is a blogger and other is a leather crafts specialist who uses only laboratory grown clone leather and tea mushroom, and one of them is vegetarian. Vegetarian it is! Freek went to his smart fridge to ask for advice. Fridge noted: “Currently we have ingredients for a Roasted beet with spiced nuts and Fennel and Orange Salad with Lemon-Ginger Vinaigrette”. Sounds like something to talk about. Freek is preparing the food. Guests arrived on time and they had a nice evening.

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Tonight Freek is going out with his friends, normally they always go to the same bar. He knows the people who are coming there and he is connected with the system to order drinks. You have your own glass and you can fill it when it’s empty. The bar automatically amortise it from your bank account and in the end you will pay with your fingerprint. But this night they decide to do something else. Freek and his friends are searching for a new bar.

Finding a new bar

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When Freek and his friends are walking on the street, they accidentally walk into a group protest. This movement is against the controlling government and they were a lot in the news the last days. They want to be more individual and share less.

Freek totally forget about this and now they accidentally are in the middle of the protest. Because it’s really busy he lost his friends. Luckly Freek is connected with his bracelet phone to his friends, he see that they are on the other side of the street and he runs out of this protest. Freek and his friends decide to go to the bar where they normally went to give a good ending to a strange evening.

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Freek has a personal coach on his mobile phone, and he sports every day. With his mobile phone he can make a hologram of his coach in his room and his coach advises and supports him when he is exercising. There is a personal program; also his food is linked to this program. Freek wants to stay healthy, because then his brain is also more active. Freek also likes to sport with a group of people. Today he participates in a competition. He hopes there are a lot of people this time, because last competition was really easy for him to win.Virt

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The competition is virtual and he needs to put his virtual reality glasses on to participate. With this glasses on he find himself in a park, weather is sunny, a little bit too warm to his liking, but he can manage it. The competition is running with obstacles.

Freek sees already a lot of people, maybe because it’s now a more suitable time to sport, it’s Sunday afternoon. The road and the obstacles are also harder this time, he sports at a higher level. After half an hour Freek is exhausted. This was really a challenging competition. It’s hard to finish the road, but he did and his coach is really proud of him.

1.Mud Jeans, Amsterdam. Producer recycles materials of old jeans and make new products and sell again.

2. Amazon Dash Digital grocery system. User scans barcodes of products at home and they are delivered.

3. Shared Neighbourhood ProgrammeThis programme works with existing communities to develop shared neighbourhoods. It provides grants to enable community organisations to celebrate diversity and bring together people, from all backgrounds, who live in these areas.

Footnotes

1.Mud Jeans, Amsterdam. Producer recycles materials of old jeans and make new products and sell again.

2. Amazon Dash Digital grocery system. User scans barcodes of products at home and they are delivered.

3. Shared Neighbourhood ProgrammeThis programme works with existing communities to develop shared neighbourhoods. It provides grants to enable community organisations to celebrate diversity and bring together people, from all backgrounds, who live in these areas.

4. Geothermal energy Kilometres under the ground, the warmth of the earth is transportable by water. The water is heating up deep under the ground, if the water temperature is 100 degrees C it is pumped up.

6. HUSHSmart earphones. Isolates user from disturbing noises.

5. Window free airplane Concept by the Centre of Process Innovation (CPI) UK 2014 uses OLED technology to project outside of aircraft on the inside of it’s walls, creating an illusion of having no walls.

8. Walid Daoud A chemical engineer at City University of Hong Kong’s School of Energy and Environment, has developed a nano-coating that cleans cashmere when exposed to light.

9. VactrainA high speed vacuum tube magnetic levitation train concept could be introduced in 2020. If so, travel speed could beat the speed of sound.

7. The Oculus RiftVirtual reality glasses. Projects images directly on retina. Virtually meet people, go on holiday or learn languages in a different country.

4. Geothermal energy Kilometres under the ground, the warmth of the earth is transportable by water. The water is heating up deep under the ground, if the water temperature is 100 degrees C it is pumped up.

