WHAT IS ZERO WASTE?
SIMPLY | To send nothing to landfill.
COMPLEX | To completely write waste out of existence.
Zero waste is not possible. It’s about rethinking how you’ve been doing things and what you can change. Whatever word you use, it is so grey, there’s no one right way to be sustainable. It is different for each person and sometimes varies daily as well.
There’s so much more that you can waste then beyond your trashcan and recycle bin (we absolutely cannot recycle our way out of this plastic shit-storm). This is a very narrow view and we need to look at the larger picture which is a very holistic approach but also speaks to your lifestyle.
Unlike the linear model of business that consumes and wastes resources, the idea behind circular economy is to mirror the ecosystem that leaves nothing wasted. Everything, from clothing to household items to food and tools, have a purpose and an after-life-purpose, so that “traditional waste” can be something useful to others or in another form.
The solution lies in the concept called the circular economy. Circular economy is a “resource-full” alternative to the traditional linear “resource-depleting” economic model of produce-consume-waste.
Essentially, “waste” is no longer wasted and is instead a valuable resource.
Moving towards sustainability is a social challenge and a global challenge that will take efforts from local and national governments, international cooperation, as tools from academics and researchers to help put in place the best practices and knowledge to encourage these essential changes.
It may all be scary, discouraging and you may want to give up already but here what you have to do instead: Try to get out there and stick up for the environment in whatever ways you can. This can be activism, start refusing and only thrifting/second hand shopping, start walking more, support more local businesses and farms, boycott products from companies with not so sustainable practices or all of the above and even more. And instead of letting your awareness of unavoidable exposure shut you down, use it to empower and motivate you to tackle the exposures you can do a lot to dial down.
The circular economy is our happily ever after.