As Peeter Eek mentioned in his opening address at the forum, achieving zero waste depends largely on how we define ‘waste’ itself. There’s always something left over that’s not needed in a specific process; as such, there’s always waste. So what can we do with it? Here’s where things start to get complicated. Should things made from waste or that have been recycled be subject to exactly the same environmental, safety and quality norms as brand new items? We’re used to a lot of norms that make our lives safer and more comfortable and that we don’t really want to tamper with. But at the same time, materials wear out, reprocessing can generate new waste and so on. Recycling and repurposing often leads to added bureaucracy in product development, too – new requirements, standards, supervision et al. are needed. Of course, a lot of key issues can be sorted out off your own bat, as Kristi Zolgo so engagingly described in showcasing what the Reuse Chamber has been getting up to. You need to want and be able to notice things if you want to breathe new life into something that’s no longer being used; you need to involve and educate people as you do so, getting them thinking along the same lines until you form a like-minded community. That’s how old pots turn into... well, why not lamp shades?
We can waste less by extending the useful life of items and optimising how we live our lives. Annika Kruuse from Malmö gave a number of examples of urban planning and civic initiatives that allow you to create an environment that gives you more while producing less of a burden. The Swedish city is actively seeking to introduce more nature to the city so that people don’t have to get out of town to enjoy the environment, and vice versa – so that the city itself copes better with climate change. For instance, green roofs help reduce the burden on sewers during heavy rainfall, functioning as thermal regulators at the same time. Well-planned green and blue zones in urban space have the same effect.
Opportunities for sustainable development in the sharing society: be the change you want to see
Here we come to an exciting meeting point between the ideals of reducing the burden on the environment or sustainable development and the sharing society. We’ve grown more and more used to offloading accountability onto various levels of administrative apparatus, delegating responsibility for our food, health, education, environmental protection and so many other facets of our lives to local and national agencies. But now we’re seeing that a growing number of people want to take that responsibility back: to start calling the shots themselves and to be answerable not only for what goes on in their own neighbourhood, but further afield as well. The so-called sustainable economic models devised by agencies are starting to be implemented as part of civic initiatives. As such, officials and experts are conceding that the right things are being done under the aegis of the green, circular and bioeconomies, but in their own way and within a framework for which norms have not yet been established. This is generating (at least for now) quite a bit of confusion as to who’s responsible for what. Kaidi Tamm had put together something of a handbook on the options and obstacles in cooperation between local authorities and local communities in creating a zero-waste sharing society. What are people’s expectations and concerns, on both sides, that could affect the way they work together? Tamm gave examples of why the “Let’s Do It!” clean-up campaign fell so flat in Germany. Riinu Lepp’s presentation clearly showed that the people who have come together to form the Small Footprint eco-community have decided to start ‘living the change’ they want to see happening in the world. Such a change to the way we live our lives requires a great deal of courage, but produces the quickest results – or at least satisfaction with the immediate impact of what we do.
Ciaran Mundy represented the city of Bristol in the UK, which forms part of the Transition Network. Bristol has undertaken a project which undoubtedly belongs in the ‘Be the change you want to see’ category and which at first appears kind of crazy – it’s launched its own currency. The point of the project is to keep the wealth generated from economic activities involving its own money in Bristol itself, not to wire it direct to the accounts of major corporations scattered all around the world. Around a million Bristolian pounds sterling have gone into circulation in the last three or so years, and the city’s plans don’t stop there: the mayor has proudly declared that he’s withdrawing his salary in the local currency, and more and more companies are allowing customers to pay in it.
Finally, we should also mention that standard solutions are no longer enough and that there’s no squeezing the sharing society (or rather responsible society) genie back into the lamp. At the same time, with the complicated way we live our lives people still need help finding their way when it comes to the quality, safety and durability of products and services and the environmental and other effects they have. One solution would be localising economic activities and establishing bioregions. Here both responsibility and value chains are transparent and the impact that actions have can immediately be seen in the surrounding area, leading to a reduced need for complex administrative apparatus and standardisation. Somehow we also need to cut through the contradiction in rhetoric at the government level, where on the one hand we’re encouraged to save, reduce, preserve, reuse and repurpose, while on the other we’re urged to replace, upgrade and consume smartly. After all, there’s no getting round the imperative of economic growth...
Until next time,
Madis Tilga
On behalf of the Rohevik team
Take a look at the speeches on our Youtube channel.
Take a look at the photo gallery of Rohevik 2016: