Getting to Zero Waste

As mentioned before, this book really is a page-turner. I had to buy my own copy because I couldn't put it down last year when I borrowed it from a friend to read. Even my fiance picked it up one day and didn't want to put it down. It is a very well written, provocative look at the entire disposal 'circus' that we all contribute to. The title alone may seem impossible, but this book really makes you think about how 'worth it' and easy it could be to diminish our environmental impact when it comes to disposal practices. I would recommend this book to anyone who would be interested in a summary of what really happens with garbage and the impact it creates.

I bought the book over a year ago and realized I didn't want to read it ("zero?" ... seemed too extreme, plus the book's cover is crappy artwork). So as I was about to recycle the book itself, unopened not to say unread!, I opened it and couldn't put it down. Not that it is the kind of page-turner a thriller might be; it instead proved to be serious about ZERO waste (as a goal) and provocative about the culprits in our awfully conflicted mess of "waste disposal" and pseudo-recycling that we all participate in. CULPRITS: EPA and all the "garbage" companies. I now have a whole different take on EPA than I used to. Even in the environment of progressive politics, EPA has proven itself, well, a fraud (my term) and a serious, serious, serious obstruction to TRUE re-use/recycling, especially of supposedly "hazardous" materials (which if un-mixed with other waste, is usually very valuable as stock for further manufacturing - but EPA almost always says "bury or burn"!). Can somebody re-print this book; maybe edited for length a little and with good (professional!) cover art? It is essential reading and deserves the widest audience.

In this book, the author argues that mankind has no other choice but to reuse and recycle everything we get from the Nature. Nothing can be thrown away because a) there is no "away" and b) we can't afford to waste anything, since all resources are limited. The author goes on to describe why all previous attempts to establish recycling as a subsidiary of garbage collection have failed (nothing less than 99% diversion rate can be honestly considered a success). The only way to get close to 100% garbage diversion rate is to design for reuse. As Dr. Paul Connett put it: If industry has no way to reuse/recycle something, the product/material may not be manufactured in the first place. Consider paying for product recycling at the time of a purchase. Dr. Palmer explains that we must strive to reuse the function, not the material of a product -- collecting glass bottles and crushing them makes little sense, bottles' function to contain liquids must be preserved and reused instead! Also, the role of US EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) and the current state of the US recycling-related legislation are explained. Numerous examples are given of usable and valuable chemicals being burned or dug underground only because legislation discourages their genuine reuse/recycling. This is a very good book to get a sense of what the current state of recycling is and where we must strive to get it. I highly recommend reading this book and I hope you'll agree with me after you read it.

Getting To Zero Waste, a semi-technical, political book, is astoundingly, a real page-turner. It replaced Faulkner at my bedside, and was the substance of much pillow talk with my wife who recently told me, "Now I'll have to read it because I've talked about it so much." I've found myself speaking about it with the many visitors we have had since I started it, often folks from out-of-town or foreign countries who are interested in what's going on in the US, and who, staying with us, need to know the drill on "recycling" -- a word that now has earned permanent air quotes. What's so terrific about it is the clarity of the writing, the passion of the voice, the personal, non-academic experiences reported, and the completely enveloping sense that we have been snookered, here, just where we thought we were being responsible! Marc Estrin

The concept discussed by this book has been recently featured The Necessary Revolution: How Individuals And Organizations Are Working Together to Create a Sustainable World, and I therefore anticipate a flood of books on this topic, but hopefully helping each specific industry get to its own understanding. Other books I recommend include: Pandora's Poison: Chlorine, Health, and a New Environmental Strategy High Tech Trash: Digital Devices, Hidden Toxics, and Human Health The Blue Death: Disease, Disaster, and the Water We Drink Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things Green to Gold: How Smart Companies Use Environmental Strategy to Innovate, Create Value, and Build Competitive Advantage Green Chemistry and the Ten Commandments of Sustainability, 2nd ed Natural Capitalism: Creating the Next Industrial Revolution High Noon 20 Global Problems, 20 Years to Solve Them The Future of Life