I have long questioned why waste reduction is so challenging in the United States, and I have concluded the answer comes down to infrastructure and attitude.
I witnessed the rollout of SDSU’s Office Composting Program (OCP) in the Student Union and the Arts and Letters building, and was excited to see the university establishing compost collection. Additionally, I have seen UCLA’s zero waste goals in action, particularly in the Dining Commons at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center. Though these are dazzling commitments with positive impacts, implementation is insufficient and impacts fall short of potential.
I also experienced recycling in Taiwan, an island that boasts one of the highest recycling performances in the world. While in Taiwan, I saw first hand what is possible if a country commits to implementing sustainable infrastructure.
I quickly threw together a bare presentation overviewing my thoughts on the “zero waste” efforts I have been seeing over the past few years. I hope the presentation below is judged on its content, not design, as I made it more to cohesively outline my thoughts rather than present beautifully.
As I outlined in my presentation, we need to redesign our systems and infrastructure to create the most substantial change. Decreasing consumer consumption to reduce waste is an effort that, despite what you might think, can not be spearheaded by consumers alone. Formalized organizations such as property management companies, food companies, nonprofits, community groups, and event producers need to collectively redesign. This redesign should come after an awareness campaign that incentivizes compliance with zero waste goals.
Regina Henderson 