Maarten Alexander Siebel, MSc, PhD, PE (1951), is from a family with a built in prudence when it came to throwing away: reusing, recycling, repairing, remodeling, regenerating – all for the sake of lengthening lifetimes – were near daily practices although, back then, we didn’t use the glossy terms we use nowadays. This contributed to a less tied household budget, helped financing studies and allowed bike vacations in times where going on vacation was barely heard of.
This ‘built in’ thriftiness may have motivated his professional interests later. Greening, circular thinking, impact reduction, material conservation, awareness, resource efficiency, input – output balancing, finite resources concepts, guided his educational training and determined his professional career.
Sharing that understanding with younger generations became his Leitmotiv. It is ever since.