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Mon, 15 May 2006

'Zero Waste' and Water Scarcity

From Earth Talk, 5.14.06, E-Magazine

This week's issue of Earth Talk covers two related topics: 'Zero Waste', which goes beyond recycling to reduce waste, and how we can we make it happen here in the U.S.? Plus, how fresh, drinkable water is not the most plentiful thing on earth, but is fast becoming scarce, everywhere.

According to the non-profit GrassRoots Recycling Network "Zero waste maximizes recycling, minimizes waste, reduces consumption and ensures that products are made to be reused, repaired or recycled back into nature or the marketplace." The concept has been successful in Europe and Australia, but has faced industry opposition in the US. GRRN helps coordinate efforts to implement zero waste campaigns, and offers free online resources. Eric Lombardi of EcoCycle, recycler in Boulder, Colorado says, "Waste is the result of bad design."

Here are a few water statistics which may or may not surprise you: According to the World Bank, as many as two billion people lack adequate sanitation facilities to protect them from water-borne disease, while a billion lack access to clean water altogether. According to the United Nations, which has declared 2005-2015 the 'Water for Life' decade, 95 percent of the world's cities still dump raw sewage into their water supplies. Americans just waste it - researchers found a six-fold increase in water use for only a two-fold increase in population size in the United States since 1900.

What can we do? Go put a few bricks in your toilet tank, turn off the lawn sprinkler, give up meat (it takes 2500 gallons of water to raise a steer, a fraction of that to grow an equal amount of vegetable protein), have a sponge bath, get a drink of water (that's still ok - just easy on the plastic bottles) Then read this week's issue of Earth Talk.