Waste Reduction Programs with Results

Interesting. Did "WE" the people of Canada create this National "Zero Waste" Council? Or did the regional government of Metro Vancouver, with the help of a lot of entrenched insiders and with a lot of Canadian taxpayer's dollars, create this top down "Zero Waste" group?

It is interesting to note that the National Zero Waste Council includes no members of Zero Waste Canada, though we have tried to become involved with this "organization" but have been rebuffed.

So Bonnie Boyce, can you please tell us if the National "Zero Waste" Council is strongly against the proliferation of garbage incinerators, as all authentic Zero Wasters are, from around the globe? And as we have tried to get this National "Zero Waste" Council to sign onto the internationally recognized Zero Waste Hierarchy, to date they have refused.

And in Canada, no level of government is trying harder to stick Canadians, especially in British Columbia, with their full speed ahead garbage incinerator agenda, disguised as Zero Waste, than Metro Vancouver Regional Government.

It is truly sad to see this form of garbage incinerator flim flaming here in Canada, trying to high-jack the Zero Waste brand, using taxpayer's monies! So let us be clear here, the version of Zero Waste being promoted by some in Canada, includes garbage incinerators! Just ask the head of Metro Vancouver's "Zero Waste" Committee?

http://www.rcbc.ca/files/u7/con2014_brodie.pdf

http://bit.ly/1N5XIXs

And if you are seriously looking for existing functioning programs that practices 'Waste Reduction" on a daily basis, may I direct you to our local community Resource Recovery Center, using the principles of authentic Zero Waste and not one penny of taxpayer's money, to create. This is our Social Enterprise experiment we created a dozen years ago and was part of our presentation at the Zero Waste Hong Kong conference last week. https://www.dropbox.com/s/vkqp3fjlp39icgp/ZW%20Hong%20Kong.mp4?dl=0

I urge everyone who reads this to thread to know that in Canada, when it comes to Zero Waste, not everything is as it seems!!! And knowing how to spell Zero Waste is not a qualifier to operate a Zero Waste organization, especially using taxpayer's money!

Buddy Boyd
Zero Waste Canada
www.zerowastecanada.ca


Buddy Boyd
Director
Zero Waste Canada
Canada

MaryEllen, reuse and upcycling, re-purposing and repair have all but been abandoned as more and more items, products and packaging, go into Stewardship/EPR (Extended Producer Responsibility) programs. Some in Stewardship now are involved in the fake Zero Waste, in Canada, that is being promoted. And the international Zero Waste community addressed this very thing not all that long ago http://tinyurl.com/Bogus-Zero-Waste

If we are to foster and create true Zero Waste in Canada, that focuses more on sustainability and better design, not disposal/recycling, we as a nation can lead the world in sustainable Zero Waste Community Action Planning.

Connie Boyce, I would like to direct you to an organization in Berkeley California, Urban Ore, that has for several decades practiced not only waste reduction, but also have been leaders in the reuse and salvage sector and as well are great mentors on how authentic Zero Waste actually works. http://urbanore.com/

Please feel free to contact us at Zero Waste Canada, as we have access to many such initiatives from around the globe.

