The Meaning of Zero Waste

Zero Waste means we share a vision for the future that's good for people, the planet and profits.

At one time the goal was to reduce waste to landfill by 50%. Despite the fact that as a province we barely hit 35% in the year 2000, 50% of Regional Districts have since embraced Zero Waste as the new mantra. Have they all gone mad or are the rest of us just missing something? To put it in very simple terms, two factors affected this shift: out of control costs for collecting and landfilling garbage and the introduction of Take Back programs (also known as deposit/refund and Extended Producer Programs). Not too much rocket fuel is required to figure out that without managing organic waste effectively and getting manufacturers to buy in, even 50% was not an achievable target. Bottom line: 50% was always on the way to meeting a zero waste target.

Let's dig a little deeper and not make the same mistake twice. A 50% target by itself does not get serious about other pollutants or about the waste our economy encourages us to buy and produce as consumers. Zero Waste asks us to redefine intelligence and success. It asks us to think about everything we do and how it impacts the environment. This is going to be hard work for most of us, as that kind of sensitivity has been overshadowed by overpackaged, under priced goods.

Making lots of garbage and blowing black smoke out your chimney or exhaust pipe is no longer cool so we better have options for dealing with it. Convincing everyone to reduce how much they buy, and to refuse to buy things that add to the garbage problem will be the hardest part of the Zero Waste Program. Thankfully, this burden is now being shard by manufacturers as provincial regulations expand to include everything that can be bought in BC stores (likely in 10 to 20 years). But in the meantime, the RDKS and entrepreneurs have to deal with product waste, and take composting to a whole new level.

To dig even deeper into Zero Waste and how we can learn from nature, take a closer look at this case study from the Zero Waste Alliance website.