189_Dispelling the Myth of Zero Waste

Adventures in Sustainable Living Podcast

Episode 189

Dispelling the Myth of Zero Waste

Someone once said to me that the only problem with going plastic free is going plastic free. But the same could be said for having a sustainable lifestyle. It is a process, a choice, a journey instead of an end all be all.

But I also think it is the same with going zero waste. We constantly hear talk about a sustainable circular economy but is it all just a dream?  Is going zero waste even achievable for an individual much less an entire society and culture?

What I want to examine in this episode is whether or not this is an achievable goal or is zero waste just a myth. So join me for episode 189 Dispelling the Myth of Zero Waste.

Welcome back everyone to the Adventures in Sustainable Living podcast. This is your host Patrick and this is E189 which is called Dispelling the Myth of Zero Waste.

What I want to accomplish in this episode is to first define the concept of zero waste. Then I want to discussed a couple of real world examples of how we change our habits and ways of thinking and look a community that has focused their efforts toward  zero waste. And finally I want to give you 12 tips on how to reduce your waste.

Sustainability question of the week

Do we really have toxic products in our homes?

Good news story of the week

Zero-Emissions Hydrogen Fuel Cell Powered Ship successfully Tested in Japan.

A number of Japanese firms successfully conducted a demonstration of the first every zero-emissions ship above 20 gross tons.

This ship sailed 30 kilometers and was powered entirely by hydrogen fuel cells. This is part of Japans’ strategy to reach zero emissions by 2050. Since a significant part of Japan’s emissions come from coastal shipping, the country’s government was seeking an alternative fuel.

Hydrogen is produced by using an electrical current to split water molecules into hydrogen and oxygen. The pure hydrogen can then be used as a sustainably substitute for engine fuels such as diesel and kerosene.

Japan is also looking to develop hydrogen fuel for other projects but that is expected to require additional technological development.

So, this weeks round of applause goes to Japan for their advancement toward a zero emissions future.

But to start out this conversation I want to ask several questions.

-Is living a 100% sustainable lifestyle even possible?

-Is it even possible to never use a single product that contains plastic?

-Is it possible to never produce a single piece of waste?

Now whether you realize it or not, the foundations of this conversation started long before many of us were old enough to be the least bit concerned about how the world works. When we are young someone else always provides us with what we need. We are never concerned about where it comes from, who produces it, how much it costs. Furthermore, we have absolutely no concept of the environmental impact of the things we consume.

When you grow up in the land of plenty, when you are raised in a take, make, dispose society, you never give a thought to wasting food or taking advantage of single use plastic items. It is simply how you live and most of us never give a thought to doing anything different. It is instilled, accepted behavior. And therein lies the problem.

And because of this, most people are unwilling to believe that they could run their entire life off of renewable energy, they could cut their driving in half and they could eliminate their food waste. Consequently, when someone proposes going zero waste, most people immediately doubt the ability to live such a life. But if that is how you think then you are not alone.

The average person views the concept of zero waste as an impossible task. While there are experts that believe zero waste is theoretically possible, there are others that believe it is impractical and unrealistic. There are also an increasing number of producers and consumers alike that are on board with the concept of zero waste, but critics still condemn the philosophy as unworkable.

But here is how I think about it. Just the other day I was talking with my closest neighbor, who is about 2 miles away. Him and his wife have been living 100% off grid for about 3 years now. We were discussing the best ways to make our lives work and achieve some level of comfort while being off grid. I made the comment that living off the grid is very achievable but in many ways you just have to think about things a little differently that most people. And the same is true about going zero waste. You just have to think about things very differently.

Living a 100% sustainable lifestyle is probably more aspirational than it is achievable. The same could be said for having a lifestyle where you never use a single product that contains plastic. The same is also true for going zero waste. Such a standard may be aspirational but it also embraces a circular economy and redefines how we view waste. The concept of zero waste means eliminating waste wherever we can and finding new ways to process the waste we do produce.

So perhaps we need to redefine the question.  Instead of asking whether or not zero waste is possible maybe we need to ask whether or not we are willing to address our wasteful habits. This gets more to the root of the problem that got us in our present predicament. This approach tackles not only the waste that we create but also the sources that generate the waste in the first place.