Buddy Boyd
Zero Waste Canada
www.zerowastecanada.ca

Buddy Boyd
Director
Zero Waste Canada
Canada
www.zerowastecanada.ca

I am writing this comment to second the opinion posted from Zero Waste Canada - an affiliate of the Zero Waste International Alliance which is the thought leader worldwide on matters regarding this important topic. It is our experience that the only organisations that stay true to REAL ZERO WASTE and by that I mean REALLY NO WASTE AT ALL -as an objective are ones that recognise that this mission is one that can only be achieved by honesty and public re-education. You - yes you Connie, not as the Director of Community Relations but as a private individual actually own the materials that can be recovered if you - yep, you again, do the right thing. IE you don't create waste because you put that item, that can, that paper, that plastic that food scrap into a receptacle that keeps it separate from all other materials so that it can be collected, bulked maybe, and sold into a market for re-use, and further reuse and further reuse --creating a circular flow of valuable materials as their utility is maintained time and again by clever, careful people. Incineration or other forms or resource destruction or crafty loophole-seeking to avoid waste creation do not enter the conversation in the world od REAL Zero Waste. Its an individual --yep you again Connie - and community effort backed up by sensible processes that follow to ensure that no value leaks too far way from you in your community -no generous donations to giant waste collection and treatment juggernauts or incinerator slick-oil salesmen whose one and absolutely only objective is to vacuum up profits from this unnecessary operation well away from the people - yep you again Connie - who made it all possible in the first place by ZEROING WASTE AT BIRTH. There are huge community gains to be made by doing the right thing here in every aspect - more and better jobs, better for the environment, better for climate change, carbon sequestration and soils enhancement issue -all top ten issues of this stressful period of time. Zero Waste needs to be fully inclusive and frankly government is not good at inclusivity because ordinary people don't trust government -they're not stupid and they watch as time and time again government turns out to be in bed with a sponsor with a fat wallet - nearly all politicians worldwide get into power on a sponsored ticket. Well for lots of issues the ordinary citizen is powerless - but not in recycling - because every individual makes it happen or gets in the way of it happening -they have a commercial discard vote. That changes the game.

We will get to Zero Waste because we have to - waste was a big mistake and we should have been much more careful in designing our systems long ago - but its a mistake everyone wants to correct. No-one likes waste.

In Europe its been outlawed in legislation effectively, hence great strides in developing recycling programmes but even here the waste industry is fighting like the desperate dinosaur it is lashing its well heeled PR operation left and right trying to sign authorities up (and succeeding I may add) to long term, very expensive hi-tech contracts that exclude communities from gaining the real benefit of all their sensible effort for yet another generation.

In my opinion - and that of many zero wasters- that is nothing short of a crime against humanity in our current climate change circumstance. Whilst true zero wasters want to sequester carbon, create healthy soils, reuse every thing, minimise - nay eliminate - waste the waste industry and their willing government mates are burning instead of burying and resisting every %age advance in resource recovery tooth and nail as they urinate around their territory in a ridiculous and ill-advised death ritual. We should - you should - have no truck with any of that and instead play the responsible public sector role of setting the context for creating real wealth for the community that you work for - maximise the social, environmental and economic returns.

I urge you to talk with and -more importantly - listen to those in your community in Canada that have a community-experience track record in doing the right thing.

From what I read Canada has sufficient problems keeping the pernicious oil and gas industry out of the country without also embracing the profiteering buccaneers of the snake oil salesmen in their compactor trucks and incinerator operations.

Canada led the recycling revolution when they introduced the blue box collection systems in Guelph and Mississauga in the 1980's - they rightly established that a careful collection system was the foundation of the new resource-recovery industry. They were right then and remain right now - and the basis of that success was good community re-education from the grass roots up.

Buddy Boyd runs the organisation Zero Waste Canada out of Gibson's recycling in Vancouver - it will save a lot of grief and pay dividends if you talk with him.

best regards

Mal Williams

Mal Williams
Executive Director
Zero Waste Wales Ltd
United Kingdom

First I would suggest partnering with the Zero Waste International Affiliate (ZWIA) affiliate there in Canada (Zero Waste Canada) as the organization has many community-based zero waste case studies you can refer to.

Second, in terms of waste reduction messaging (and I would hope you would add reuse to this as well), I would refer to the industry backed definition of zero waste: Zero Waste is a goal that is ethical, economical, efficient and visionary, to guide people in changing their lifestyles and practices to emulate sustainable natural cycles, where all discarded materials are designed to become resources for others to use. Zero Waste means designing and managing products and processes to systematically avoid and eliminate the volume and toxicity of waste and materials, conserve and recover all resources, and not burn or bury them. Implementing Zero Waste will eliminate all discharges to land, water or air that are a threat to planetary, human, animal or plant health.

Source: http://zwia.org/standards/zw-definition/



MaryEllen Etienne
CEO
Reuse Institute
United States

Hello. Firstly thanks for launching National Zero Waste Council. Its a great step to growing e-waste recycling industry and saves our earth. I also check http://www.nzwc.ca website, and I found it is only for CA? Am I right? I am very curious to aware the peoples to e-waste recycling. But I want to know is the whole process is for CA only or other countries also?

Nornam Stokes
United States
http://electronicrecyclers.com