First the lovely chain reaction.
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| MJ Wilson at the 2013 Earth Day Award presentation |
MJ Wilson, our presenter,
spoke about her work as the Co-Coordinator of Clearwater Festival’s Zero Waste Initiative. It’s a big, radical idea of asking 15,000 festival attendees and dozens of
vendors to sort their waste into recyclables, compostables and trash. And it
works.
One of the secrets to its success is the dozens of volunteers posted
at the zero waste centers around the park who monitor people at the point of
disposal.
One of these volunteers, Sarah
Womer, was so wowed by MJ’s work at Clearwater Festival that she started her own zero waste
initiative in Beacon, NY, Zero to Go, and she came to Roots & Wings’ Zero
Waste event to meet us.
Check out Sarah’s Zero to Go website and see that she and
her team collected 1225 gallons of compost and 5450 gallons of recycling and
transported nearly all of it . . . by bike. (!)
The gathering storm towards a more radical zero waste lifestyle.
Most of us know not to purchase water in plastic bottles.
And when we host an event, we use service ware that can be washed and used
again. But how many of us attend events that offer one time use service ware?
Deb, another attendee, suggested we gather our thoughts and distribute them as a kind of Zero Waste Manifesto.
1. Bring your own: service ware to gatherings where you’re not sure what kind of situation you’re entering, containers and cups to stores, delis and take-out restaurants.
2. If you see something say something. Find a way to gently offer to bring reusable service ware to a gathering where you suspect it might not be available.
3. What do you have to add? Send it to Deb.
And finally, some thoughts from Lakis Polycarpou,
who with Elisa Zazzera contributed to the discussion at Zero Waste Potluck and
Presentation.
"The problem is the solution" is one of
permaculture’s most used guiding principles. When we dismiss something as
"waste" it becomes a problem that has to be removed, gotten rid of or
eliminated at great expense. We continue recreating the same problems, even if
they are in new (recycled) bottles.
With the right approach, everything we used to think of as
waste becomes a potential resource -- one that is ideally put to higher use
than we found it.
Such a shift requires each of us to stop being passive
consumers and become active and productive citizens-stewards. This has deep
implications for how we gather in groups. Once we individually and collectively
take responsibility for what we use and how we use it, we can no longer go to
an "event" as a mere passive spectator--we are required to engage,
take responsibility and co-create our experience.
Doing so may at first be uncomfortable, but is our
responsibility -- and our birthright.
