The Zero Waste Solution

Untrashing the Planet One Community at a Time Paul Connett

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$24.95 Paperback 6 x 9 400 pages ISBN 9781603584890 Pub Date: October 9, 2013

Waste is something we make every day, but we rarely give it much thought. That is changing, though, as emerging programs around the globe show many ways in which a community can achieve zero waste status. In fact, taking on the lowly world of waste may be the most important step a community can take on the path to sustainability. Most towns and cities recycle or reuse only a small portion of their waste stream, and burn or bury the rest. But burning waste creates public health hazards and exacerbates climate change. And burying waste simply plows valuable resources underground, rather than using it (instead of raw materials) to create new products. Communities that adopt zero waste programs not only avoid these pitfalls, but also create far more jobs than those that dont, as businesses that collect, sort, refurbish, or sell discarded items flourish. In The Zero Waste Solution, author and scientist-turned-activist Paul Connett profiles the most successful zero waste initiatives around the world, showing activists, planners, and entrepreneurs how to re-envision their communitys waste-handling process by: Consuming less; Turning organic waste into compost; Recycling and reusing other discarded materials and products; Demanding nonwasteful product design; and, Bringing community members together in the process. Connett is a leading international figure in the decades-long battles to fight pollution and has championed efforts to curtail overconsumption and keep industrial toxins out of our air, drinking water, and bodies. This book also includes contributions from zero waste leaders around the world. In addition to showing how zero waste status can be achieved, Connett exposes the greenwashing behind renewed efforts to promote waste incinerators as safe, nontoxic energy suppliers. The book offers detailed information on how communities can battle incinerators that emit dangerous particles into the atmosphere and leave behind a toxic ash that nobody wants. The Zero Waste Solution is an important toolkit for anyone interested in creating sustainable communities, generating secure local jobs, and keeping toxic alternatives at bay.
Dr. Paul Connett, author of The Case Against Fluoride, is the director of the Fluoride Action Network (FAN) and the executive director of its parent body, the American Environmental Health Studies Project (AEHSP). He has spoken and given more than 2,000 presentations in forty-nine states and sixty countries on the issue of waste management. He holds a bachelors degree from the University of Cambridge and a PhD in chemistry from Dartmouth College and is a retired professor of environmental chemistry and toxicology at St. Lawrence University. He lives in Binghamton, New York.

Achieving zero waste is not going to be easy, but like sustainability it is a moral imperative unless we wish to see the complete demise of any semblance of a lifestyle over and beyond the barbaric.Paul Connett, from the Preface

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