Zero Waste: Is it Possible?

 “Clean and Green Our Beautiful Earth we make,

To a keen and Serene future we will all wake”

 

It is pretty true that as the consumer of goods from every corner of the global village, we end up generating a walloping amount of waste, right from the many layers of packaging material to the used, now ‘trash’ stuff that has no place in a modern household. We simply chuck it away at the bin and forget about it. The question that Mother Earth has pushed us today to ask, has led to many altercations about the co-existence of humans with the wastes that humans produce.

A study has laid the global average waste generation per person at 0.75kg, which means that a person on average, generates nearly a kilo of waste and we have close to 8 billion persons on this planet, the calculations speaking, themselves. This waste that we generate is a mix of biodegradable, non-biodegradable, and the newest additions to the group, the electronic and medical wastes. It is indeed an existential question to ask if we have enough answers to dealing with the wastes we produce, prancing dangerously on our very existence.

Philosophically and practically, the answer to most of the complex questions are often right in front of us and are so simple that we refuse to acknowledge them. Waste management has manifested today as such a nagging, yet important challenge that we often forget that they have pretty simple solutions that can not only bring Mother Earth to her green glory, but also unite her children into the religion of a safe, free, and sustainable environment.

The zero Waste concept is one such obvious answer to managing the wastes we produce. This can be very much related to the adage given by Ancient India’s most shrewd economist, Chanakya, who said, “When the grass hurts, uproot them”. When there is an issue of waste management, do not produce them in the first place. Something becomes waste when it does not seemingly have any utility. But when it is seen as something that has utility, then there is no waste, but raw material to something more beautiful. This is termed in an environmentalist’s dictionary as the cradle-to-cradle process, instead of the cradle-to-grave.   

Like doctors, to give and save a life, every human being has the creative and latent potential to give life and upcycle the little things that can, in the long run, take a toll on Mother Earth’s dear (deteriorating) health. Amid the concrete jungle, there has been an increasing interest in urban gardening and organic fruits and vegetables, and the best patronage to this goal, is using the daily veggie wastes, that is, biodegradable wastes composting them, and boost the health and nutrition of the plants. This can reduce the biodegradable waste that goes to the landfills to stink, to turn into smiling plants giving not only healthy food but also a wonderful therapy to escape the stressful clutches of this fast-paced world.

Zero Waste is both a scientific and social idea. Using the advancements in science and incorporating them into society by effective social management, it is when the mind and the conscience work hand-in-hand and the intelligence is used to make the place we live in beautiful and better. Like the quote, “Waste is not Waste, till we consider it as waste”, to reduce wastes to zero, is important because it is the true essence and meaning of our literacy. Our far-reaching discoveries and literacy will be of no use if it does not help better the environment that we live in.

The ‘Zero Waste Lifestyle’ is a necessary trend, in not only households but also in public places and events that use up a lot of resources. Many opulent weddings which basically meant more plastic and more food wastes are now trying to incorporate alternatives like reusable plates, or even better, the traditional and imperious banana leaf platter, and steel tumblers. These banana leaves are super non-toxic and super useful for a humus supply, and yet so cheap, that these are the best alternatives to base the royal feast.

The plastic problem, has been recognized for more than a decade and the ‘easy-handy-cheap’ plastic alternatives to provide for all in the economic ladder, has led to a huge plastic production and distribution, also since the majority find it the best option. From toys for the kiddos to the slippers, the uncountable plastic bags in the refrigerator to the packets of milk and food items, all are protected by the great Plastic. The plastic packets of milk and other food items are emptied and thrown. Instead, one could use the traditional bottles or the vessels where the evening milkman would come with his bell. This could help greatly with improving the quality of livestock, and maybe generate some nature-connected jobs as well.

