Rick Crawford
Since the Industrial Revolution, we have lived in what is called a “take, make, waste” society. We take a resource, make a good or product, and discard it once we are done. We see the results of this linear model everyday in the forms of plastic pollution in our oceans, fast-fashion and even entire buildings being demolished. The problem with take, make, waste is that it does not value natural resources or the embodied energy used to make the product. Additionally, there is no such thing as waste in nature, meaning that everything has a purpose and is interconnected.
For example, the lifecycle of a Mayfly demonstrates how nature provides a harmonious and circular system that produces zero waste. From nymph to emerger to adult Mayfly Dun to falling back to the river that gave it life as a spinner, the lifecycle of an aquatic insect is closed-loop system that produces zero waste. In addition to creating zero waste, Mayfly’s also help to keep ecosystems intact as they provide food for trout and other fish species.
As a society we have only just begun to understand the implications of take, make, waste because as our population grows, so does our demand for resources, the need for more landfills, which also contaminates our waterways, as well as the devastating impact of dumping our waste in the ocean where the majority of the world gets its protein. So, how do we move away from take, make, waste? A good first step is to work towards diverting waste from the landfill, so let’s begin by defining “zero waste.” According to the Zero Waste International Alliance, Zero Waste is defined as:
Zero Waste International Alliance
“Zero waste is a goal that is ethical, economical, efficient and visionary, to guide people in changing their lifestyles and practices to emulate sustainable natural cycles, where all discarded materials are designed to become resources for others to use. Zero waste means designing and managing products and processes to systematically avoid and eliminate the volume and toxicity of waste and materials, conserve and recover all resources, and not burn or bury them. Implementing zero waste will eliminate all discharges to land, water or air that are a threat to planetary, human, animal or plant health.”
A key component of the “zero waste” definition is to “not burn or bury them” because you could technically burn or bury all of your waste and divert 100% of your waste from the landfill, but that would pollute the land, water and air.
A simpler definition of “zero waste” is to divert at least 90% of waste from the landfill by way of refusing waste such as going paperless; reducing the amount of waste by finding alternative solutions like reusable water bottles; composting food waste to build healthier soils; and recycling what can be recycled. (Side note: you might be wondering why only 90%? The reason for only 90% of waste diverted from the landfill to achieve zero waste is that in today’s world there is still some waste that is hazardous, non-recyclable, non-compostable and non-reusable). In other words acting more like a Mayfly by finding alternative uses for the waste that we do produce and moving away from a linear model to one that is more like the lifecycle of a Mayfly. An excellent example of a company that has diverted over 95% of its waste from the landfill is our client, RepYourWater. Check out the video version of their 2018 Sustainability Report:
You can read more details about their efforts to divert waste from the landfill in their 2018 Sustainability Report.
Thanks for taking the time to read our blog and don’t hesitate to reach out if you’d like to learn more about how your company can go zero waste to landfill!