The world is in a dilemma. This dilemma is the result of industrialization, and more recently, globalization. The industrial age coincided with the emergence of fossil fuels as the main source of energy for industrial uses.
The use of fossil fuels, coupled with the massive environmental destruction led to the current situation that the world finds itself. The earth is experiencing global warming, which is threatening the existence of many species, and human life, as we know it.
Carbon dioxide is the main greenhouse gas responsible for global warming, among other gases. This gas occurs naturally from respiration and combustion. However, the burning of fossil fuels, while cutting down trees destroys the capacity of the earth to keep the carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere within sustainable levels.
This illustration explains the problem of waste management in the world today. The manufacturing models used during the industrial age failed to take into account waste management. The same philosophy drives human consumption today. Human beings produce a lot of waste in the process of utilizing resources.
The aim of this paper is to examine issues surrounding a zero waste lifestyle as a means of eliminating waste from all life processes.
A zero waste lifestyle is one in which no waste results from the utilization of resources in the process of meeting personal needs.
As the name suggests, a zero waste lifestyle is about the taking of initiative to eliminate waste by individuals, cohesive family units, or coordinated communities with the ability to enforce the requirements of the lifestyle. The inspiration behind zero waste lifestyles comes from nature.
Natural systems, such as plant and animal ecosystems as well as physiological processes display a high level of efficiency in the management of resources. The outputs of one process are the inputs of another process, thereby creating a continuous natural cycle in the consumption of resources.
Proponents of the zero waste lifestyle believe that with some forethought, human beings can also attain this state of coexistence with natural resources. As such, people can make a commitment to use resources in sustainable ways at a personal level.
The zero waste lifestyle should dictate the choices that an individual makes regarding how they access and use products. For instance, someone committed to zero waste will use re-useable bags when they go shopping rather than the standard plastic packaging offered in many supermarkets and grocery shops.
Advantages of a Zero Waste Lifestyle
The most important advantage of a zero waste lifestyle is that it gives individuals the opportunity to participate in efforts to reverse environmental degradation. The second advantage of a zero waste lifestyle is that it can lower the living costs of a particular individual, family or community.
For instance, choosing goods with smaller packaging reduces the overall cost of buying the packaging because packaging can add a significant cost the price of an item. The third advantage of a zero waste lifestyle is that it demonstrates the direction the entire world needs to take to achieve environmental sustainability.
Finally, living a zero waste lifestyle generates personal satisfaction from the knowledge that the individual’s activities do not harm the environment.
Disadvantages of a Zero Waste Lifestyle
Three disadvantages associated with a zero waste lifestyle are as follows. First, the impact an individual or small community makes towards reversing environmental degradation by living a zero waste life is very small to have a significant effect on the overall destruction of the global environment.
Secondly, some people may experience a reduction in their quality of life if they adopt a zero waste lifestyle. Some of the things that make life in modern societies comfortable come at the price of waste generation.
Thirdly, personal commitment to a zero waste lifestyle can be very frustrating if there is no support from the family, or other people. Lifestyle is what defines social class, hence adopting a waste free lifestyle may make one a social misfit, or a social outcast because of the self-imposed restrictions.
Status of the Zero Waste Lifestyle
The uptake of zero waste lifestyles is somewhat slow because of the weak legislative and social environment that surrounds the management of waste. The zero waste lifestyle is unconventional. This means that the people likely to take it up are those who can appreciate its benefits based on some higher ideal.
The ideal here is conservation of the planet for the benefit of the future generations. In addition, they may have a desire to live healthier lifestyles because zero waste lifestyles force practitioners to focus in the important aspects of their lives.
The need to keep off junk makes them feel strongly drawn towards healthier lifestyles. For instance, a person may choose to use a bicycle rather than a car, hence deriving the physical benefits associated with riding bicycles.
Based on the observations above, the main socioeconomic groups likely to adopt a zero waste lifestyle are those exposed, and committed to environmental conservation, and to healthier living. They prefer homemade products such as homemade jam, to commercial jams that come with food additives and preservatives.
In addition, they should have a degree of financial incentive from participating in a zero waste lifestyle. Politically, the likely practitioners are idealist thinkers. People in these groups are those in the middle class. A majority of the people practicing the zero waste lifestyle come from this socioeconomic group.
Anti-consumerism and a Zero Waste Lifestyle
One of the marks of industrial development in the world is a growth in consumer culture. As more members of the society become financially stable, their purchasing power goes up. Consumerism can lead to the purchasing of goods and services that have very little utility.
