And now for something completely different—a patriotic and optimistic moment. My Zero Waste work often takes me to other countries and cultures, and as I travel I’m frequently met with the same cliché opinion of Americans (one of them, anyway). Once on a Zero Waste venture in France, I was trying to convince an activist about the value of creating a Zero Waste society. She eventually looked at me with almost pity in her eyes and said, “You Americans are amazing. You really do believe there is a solution to every problem.”
I guess she’s right. As a culture, we always see solutions. It’s that kind of naive, perhaps childish, optimism that has, despite some of our faults, led to some significant global innovations (walking on the moon, for one). Call it what you will, but it may be that characteristic that leads to a true Zero Waste society, a goal that may be more difficult to reach in the context of another culture.
Experts agree: 90% is achievable
I wanted to find out if I am childish or naive to believe that the transition to a Zero Waste world is going to be as regenerative to our economy and environment as I believe it to be. So, Eco-Cycle got a foundation grant to fly nine national Zero Waste leaders from San Francisco, Seattle, Austin, San Diego, New York and elsewhere into Boulder, where we spent two days wrestling with one critical question: Can we get to a 90% waste-free society, or are we dreaming? (see story). The answer is cause for celebration, optimism and, in my opinion, patriotism because it’s going to take a lot of “Red, White and Blue can-do spirit" to get there.
While Europe seems to have decided that a 70% recycling rate is good enough, and that burning the remaining 30% is the formula, I am thrilled to report that our “Getting to Zero Waste Summit” group decided unanimously that a 90% waste-free society is attainable in every way—technologically, economically and socially. The group also concluded that this is not a distant dream but rather an immediate opportunity that is both affordable and badly needed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions on a significant scale.
But will it fly in City Hall?
Is a waste-free society politically attainable in America? That’s the issue the group found to be a struggle. The Zero Waste future requires the creation of a “profitable business environment,” so that investment funds flow into building the new Zero Waste infrastructure needed for success.
Unfortunately, this is where our childish nature keeps us from our goal. We throw a fit about the idea of creating niche business environments that reward certain activities. In contrast to our hands-off capitalism, when the EU decided to radically reduce landfilling for public health and environmental reasons, the government of Ireland didn’t wring its hands trying to figure out how to give birth to the new recycling and composting businesses needed to replace landfills. The Irish government simply raised the price of landfilling significantly, assuming that the new industries—recycling and composting—would emerge from the minds of Irish entrepreneurs, which they have! That sort of progressive policy creation requires leadership, a vision for the common good and, dare I say, a more mature dialogue about community responsibility, which is something America has been lacking since the 1980s.
So, now here's the big question: Is American-style democracy up to the challenge of going beyond small incremental change and therefore capable of making large systemic changes to the way our society functions? I see the issue of Zero Waste as a perfect stage to play out this “Act of Human Social Evolution.” Now we know that Eco-Cycle isn’t alone in thinking this way; there are at least nine influential Zero Waste thought-leaders who are also working every day to build a waste-free future. Together, we are all going forward with the conviction that there IS a solution to this problem, and YES WE CAN.
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