Zero waste is a way of using resources that are intended to reduce what we send to landfills eventually down to nothing. This is accomplished by recycling and composting refuse instead of disposing of it in a landfill whenever possible. Along with recycling and composting, zero waste relies on source reduction to bring the total waste generated down to zero.

Cities and municipalities are beginning to implement policies to reduce their output of waste and eventually move to eliminating waste altogether. New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio announced that the city would start to decrease the amount of waste going to the landfill by 90% by 2025 and challenged businesses in New York to follow suit. So far, New York companies have cut approximately 60% of their waste production.

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Other Sources

“Zero Waste?” Zero Waste Europe. https://www.zerowasteeurope.eu/about/principles-zw-europe/. Accessed May 12, 2016.

Ax, Joseph. “New York businesses to cut trash by half in ‘Zero Waste’ plan.” May 2, 2016. http://www.reuters.com/article/us-new-york-waste-idUSKCN0XT1FP. May 12, 2016.

GAIA. “What is Zero Waste?” Zero Waste World. http://zerowasteworld.org/zero-waste-faq/. Accessed May 12, 2016.