Another extravagant waste generation comes from the festivals, where there is a spurt of decorations in the market, 90% of them being plastic. Even the stationery that people and students use is plastic and lead, which are harmful to the environment. These are not used more than once and they are toxic and machine-made. The decorations of natural flowers, plain earthen lamps, colors of natural ingredients, and wooden and other bio-degradable and sustainable materials can help these crafts thrive gives a lot of space for innovations.

All these, through improper waste disposal and management, end up in landfills, polluting land, air, and water, and lessening the ‘good space’ for human inhabitation. An estimated 9-10% of plastics only get recycles. The Polythene bags are either in the landfill or crumpled in old storage boxes in a corner. A Zero Waste society can come about with not a few uprisings, but a collective and united effort. Zero waste leads both directly and indirectly to a progressive and better economy. The enhanced costs of better material and quality things can balance the posh and the sustainable lifestyle in demand, the new ideas, and their patents will be much valued, and also generate employment, improving the living standards of the ‘other side’ as well.     

Also, with a zero-waste society, there will be fewer health and food issues, because of lesser environmental pollution and hence, a better and healthy lifestyle to get the maximum intellectual and physical output. In a zero-waste society, both the living and the non-living will be productive to the maximum and with a respectable future.

There are many appreciative ideas today, centered on the Zero Waste concept, that are slow because of the costs, but have an amazing and enormous richness in how they save our environment.

The researchers from the University of San Diego have found an alternative to plastic slippers, or flip-flops, and use cultivation of ocean algae and combine them with some safe chemicals to slippers. These just take 1/10^th the time of the degradation of plastic foam and are just as efficient and comfortable as them. This has a huge potential to reduce the ‘floating’ ocean wastes and here, the algae simply go back to its home, the ocean. Another innovative technique gaining momentum is the use of plantain stalks, pineapple scraps, avocado pits, etc., and turning them into bio-degradable cutlery. The concept of eatable cutlery is also becoming more and more famous. 

In the town of Hathras, Uttar Pradesh, India, an entrepreneur has taken up the responsibility of collecting all the used flowers from the many temples throughout the town, getting them to the facility instead of the dump-yard and turning them into incense sticks. He is giving the flowers offered to God back, in the form of incense sticks. The best part is that these are much better to inhale than chemical-infused incense sticks.

The next best place where zero waste is needed is the fashion industry. From leather to plastic and other materials, the fashion industry is always abuzz with many new developments and snazzy outputs. But the zero-waste idea has much potential here, looking at the ‘Bottletop’ company in Brazil that makes designer and super expensive handbags with bottle caps and soda cans. The stalks of the banana plants that fruit only once, are used in making handmade and sustainable curtains, clothes, bags, and much more. The number of chopsticks that are chucked from around the globe can even get a mathematician to go bonkers. But a company has begun to convert them into sustainable wooden furniture. The same goes with the soaps and toiletries of hotels that are given a new life by treatment, instead of sending them to landfills.

Nearly 84% of the global energy comes from petroleum, coal, and natural gas that are fast receding, endangering the longevity of Mother Earth. The electricity that is generated, is increasing at a great pace and the balance between generation and consumption is drifting away. The conscious effort to use more and more renewable energy has been slow due to its costs and other factors. But hesitating to a one-time investment can often be foolish. Moreover, there have been increasing use of biogas, excreta, rubber, and other ‘incinerating’ facilities to generate electricity and the solid settlements as compost material.

The lesser and lesser waste we produce, the lesser will be the environment pollution, and greater and greater will be out effective, efficient sustainability of Mother Earth, her resources, and her children. The Zero Waste concept is hence, a sustainability idea to upcycle the by-products of our lifestyle. A cleaner and better society are where there is lesser to discard as waste, hence, lesser disrespect to Mother Earth’s resources. We need to collectively be a part of answers to environmental problems, not just appreciative of the efforts of a few people using their knowledge as far-reaching wisdom. Nothing is possible without united efforts and support of all. The global village we live in is not only a materialistic give-and-take, but a moral and ethical interconnection, to live, and let live.