So let’s look at a couple of clear examples.

What happens every time you drink a glass of apple juice? That juice comes from apples that were first peeled and processed into pulp. The left over pulp and peels are by products that are typically  considered waste. You then buy the juice in a container that is difficult to recycle. When it is empty you throw it away and it goes to the landfill. Then the next week you do the same thing.

What could happen is that pulp could be composted to produce high quality organic fertilizer. Or it could be processed into high quality animal feed. The juice could be packaged into glass or aluminum containers that could be recycled endlessly. As a consumer you could refuse to purchase juice unless it comes in a container that can be recycled. But it doesn’t stop there. The same could be said of the orange juice we drink also daily. The same could be said for multiple other products.

Now we could scale this concept up on an industrial level that is much more progressive. Products produced in modular designs that allowed for easy upgrades and repairs instead of complete replacement. This could happen with every single product from vehicles, to home appliances, to construction tools, to our smart phones.

So, here’s the key. This economic model keeps resources in the loop for increasingly longer periods of time. Experts widely agree that new industries and markets would be developed that make full use of the resources that were previously considered waste. Perfect examples are shoe companies that are making products from recycled water bottles and clothes manufacturers using sustainable natural resources.

The point is that this type of system not only challenges our current way of thinking but also gives clear and practical guidance on how we should approach waste reduction and prevention on both the producer and consumer sides of the market.  In other words we do not have to sacrifice the economy to build a more sustainable global community.

Now let’s just take a look at what one city has done to work toward zero waste. In 1995 the City of Fort Collins, Colorado, in the United States estimated that there was $6.5 million USD worth of materials that were getting thrown away every year. The city council developed a comprehensive plan to provide incentives to get away from our throw away society and push the community toward values such as thriftiness and efficiency.

One of the first codes developed was a Pay-as-You-Throw program. This municipal code required trash haulers to charge residential customers based on the volume of waste generated. Additionally, they were required to provide curbside recycling at no extra charge. Under this system households were provided a way to save money by reducing the amount of trash they produce. Over the next 18 years, the city improved those incentives several times. In 1999 the city council set a goal to divert 50% of all discarded resources from landfills by 2010.

In 2013 the city council revamped their strategic plan again. This included an extensive outreach program that included meetings with six city boards and commissions, five community conservation groups, 250 residents and businesses, input from a group that represented a cross section of interests in the community, as well as tours of existing reuse, recycle, composting and landfill facilities in the City of Fort Collins.

The result of this outreach was that it became clear that there had been a significant cultural shift in the community. The idea of recycling was embraced by both residents and businesses. Instead of questioning whether or not to recycle it was a discussion of how to recycle.

By 2012, the city calculated that the level of waste diversion was at 42% for all residential and commercially generated waste. If the city included industrial waste, such as concrete, asphalt, wood waste from demolition projects, organics from breweries, and biosolids, the total community diversion rate was closer to 58%.

But their target of course is zero waste. The City Council focused on four priorities that needed to be implemented in order to reach their goal.

Cultural change: Providing new rules and more incentives that would be promoted through social media, advertising, and creative use of technology in order to reinforce and expand the changes that had already occurred.

Reduce and Reuse: Providing support for residents and businesses to live and operate efficiently and more sustainably. In doing so, this created more than 400 jobs and also helped people in need to have easier access to quality food.

Keep Compostable Organics out of the landfills: Large amounts of food was being donating to people in need instead of going to the landfill. More food was grown and produced locally.

Reduction of Industrial waste: Commercial composting facilities were developed. A new recycling plant was have to be developed to reduce construction and demolition waste. Reuse warehouse would need to be built to support the collection of a wide range of reusable products.

As you can see, the City of Fort Collins made it a priority to reduce waste by providing incentives so that being sustainable became an easy choice. The first three things that they focused on could easily be applied to us an individuals: a cultural change, reduce and reuse, and composting organics.

Statistically, every single one of us generates 4.9 pounds of waste everyday. That is about 146  pounds of waste every month. Going from that to zero waste may seem intimidating but there are countless ways to reduce the waste that you produce. The point is that you cannot focus on perfection. You may never reach a point where you are 100% waste free. But imagine what the world would be like if there were millions of people trying to go waste free.

