Consuming Thoughts: Z

Z is for Zero, a Target for Waste. Robyn Hitchcock: You’re just trash…and you’re a loser. The only people that prosper (short term) from trash are waste removal companies. Eventually, we all lose. Take packaging: companies waste money and resources through packaging, we waste money to buy it and throw it away. Plastic packaging and waste floats languidly in nation-sized gyres in the Atlantic and Pacific. Consider this: Wend magazine reports that the North Pacific gyre is currently twice the size of the continental U.S.

Sooo, as consumers what can we do? Aim for zero waste. Recently, I was told that Dick and Jeanne Roy of the Center for Earth Leadership, here in Portland, put out one can of garbage per year. Waste serves no purpose, adds no value and is a meaningless burden on our communities and our world. We can all make a big impact here.

Two strategies:

1) Simply reduce. Pay attention to what you buy and what is wrapped around it. Buy accordingly. Avoid plastic bags like week old guacamole.

2) Rethink and Redesign. Walk up to that big ‘ol mirror and don’t flinch at what you see. Take a moment to reflect on your consumption patterns and style. Change what is clearly wasteful.

And, repeat. It’s not just trash we’re wasting and it’s not just about you anymore. It’s about us. Our world, our communities, our home.

Tags: Atlantic gyre, Center for Earth Leadership, Dick Roy, Jeanne Roy, Pacific gyre, plastic bags, Robyn Hitchcock, Wend Magazine, zero waste