Some shoppers use shopping as a therapeutic activity leading to wastage of resources in the society. If a zero waste lifestyle represents a life of forethought before making purchases, then consumerism represents a lifestyle where the impact of one’s consumption activities is a distant afterthought.
Consumerism occurs because of the pressure to fit in, chasing after fads and fashion, and because of thoughtless purchases. The amount of wastage that comes from consumerism income countries is very high.
For instance, in the UK, the amount of food discarded is about one third of the total food bought. This can only be the result of a consumer culture.
Promotion of a zero waste lifestyle is the only sustainable way out of the consumer culture most developed countries adopted after achieving high levels of economic growth. Developing countries and upcoming communities need to be encouraged to take up zero waste living to reverse the adverse effect of consumerism.
Compact Act of San Francisco
San Francisco passed legislation that requires the separation of waste at source. All the people living in San Francisco are legally bound by the San Francisco Mandatory Recycling and Composting Ordinance to separate waste into three categories.
Waste is divided into items for recycling, biodegradable materials and those that need to be disposed in landfills. This act is an example of a legislative effort to create a jurisdiction with a zero waste lifestyle. The main elements of the programs created under this act come from the three R’s of waste management.
The three R’s stand for recycling, reusing, and reducing waste, with each R representing the activity needed to deal with various types of waste.
Attitudes towards a Zero Waste Lifestyle
People hold various attitudes towards the zero waste lifestyle. The proportions of people with these attitudes are in a state of flux.
First, there are people who are skeptical about the concept of a zero waste lifestyle. These people feel that zero waste is an idealistic approach to life because of the inevitability of producing waste in the course of living.
The number of people in this category will reduce in line with the increasing concern regarding environmental degradation.
The second major attitude that most people show towards a zero waste lifestyle is ignorance. On paper, many people think that a zero waste lifestyle is a great idea. However, they lack the knowledge and the will to convert this conviction to practical realities in their lives.
The third set of attitudes displayed by a growing minority is one of optimism and faith in the power of zero waste living to change the course of the planet.
An increasing number of people from all over the world are taking certain steps towards environmental conservation at the personal level, based on the principles of a zero waste lifestyle.
These people take the damage humanity causes to natural resources seriously and they choose to take personal responsibility for these actions.
Viability of a Zero Waste Lifestyle
The viability of a zero waste lifestyle is high for committed individuals either in the high or lower socioeconomic status. Individuals have a high capacity to act in very specific ways in the free world. Therefore, at the individual level, more people will join the movement towards zero waste lifestyles.
However, the viability of a zero waste lifestyle is low for large middle class communities if there is no intervention by municipal authorities. This is simply the result of the dilution of the progress made by people committed to a zero waste lifestyle by people living wastefully.
The effort of several families living a zero waste life can disappear simply because of one family that lives wastefully. This means that without intervention, only a certain fraction of the community will pursue zero waste lifestyles based on their convictions.
Similarly, the viability of zero waste living is higher in cities and areas where local authorities use their power to promote zero waste lifestyles. From a socioeconomic standpoint, the chances of living a zero waste lifestyle are much higher for people in the middle class that for the rich.
References
Colin, B. (2012). My Speech At Green Party National Convention. No Impact Man. Web.
Coon, D., & Mitterer, J. O. (2008). Introduction to Psychology: Gateways to Mind and Behavior. New York: Cengage Learning.
Cooper, E. (2010). The Alternative Kitchen Garden: An A-Z. Hampshire: Permanent Publications.
Dhir, R., Newlands, M. D., & Dyer, T. D. (2003). Sustainable Waste Management. Reston, VA: Thomas Telford.
Frankenberg, C., Meirink, J. F., van Weele, M., Platt, U., & Wagner, T. (2005). Assessing Methane Emissions from Global Space-Borne Observations. Science , 1010-1014.
Harris, F. (2004). Global Environmental Issues. Chichester: John Wiley & Sons.
Holmes, D. (2005). Communication Theory: Media, Technology, and Society. London, UK: SAGE.
Khan, M. M., Prior, D., & Islam, M. R. (2008). Zero-Waste Living with Inherently Sustainable Technologies. In Z. Ayati, M. R. Islam, & J. Biazar, Perspctives on Sustainable Technology (pp. 314-323). New York, NY: Nova Publishers.
Larkley, J. E., & Maynhard, V. B. (2008). Innovation in Technology. New York, NY: Nova Publishers.
Lean, G. (2006). Disappearing World: Global Warming Claims Tropical Island. Web.
Zatzman, G., & Islam, R. (2007). Economics of Intangibles. New York, NY: Nova Publishers.
Zero Waste Home. (2012). Simple Jam Making. Web.