Here are some tips on how to reduce the waste that you produce.

-Buying in bulk is one of the most environmentally friendly things you can do. Most staple goods such as beans, flour, sugar, rice, cornmeal, pasta, cereals, etc can easily be purchased in bulk quantities. This will also save you a considerable amount of money.

-Ditch the single use plastics. Plastics are cheap, versatile, durable and long-lasting. This is why they are so popular. But these products have now become the bane of our existence. Purchase reusable stainless steel mugs and coffee cups, reusable cutlery, and even plates to take with you wherever you go. I have had the same ones for 20 years or more.

-Never buy bottled water again. Nearly 45% of bottle water is the same as tap water. Clever marketing tricks consumers into thinking they are purchasing a superior product when nothing could be further from the truth. If you are worried about your drinking water invest in a good quality filter and a reusable water bottle. At the cabin we take raw stream water and run it through a gravity fed filtration system and produce purified water for less than 3 cents per gallon.

-Avoid produce that is wrapped in plastic. Again buy things in bulk.  You can even invest in reusable mesh produce bags instead of using plastic bags. That said, at times it may be difficult to avoid produce wrapped in plastic. But that brings us to the next tip.

-Support your local farmer. The food is far more sustainable, locally grown, and you are putting money back into your local economy.

-Plan your meals. This is the best way to streamline your time at the supermarket, reduce your grocery bills and reduce your food waste. Take some time on the weekends to cook larger meals with left overs that can be consumed during the week.

One of my favorite tricks is to make a large batch of burritos, empanadas, soup or chili then freeze them in small quantities. This becomes my convenience food on those busy days. With a little bit of planning you can easily save yourself from the question that we all dread after a long busy work day, “Whats for dinner?”

-Eat more veggies. There is no doubt that a plant based diet is much more environmentally friendly. But that does not mean you have to go vegan or vegetarian. But you can easily go meatless at least once a week. Or, eat meat that is more environmentally friendly.

Compost your food scraps. Greater than 50% of what goes into landfills is organic material that can be composted. You can compost even if you live in an apartment or flat by using a worm bin.

Use beeswax wraps instead of plastic. Beeswax wraps are made from cloth, oil, resin and beeswax and are essentially the eco-friendly cousin of plastic wrap. They can be purchased in a variety of sizes and shapes and are relatively easy to make.

Make your own cleaning products. The household cleaning products we use everyday are some of the most environmentally toxic chemicals found on the planet. You can avoid this my making your own products. It is as simple as mixing baking soda with lemon juice and vinegar. Furthermore, there are numerous recipes online for various types of homemade products.

Embrace the ugly. When most of us go to the supermarket we expect perfection. But you can save yourself a considerable amount of money by purchasing items that are marked down because they are blemished or dented.

For example, I once purchased 10 pounds of bananas that were marked down by 75%. I then spent a couple of days making homemade, dehydrated, banana chips that lasted me a year and a half.

Go paperless. Modern technology makes this a simple process. Switching to digital documents will save on paper and ink. And while your at it, get yourself off those junk mail lists.

Summary

Now to start closing things out for this episode, I want to emphasize that we may never reach zero waste. We may also never reach the point of being 100% sustainable. We may never have a perfect circular economy. But, imagine a world where humanity managed to reduce waste production by 75%. Imagine a world where the question was never whether or not to recycle but how. Imagine a community that reinforced sustainable behavior. I realize that we may never reach a point of perfection. But think of it in terms of zero waste or darn close. Now that is achievable.

So start thinking in terms of refill, reduce, reuse, recycle, reclaim, reform, reinvent, reimagine, rethink, respect, rinse and repeat. Now that is a formula for a complete culture shift.

Sustainability question of the week.

Do we really have toxic products in our homes?

On average there are about 150 chemicals found in our homes that are directly connected to specific health problems. Since 1950, approximately 70,000 new synthetic chemicals have been invented and are now dispersed in the environment.  And this is why our entire planet is now contaminated. And you can do your part to improve this by eliminated the toxins from your home.

Well folks, thats about it for this week. I hope you have enjoyed this episode and will join be again next week. And don’t forget to visit my podcast homepage which can be found at adventuresinsustainableliving.com

Until next week, always remember to live sustainably because this is how we build a better future.