What Is Zero Waste?

Zero waste means reducing what we trash in landfills and incinerators to zero. Cities around the world are showing that we can move towards zero waste by investing in the jobs, infrastructure and local strategies needed to put an end to our wasteful and inefficient use of resources.

Most things can and should be safely and economically recycled or reused, and the future of our planet demands that we also use less, and redesign our products so that they are toxic-free and built to last.

The zero waste movement is rooted in communities, and gives us the tools to fight warming where we live. Cities like San Francisco, Buenos Aires, Canberra, Oakland and Kovalam have already passed zero waste resolutions and are implementing innovative plans to reduce waste disposal levels to zero by a given year.

They are building state-of-art recycling and composting parks, implementing innovative collections systems, creating well-paying green-collar jobs, reducing consumption, and requiring that products be made in ways that are safe for people and the planet. These cities are proving that our natural resources don’t have to be trashed, that our air, soil and water doesn’t have to be polluted, and that we are not powerless in the face of global warming.

For zero waste to grow globally and achieve critical greenhouse gas emission reductions, cities and college campuses must follow the lead of the visionary activists already working to make zero waste a reality, and grow the movement from the ground up.