We’re going to hear about some amazing software that helps with the 2^nd of the 3 key circular strategies Catherine Weetman advises people to use… getting more, from less. Finding ways to get more use out of under-utilized objects can have big benefits, especially by reducing costs.

When we think about it, there are probably lots of things – both tools and toys – that we don’t use all day, every day. Sometimes we only use these things once or twice a year! But often, we want to be sure we can have access to that equipment, or that product, whenever we want. Those needs might be planned, say for camping equipment, or unplanned – like repair tools.

Today, we’ll hear from Gene Homicki, founder and CEO at MyTurn, a B2B platform that transforms idle equipment into value. MyTurn helps organizations to optimize asset usage, reduce waste, and generate revenue by making it easy to offer rental, lending, and product subscription services.

Gene is a serial entrepreneur and technology strategist who is dedicated to advancing the circular economy and sustainable systems. Over his career, he’s led teams delivering cutting-edge solutions for organizations like SEGA, ABC News, The Economist, and the National Science Foundation.

Gene co-founded the West Seattle Tool Library which has helped provide affordable access to thousands of people in the community. After seeing how much stuff people had in closets, garages and storage (while others had too little) and knowing that businesses, universities and governments had even more assets sitting idle, Gene founded myTurn.

MyTurn’s customers include businesses, communities, universities, and public sector organizations, and it is a for-profit public benefit corporation.

MyTurn’s platform has a wide range of features, from admin dashboards to online marketplaces, helping organizations of all shapes and sizes to identify and rent underutilized tools, equipment and other resources – either within the organisation, or by collaborating with others.

MyTurn’s customers are seeing big benefits from this circular solution, often increasing product reuse by 10 to 100 times compared to traditional ownership.

Podcast host Catherine Weetman is a circular economy business advisor, workshop facilitator, speaker and writer.  Her award-winning book: A Circular Economy Handbook: How to Build a More Resilient, Competitive and Sustainable Business includes lots of practical examples and tips on getting started.  Catherine founded Rethink Global in 2013, to help businesses use circular, sustainable approaches to build a better business (and a better world).

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Read on for a summary of the podcast and links to the people, organisations and other resources we mention.

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You can also use our interactive, searchable podcast index to find episodes by sector, by region or by circular strategy. Plus, there is now a regular Circular Economy Podcast newsletter, so you get the latest episode show notes, links and transcript delivered to your inbox on Sunday morning, each fortnight. The newsletter includes a link to the episode page on our website, with an audio player. You can subscribe by clicking this link to update your preferences.

• A Circular Economy Handbook: How to Build a More Resilient, Competitive and Sustainable Business – buy from any good bookseller, or direct from the publisher Kogan Page, which ships worldwide (free shipping to UK and US) and you can use discount code CIRCL20 to get 20% off. It’s available in paperback, ebook and Kindle. If you buy it from online sources, make sure you choose the new edition with an orange cover!
  
• Sign up to get the podcast player and shownotes for each new episode emailed to your inbox
  
• Gene Homicki on LinkedIn https://linkedin.com/in/homicki
  
• MyTurn website https://myturn.com/
  
• MyTurn on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/company/myturn/
  
• West Seattle Tool Library https://www.wstools.org/
  
• The Thingery https://thethingery.com/ and have a listen to Ep 28 https://www.rethinkglobal.info/episode-28-chris-diplock-the-thingery/
  
• Cynthia Reynolds, founder of the Circular Economy Coalition https://circulareconomycoalition.org/ and Circular Regions https://circularregions.org/
  

Gene Homicki is the co-founder and CEO of myTurn.com, pbc., a B2B platform that transforms idle equipment into value. With features ranging from admin dashboards to online marketplaces, myTurn enables organizations to optimize asset usage, reduce waste, and generate revenue by making it easy to offer rental, lending, and product subscription services.

Gene is a serial entrepreneur and technology strategist dedicated to advancing the circular economy and sustainable systems. Previously, Gene led teams delivering cutting-edge solutions for organizations like SEGA, ABC News, The Economist, and the National Science Foundation.

While living in Seattle, Gene co-founded the West Seattle Tool Library, a community initiative providing thousands of people with affordable access to tools without them having to purchase them. This inspiring project, combined with his broad cross-sector experience, brought to light the issue of underutilized resources and waste is an even bigger issue for businesses and other organizations. This realization sparked the idea for myTurn.

Today, myTurn operates as a global platform embraced by diverse entities such as cities, universities, nonprofits, and enterprises. These organizations are harnessing the transformative power of the circular economy, often increasing product reuse by 10 to 100 times over traditional ownership. Gene’s work through myTurn allows him to align economics with social and environmental responsibility.

Click here to open the transcript…

Want to find out more about the circular economy?

If you’d like to learn more about the circular economy and how it could help your business, why not listen to Episode 1, or read our guide: What is the Circular Economy? 

To go deeper, you could buy Catherine’s book, A Circular Economy Handbook: How to Build a More Resilient, Competitive and Sustainable Business. This comprehensive guide uses a bottom-up, practical approach, and includes hundreds of real examples from around the world, to help you really ‘get’ the circular economy.  Even better, you’ll be inspired with ideas to make your own business more competitive, resilient and sustainable. 

Please let us know what you think of the podcast – and we’d love it if you could leave us a review on iTunes, or wherever you find your podcasts.  Or send us an email…

Thanks to Belinda O’Hooley and Heidi Tidow, otherwise known as the brilliant, inventive and generous folk duo, O’Hooley & Tidow for allowing me to use the instrumentals from the live version of Summat’s Brewin’ as music for the podcast. You can find the whole track (inspired by the Copper Family song “Oh Good Ale”) on their album, also called Summat’s Brewin’.  Or, follow them on Twitter.

14th May 2023


Circular economy


materials


Packaging


recycling

Innovation and diversification is key to the success of James Cropper, a 6th generation family business, based in the English Lake District. Richard Burnett is Head of Technology and Innovation at James Cropper, a prestige supplier of custom-made paper products to many of the world’s leading luxury brands, art galleries and designers. Richard oversees the Technology & Innovation (T&I) function…

30th April 2023


Circular economy


Packaging


reuse


supply chain

Reusable packaging startup Algramo is going from strength to strength, and we hear from Brian Bauer and Chris Baker on why customers in Chile, the US and the UK are buying into this. Algramo’s founder, Jose Manuel Moller, came up with a brilliant idea for reusable packaging to help what he called the poverty tax, paid by people who shopped…

16th April 2023


Circular economy


enablers


fashion


technology

Jo Spolton is the founder of Rumage, a brilliant online platform that makes it super-easy for people to find – and buy – exactly what they’re looking for across a wide range of secondhand marketplaces. Jo is a Fine Art graduate and was a professional racing sailor. Her adventures when sailing around the world opened a window, showing how badly…

2nd April 2023


business models


Circular economy


strategy

Episode 101 seems like a good time to update my ‘what is the circular economy’ summary from Episode 1, back in 2019. In that first episode, I outlined the 5 components in my CE Framework, one of the core themes in A CE Handbook. Those 5 components are product design, safe, sustainable materials, circular processes, recovery flows, and business models.…

19th March 2023


Circular economy


risks


strategy

Catherine Weetman shares a bit of her backstory, including why she ditched her corporate career to help businesses get clear on how going circular is better for people, planet AND profit. Today’s episode is a bit different – Peter Desmond, who has been a great mentor and supporter over the last five years, was encouraging me to tell people a…