Since these comments have gone beyond what an academic building can do to minimize waste: To make less trash, how about buying less new clothing or upcycling what we have? "Fast fashion waste" (google it) is a pretty big problem too.
This is silly. If you are serious about the environment, find a way to stabilize or reduce the national population. Each nation must do this for itself. It must not allow its population to exceed its carrying capacity. Essential for this is the enforcement of borders.
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this is awsome thank you for helping the earth .
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so much of our waste comes in packaging. how often do you buy a product that is encased in a box within a box with plastic surrounding it. we need to put pressure on companies. Do we really need all that packaging? No, if you go to other countries, they have eliminated it.
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The link to Wirecutter has some good eco friendly suggestions.
But the suggestion for menstruating women is nuts: Go without tampons or sanitary napkins, and instead use a silicone cup? What a cockamamie idea to tell teens and women to just insert it, fill, empty, then wash and store for a few weeks each month.
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it's not so silly. Many of us used to use a cup or sponge in the 1970s. yes, it's a little in convenient but if you are serious about reducing your use, it works.
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they are quite easy to use and maintain, and an excellent way to reduce waste in the landfill
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@Jean Sea sponges work just as well.
Two campanile's worth of paper? That's so twentieth century. Who needs paper these days - everything can be written and read electronically. I rarely print anything anymore.
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@Bill White Just piping up here because some people, including yours truly, need to read from hard-copy because it helps them learn and retain information.
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We also use the reusable produce bags and the wax cloth wraps (Bees Wrap is the most well known brand). They are handy and easy to wash and have cut down our waste (plastic or aluminum foil, and plastic produce bags) significantly. They make great gifts for friends who are looking to reduce waste as well.
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It would be great if the business school did an actual economic analysis of the net benefit or cost of "zero waste" actions. For example, is the time spent scraping food off aluminum foil with it? How about the water and time spent rinsing out yogurt cups and other plastic food containers? After all, zero waste is not a benefit itself, just a way to hopefully reduce other costs.
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@Mondo Man Yes,agreed. It also would be interesting to follow up on that to see if the "time value" prompts additional efforts by people to use reusable items, so they don't have to do all the scraping etc -
Yes we shouls make that analysis, although I wouldn't say that zero waste has no purpose in itself. If we all wasted next to nothing landfill growth would slow down and isn't that a great prospect?