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Photo by Tom Fisk: https://www.pexels.com/photo/bird-s-eye-view-of-landfill-317434
The consumption-heavy growth-at-all cost model that humans
have been following for a few centuries now has made matters come to a head
with the planet drowning in its own waste. We have defiled the very air we
breathe and the water we need for sustenance. Land has been contaminated with
poison in the shape of pesticides and disfigured and utterly damaged by mining,
construction and the cutting of forests. This has resulted in what we know as
the global climate crisis with its attendant problems in the shape of more
frequent flooding, heat waves of increasing intensity, unprecedentedly large
forest fires and the outbreak of disease and as we recently witnessed, a global
pandemic.
One of the major problems associated with environmental
degradation and pollution is the appallingly high level of waste generated on
account of the way we mass-produce and consume goods, regardless of whether we
need them or not. This might make economic growth figures look good, but the
mountains of waste which we are unable to dispose of in an environmentally
friendly manner that result on account of this, take our planet inexorably
towards its doom.
For instance, electricity, which is the engine of the modern
way of life, is generated largely by burning fossil fuels or by building
environmentally damaging dams that help produce hydro power. Nuclear energy,
for its part, comes with the risk of radioactive contamination. In fact, most
modern industrial and business activity adds to the problem of waste creation
not just on Earth but in space as well, which is increasingly getting clogged
with innumerable communication satellites.
There is waste everywhere-in our seas and oceans, deserts
and mountains, as well as our cities, towns, villages and islands. We are
literally drowning in waste, but are not aware of it, as it hasn’t reached over
our heads yet, at least figuratively. This situation, as one might imagine, is
simply not tenable, and we need to do something about it right away. Something
like living the zero-waste life. Quite radical, you would say-but is zero-
waste living even possible?
The Zero Waste Living Approach
Zero waste living may not be something which is practically
possible, as the very process of living creates waste in some form of the
other, but the zero-waste living approach is something that can help the human
race save themselves and the planet they live in from impending ruination. As a
matter of fact, the zero-waste approach has become a worldwide movement that
has helped more and more people understand what is at stake in this epic battle
against waste that threatens the future of all life on earth. They have come to
understand that they can adopt a zero-waste centred lifestyle by making mindful
and intentional choices that help substantially reduce, if not eliminate, waste
from most, if not all, aspects of life.
Here’s how you can approach a zero-waste approach to your
life and help save your world as part of a global movement geared towards
getting rid of most waste.
Learn to say no
The bane of modern living is that we have far more than we
need. Instead of having to hunt for food or forage for it on the forest floor
as our ancestors did, we just need to walk to the refrigerator and choose from
a bewildering assortment of packaged food that is terrible for our health. Say
no to that and try to source fresh food that you can yourself proceed to cook-
far healthier and produces less waste too. Say no, also, to the
abomination that is quick or fast fashion and take to wearing durable clothing
that lasts for a long time. There are so many other things you can say no to.
Like not driving in your car to your place of work and using public transport
or riding a cycle instead. If you make a list of things you could say no to,
you will discover that it is a very long one indeed.
Consume less
We could all consume a lot less than we do and reduce the
awful burden we place on our planet by way of the extraction of scarce
resources. It is not for nothing that gluttony and lust were counted amongst
the deadliest of sins. Our forebears were on to something elemental about
ensuring human survival, which we have clearly lost sight of, given that people
in positions of power and authority who should know better go on and on about
increasing growth, never mind if that is a one way ticket to oblivion.
We consume too much food, buy more clothes than we need,
travel more than we need to and consume way more energy than we need to. This
amounts to living on debt and imagining that the bill will never come. Not only
are the bills coming in thick and fast, but they are coming with heavy interest
and penalties.
Reuse
The use and throw culture which is supposed to deliver
convenience, but is really serving the needs of rapacious business houses
threatens to thoroughly make the environment increasingly unconducive to all
forms of life including our own. One of the best ways to fight this is by
taking to reusing everything from clothes and electronic gadgets to water
bottles and utensils. One should mend, stitch, darn and repair whatever we can
and use it for the longest time. It’s heartening in this regard that Gen
Z finds shopping at thrift stores both fashionable and economical. That is the
way to go, and the older folks would do well to take a leaf from their book.
Recycle
Recycling products that have outlived their utility is one
of the best ways of tackling the problems of dealing with the gargantuan
amounts of waste generated by human activity. Doing so has two benefits- that
of dealing with waste in an environment-friendly manner and contributing to the
economy by using waste as raw material for all-new products. Examples of
recycling waste are numerous. These range from using waste water from homes for
watering plants, refashioning plastic straws as footwear, storing spices,
buttons, coins and nails in glass containers instead of plastic ones,
composting kitchen waste and using it as fertilizer for plants, and using
refill jars and bottles for shampoos, detergents and hand wash. Similarly,
donating old clothes or repurposing them as bags and repairing old gadgets
instead of outright replacing them is something that you can incorporate into
your way of life.
Choosing the sustainable lifestyle
The zero waste approach to life is basically following a
sustainable lifestyle. This is in stark contrast to the ultra-consumerist
approach to life that has been heralded as normal over the centuries leading up
to the planetary level disaster that stares us all in the face. Nature has its
own cycle of growth, decay and renewal, and we are meant to adhere to its
timeline. If we don’t, we ultimately risk our own annihilation, for as surely
as the sun rises every day, nature will destroy us and replace us with
something else. So, if we don’t want to go the way of the dinosaurs, we need to
realign and reimagine the way we live, and zero-waste living is the way to do
that.
