Industry Responsibility

Where does waste come from?

In the life-cycle of a plant, it takes energy from the sun, carbon dioxide from the air, and water from the earth. It uses these resources and energy to grow and expels oxygen. When the plant is done living, its parts decompose and are used to feed other plants. The system of a plant is clean and efficient. All that is used is converted, and nothing is wasted.

The life-cycle of humans has become vastly different. For all our ability to organize information and create, we have yet to master the system of our own living process. Hypothetically, humans should have a life-cycle similar to that of a plant. We should eat, gather energy from the sun, convert oxygen into CO2 and then we should decompose and feed other organisms. But in our boundless exploration of our own abilities, we have forgotten to keep our living systems to a responsible level. We are just now beginning to realize the effect of this broken system.

"94 percent of what American industry does is waste. Only 6 percent of what we process winds up as products."

Population has nearly tripled in the last 50 years. To satisfy demand, farmers are plowing eroding fields to try and "scrape up" what they can to survive (1). The growth in population has lead to the genetic altering of crops for a higher yield, which has led to adverse health effects including mutated virus strains to which we have no natural antibodies. (2) All of these problems stem from a cultural system where the amount of waste created is twenty times that of the material used in an actual product.

All of the ants on the entire planet have a bio-mass greater than that of humans, have been around for millions of years, and have created no waste, while since the industrial revolution, 94% of what humans create has been waste. (3)

Lying parallel to this failed and wasteful system is the unhide-able truth that the resources we're using to create all these products and waste are quickly dwindling.

What we failed to realize during the height of our product development and technological advancement was the short amount of time we'd have to use these irreplaceable resources.

Lying parallel to this failed and wasteful system is the unhide-able truth that the resources we're using to create all these products and waste are quickly dwindling. What we failed to realize during the height of our product development and technological advancement was the short amount of time we'd have to use these irreplaceable resources.

We can use the classic game Lemmings as an example. In the game you control mindless workers and move them over, under, and around traps in order to complete the level. One character in the game lays 13 bricks, and then runs out. Without proper action, the lemming puts his arms up in the air, gives up, and plunges to his death. Throughout the industrial revolution and up until this point, we have been playing the roll of a brick-laying lemming - excited to lay the bricks for all of these new, fast paced developments, but not considering (or not wanting to consider) what will happen when our bricks run out.

Time is up. The bricks are running out.

Ok so there's a problem. What do we do about it?

Personal

When the "green movement" first began, recycling was highly promoted. It was on TV commercials, flyers, public service announcements. But the current recycling system is also flawed. When plastics are recycled, they are actually downgraded to a lower quality of plastic. This plastic can then not be used to create the same type of bottle it was originally. The same thing happens with irreplaceable resources. High quality steel, for example, is used in the making of cars. When a car is disposed of, the steel covered in car paint is mashed up along with other metals and wires, creating a lower grade of steel that can never again be used for its original purpose. (This is a non-circular cycle and leads to depletion. Imagine if the human respiratory system worked in this manner. Every time a breath is taken in, the exhale produces a lower grade of CO2. Then a plant "breathes in" the lower grade of CO2 and produces a lower grade of Oxygen, no longer able to be used by humans. This non-circular system would lead to the depletion of oxygen fit for humans and would suffocate all of us. In the same way, the current system of recycling is leading to the depletion of natural resources.


In addition, relying on individuals to recycle their items leads to more work for the recycling company and does not ensure that individuals will actually do it. When given the choice, the majority will still always choose convenience and immediate reward over futuristic thinking - especially when they cannot see immediate consequences or results.

A system must be created wherein the waste associated with a product can remain the same quality and be used for the same purpose. In a book called Natural Capitalism the idea of a Service and Flow Economy is introduced in which all products are the property of the company selling them. When a user buys a pair of shoes, for example, they are actually just buying the use of the shoes. When they are finished, the must send the shoes back to the company, at which point the company will disassemble or repair them to be sold again.

Business

The main responsibility, then, relies on businesses to create a working system at the very roots of the problem - the source of all the waste - where products are made.

1. Changing the roots changes the branches

Imagine a world where consumers had no choice but to use products that created no waste. Where consumers buy their products with the knowledge that they are leasing the items. Where products are created out of resources that are easy to disassemble and return to their original quality.

Imagine a system where product design focuses on simplification, ability to be disassembled, and where the resources used in production are not harmful to users or the environment. Products would be cheaper to make because resources could be reused. The payment by consumers, then, would be for the work involved in production and for the parts of the product that they use up.

Imagine a circular system where the production of cars was systematized in such a manner that they are used for a number of years, and returned to the manufacturer. Perhaps the steal is not painted or molded to other metals in order to preserve its quality. Parts of similar metal types are kept together to ensure ability to re-use.

A circular system where there is no waste, but only resources being used and changed for different applications.

This is what businesses and technologies must strive for.

2. Good for businesses

In addition to creating no waste, this will be good for businesses. Many businesses already understand the nature of the situation. They know their resources are becoming limited and are already feeling the financial burdens that occur when you consume without concern for depletion.

By thinking ahead, understanding which resources will soon no longer be available, and by reusing those resources, businesses can ensure their own sustainability. What good is a tire factory when there is no more rubber to be found? How will a lumber yard sustain itself if there are no trees, and no where to plant more? Businesses need to recognize this inevitability and start to think about alternatives now. This will make them financially stable, and by being one of the first businesses to offer alternatives, they will serve to gain a lot of profit when other less consciences businesses go under.

What's the next step?

Knowledge groups. Sustainability teachers. System creators. Groups of people must be formed with extensive knowledge of efficient business systems, sustainable advancements, new technology and materials, and natural systems. The solution to this problem lies in the hands of Sustainability Consultants who can help businesses along the process of ensuring the sustainability of their company and of the way of life we now know.

These consultants would be constant researchers in new technology. They would bridge the gap between science and industrial implementation. They would serve as facilitators to action. They would be teachers and work with industry professionals to implement a plan of action to ensure positive results.




1. Lester R. Brown, Plan B 2003. page 6
2. William McDonough & Michael Braungart, Cradle to Cradle 2002.
3. Paul H. Ray, Ph.D. and Sherry Ruth Anderson, Ph.D. Cultural Creatives 2000. page 327
4. William McDonough & Michael Braungart, Cradle to Cradle 2000. pages 56-57