6. HUSHSmart earphones. Isolates user from disturbing noises.

5. Window free airplane Concept by the Centre of Process Innovation (CPI) UK 2014 uses OLED technology to project outside of aircraft on the inside of it’s walls, creating an illusion of having no walls.

8. Walid Daoud A chemical engineer at City University of Hong Kong’s School of Energy and Environment, has developed a nano-coating that cleans cashmere when exposed to light.

9. VactrainA high speed vacuum tube magnetic levitation train concept could be introduced in 2020. If so, travel speed could beat the speed of sound.

7. The Oculus RiftVirtual reality glasses. Projects images directly on retina. Virtually meet people, go on holiday or learn languages in a different country.

11. Tesla model S Electric car with autopilot feature.

12. BMW E30 Manual gearbox cars and gasoline features like BMW E30 will leave market eventually to become collectables.

10. Smart grid. Modernized electrical grid that uses communications technology to gather and act on information, such as information about the behaviours of suppliers and consumers, in an automated fashion to improve the efficiency, reliability, economics, and sustainability of the production and distribution of electricity.

14. Garden city movement A method of urban planning that was initiated in 1898 by Sir Ebenezer Howard in the United Kingdom.

15. Sharing education program The SEP encourages schools to make cross-sectoral collaborations an integral part of school life, creating enhanced educational and personal development opportunities for everyone.

13. Ha:Mo system TOYOTA i-Road in Grenoble, France.

11. Tesla model S Electric car with autopilot feature.

12. BMW E30 Manual gearbox cars and gasoline features like BMW E30 will leave market eventually to become collectables.

10. Smart grid. Modernized electrical grid that uses communications technology to gather and act on information, such as information about the behaviours of suppliers and consumers, in an automated fashion to improve the efficiency, reliability, economics, and sustainability of the production and distribution of electricity.

14. Garden city movement A method of urban planning that was initiated in 1898 by Sir Ebenezer Howard in the United Kingdom.

15. Sharing education program The SEP encourages schools to make cross-sectoral collaborations an integral part of school life, creating enhanced educational and personal development opportunities for everyone.

13. Ha:Mo system TOYOTA i-Road in Grenoble, France.

17. Nanobots The next generation of Nanomachines. Nanobots are able to sense and adapt to environmental stimuli, perform complex calculations and move, communicate and work together. They can also repair or even replicate themselves. Diseases like cancer are easy to target and to fight against. It will be possible to detect tumours earlier and target them with more precision.

18. 3D printed organs are developed enough to integrate them safely in healthcare.

16. GenderSince 2010 Sweden makes gender equal toys; plan to move on to clothing.

20. Cradle to Cradle Method takes insights from nature and apply them in design, it is the most important part of circular economy idea.

21. MicrosoftConcept - Future vision 2020

19. PETE Recycling method concept by Kovács Apor, Hungary for Electrolux Design Lab 2014.

17. Nanobots The next generation of Nanomachines. Nanobots are able to sense and adapt to environmental stimuli, perform complex calculations and move, communicate and work together. They can also repair or even replicate themselves. Diseases like cancer are easy to target and to fight against. It will be possible to detect tumours earlier and target them with more precision.

18. 3D printed organs are developed enough to integrate them safely in healthcare.

16. GenderSince 2010 Sweden makes gender equal toys; plan to move on to clothing.

20. Cradle to Cradle Method takes insights from nature and apply them in design, it is the most important part of circular economy idea.

21. MicrosoftConcept - Future vision 2020

19. PETE Recycling method concept by Kovács Apor, Hungary for Electrolux Design Lab 2014.

23. Cicret Smart bracelet Projects your Phone’s Display on Your Arm - 2014

24. TeleportationIn 2014, the Dutch TU in Delft accomplished to teleport quantum information three meters away.

22. MyTouch Payment method makes possible to pay with fingerprints.