Source: A CITIZEN’S GUIDE TO ZERO WASTE A UNITED STATES / CANADIAN PERSPECTIVE
By Paul Connett and Bill Sheehan October 2001
Synopsis: Outlines the concepts of zero waste, steps to get there, and case studies of success stories.
Reflecton:
Not long ago, when I was hired on as the service manager of the local bike shop, I was concomitantly considering a thesis project for this degree. I had the idea that turning The Route into a zero-waste bike shop would make for a great project. I was stymied by three items: tires, innertubes, and non-recyclable plastic packaging. I had ideas for every other source of waste, from scrap metal to the lunches left so long in the fridge that they snapped at you if you got too close. Some of those solutions were more creative than others, and only time would have shown them to be sustainable or not. Well, things change, and the zero waste bike shop didn’t happen, but it was a great thought experiment, forcing me to contemplate waste differently than ever before. Mostly, my conclusion was that waste management would be most effective if it was happening way, way up the stream. I’ll try to get back to that thought before I leave this post.
Today, while rehearsing the route I’m hoping to ride to work tomorrow, I was struck by a minor epiphany. It would have hurt if I hadn’t been wearing a helmet. HA! No, the thought I had regarding waste management was that we are trammeled by lethargy and/or momentum (potential PhD thesis and/or good conversation for over a beer: are these different ways of stating the same phenomenon? Why or why not?). Despite a great desire to do so, I did not make the time to look up recycling statistics, but I know participation drops off the more complicated the system of sorting, i.e. single-sort systems experience greater participation than two and three stream systems. People don’t want to have to think about their waste, where it goes, or what happens to it once there. Furthermore, and related to momentum, we have been dealing with a system that has enabled this mindset for long enough that to change it can seem impossible. Zero waste?! Double ha!
Sorry, it’s getting late, and I get a little punchy when I’m tired. I have a point. If we are going to achieve zero waste (another question: Is zero waste necessary for sustainability?) it is my informed opinion that lethargy and momentum are the greatest hurdles which need to be overcome. How do we do that? The Citizen’s Guide actually addresses this very question.
What was the stimulus that precipitated the decline in popularity of SUVs? For increased interest in alternative energy initiatives? For keeping organic produce from overtaking the market? Money. In each of these cases, a sound argument could be made that the most important (though not the only important) variable is money. It is the variable around which the developed world revolves. I don’t see any reason why waste management would be any different from the above examples.
There are a couple of initiative mentioned in the Citizen’s Guide that use money as a motivator. I loved the idea of the garbage lottery. It’s novel, it’s marketable, it’s relatively easy to enforce, and in the case mentioned, it’s been proven effective. Let’s do it. I also like the pay-as-you-throw initiative. It’s intuitive and logical, and the infrastructure for implementation could be pretty simple (charging different prices for different sized waste containers). Again, let’s do it. Everywhere.
And, I would be remiss if I didn’t address some of the philosophical implications herein. “Nature makes no waste; waste is a human invention.” What a beautiful (and accurate, I might add) sentiment. As I get older, I reflect more and more on the things I’ve learned while pursuing outdoor activities. One of the things you learn on a backpacking trip is to waste as little as possible, because waste is more weight resting squarely on your back. It forces you to reconsider the very concept of waste. You start figuring out ways of turning ordinary objects into multitaskers. You rinse your dishes and drink the water, because if I packed that calorie in, you can bet I’m not dumping it out on the ground. Backpacking is also a great way of making you consider the issue of waste from an upstream perspective, because if you make waste, you’re packing it out. After dinner on night one is not the time to realize that polycarbonate egg holder wasn’t such a great idea. In the bike shop, I quickly realized that, once the product was in my shop, there was very little I could do about the packaging if it wasn't recyclable. If that waste is to be eliminated, it needs to happen before it gets to me. My point is that we (the developed world) have a unique perspective on waste, and that perspective needs to be addressed at some point in this discussion. I’ve said it once, and I’ll say it again. Sustainability lies in changed minds.
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It doesn't come from this article, but a profound insight I have gained from this literature is that in addition to "reduce, reuse, and recycle" we must add "redesign". As you state above, much must be done before products reach the retailer. One way we could accomplish this is through simple product take-back requirements. I.E. Company A took the resources out of the ground, Company A thus gets them back when their useful life is over. I have always found it odd that, in a country so opposed to socialism, we are so willing to socialize our garbage. Producers need to be made to be responsible for that off of which they profited. I suspect it wouldn't be long after such a system was enacted that we would see some serious redesign and maximum reuse and recycling.
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