The Zero Waste Trend

The term “zero waste” originated in New Zealand at the Kaitaia Zero Waste Conference in December 2000. Since then,“zero waste” has shifted from a catchphrase used solely by the government and environmentalist groups to a lifestyle trend. A “zero waste lifestyler” is known to actively choose environmentally-friendly decisions, reducing waste consumption and designing their day-to-day lives to cut out as much non-organic “waste” as possible.The purpose of following this lifestyle is, simply put, to reduce pollution from our everyday activities (whether it be within the air we breathe, our bodies of water, or in ecosystems). However, maintaining such a lifestyle shouldn’t be in the name of a trend, but rather the benefit of our environment.

The EPA stated that between 1960 and 2013, the average amount of trash generated by each person in the U.S. nearly doubled from 2.68 to 4.40 pounds per day. In 2014, this amount of trash totaled to over 258 million tons of waste produced just by Americans. In case this number doesn’t strike as a large amount, there are 2000 pounds in a ton, totaling to roughly 516 billion pounds. Yet, only about a third of this waste was recycled or composted while the rest was either incinerated or left to decompose naturally (which can take up to thousands of years in some cases). The most effective way to lower this number is to target the origin, an approach known as source reduction or pollution prevention. With this strategy in mind, officials passed the Pollution Prevention Act of 1990, an act which brought the amount of pollution generated to the attention of mass producers, industries and the public and urged them to look upstream in the manufacturing process to better understand where the raw goods were sourced and be conscious of the amount of waste they generated. 

In essence, a “zero waste” lifestyle gathers environmentally detrimental raw goods of consumerist lifestyles and consolidates them to minimize waste. Oftentimes, followers of the Zero Waste movement opt for  using metal or glass containers to store food rather than disposable plastic containers, eco-friendly hygiene products rather than mass-produced and chemically-engineered goods, and ethically-made textiles rather than fast fashion. Additionally, people who adhere to this lifestyle tend to value the environment over convenience, being selective in their food consumption and its disposal— which usually involves some type of composting or repurposing. 

Although the Zero Waste Movement is inherently environmentally conscious and can be foundational to reducing waste and pollution, its associated aesthetic can be intimidating to the average consumer, leading to an incorrect presumption that not everyone can achieve this “zero waste” lifestyle. However, living waste-free does not have to be a sudden shift in one’s lifestyle, but rather should be embraced as a gradual change. One can start off with small, achievable goals, such as opting for using glass or metal cups rather than disposable ones during meals. From there, one can limit their product intake to goods that use less materials, make packaging reusable or recyclable, or eliminate toxic constituents. It is important that we set forth our efforts to manage our waste as a benefit to the environment and not just another trend presented to us by social media. If we all embrace “zero waste” one small change at a time, we can make true change beyond the movement’s detrimental aesthetic.