As Global Consumption Grows, could new Ideas on Resource Efficiency Point us to a World without Waste?
Imagine a society where everything’s designed to minimise negative impacts on the planet. Some say it’s impossible, but communities, businesses and individuals are already making this happen. Giles Crosse investigates Zero Waste.
In the West, we lead incredibly carbon intensive lives. Food we eat, the products we consume, cars we drive, heating in our homes. Reducing this involves rethinking how we design, use and dispose of things, minimising wastage throughout production, useful life and after we’re finished with them. Closed loop systems may help us find this alternative path towards Zero Waste.
In theory, we can eliminate waste, by better understanding the life cycles of processes and systems. Cutting waste will mean massively increasing efficiency across our resource use from cradle to grave.
Truth or fiction?
So is any of this really possible? “Zero Waste is about society as a whole, at local, regional, national and global levels.” explains Robbie Weir, Envirowise Programme Manager for Scotland. Envirowise has just hosted an event on reaching Zero Waste in packaging, through improved Eco Design.
“For example, without fundamental change to how we consume crisps, it’s hard to fundamentally change the nature of a crisp packet. It has certain requirements in terms of functionality, and these are defined by how we consume the product inside.”
“There are three tiers of action to make this work,” he continues. “Legislation, cost drivers, and the moral component. If you combine laws, use technology to make sustainable packaging affordable, or differentiate it, finding a way to offset the extra costs, then the sustainable and recyclable packaging starts becoming the cheaper and the more effective packaging.”
Dream products?
Some companies have already achieved this, like US based Vanishing Creatures (VC). Their chocolate packaging ‘repurposes’ into a completely new, secondary product after the initial chocolate’s been eaten.
“With our product we took a different road to Zero Waste, by creating a second product within the product,” says Anita Mothersbaugh, founder of VC. She believes a combination of government regulation, consumer demand and industry innovation will make such products more common and affordable. Awareness is key to this: “I think that Zero Waste needs to be promoted in a broader, more everyday, pedestrian way, if you will. So it crosses different demographics and age groups.” Another tough challenge is the cost of Zero Waste. Such products can be more complex to design and make.
“When we opted to go with repurposing, as opposed to recycling all the materials, everything we were using became more cost effective.” she explains. “The packaging with this product is so unique. The product is about consumption as well as conservation, and two worlds collide with one product.”
“It was about making certain choices that would still equal Zero Waste, and typically Zero Waste materials are more expensive. That has to factor in with a product that is not expensive to manufacture.”
Design for life
“I think the first thing to understand with Zero Waste, is that by the time something is recognised as waste you’ve almost missed the point.” says Weir. “We want to be moving higher up the waste hierarchy, looking at financial and environmental savings at the top end.”
This means using smarter decision making about the goods we buy. “You can ask householders to recycle with ease,” confirms Weir. “But asking them to change their buying habits is something more fundamental.”
He points to fish and chip packaging in the Orkney Isles. It’s made from biodegradable cornstarch, so when you apply salt or vinegar it breaks down naturally. But as it needs to last just a few minutes, until the food’s been eaten, the best environmental option also suits the product needs. “Zero Waste, and sustainability, is about matching things up in this way.” agrees Weir.
Tomorrow’s world
Marco Di Maccio is Designer for VC. He’s convinced Zero Waste will become a reality. “Eventually we will do this not for economical reasons, but strictly for self preservation reasons. We still permit our egos to fool us into believing there is a way out of this mess without having to change our way of living and harming this planet.”
It’s not just about individuals or forward thinking companies. Towns from Longmont and Boulder in Colorado to Kamikatzu or Flanders have declared themselves Zero Waste Communities.
“We as a whole do not see the value in Zero Waste,” concludes Di Maccio. “Until we get to the point we understand when we pollute the earth, then we are polluting ourselves, price point will always get in the way. At the moment, price wins out over the good of the planet. We need to display the common ground as to why good design has Zero Waste at its core.”
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