The cyclical qualities of natural systems are brilliant. Like a masterpiece symphony, each element and organism plays a unique role. The waste of one species is the food for another. A seemingly dead tree becomes an owl's home, mushroom fertilizer, and termite food. The same materials rotate taking on new forms and roles.

Human activities, however, often don't follow such cycles–waste is embedded in many processes. Most power plants are less than 40% efficient, as energy is wasted away in the form of heat. Many U.S. cities have waste diversion rates below 40%, thus valuable natural resources are not fully utilized.

Technology advancement, population growth, climate change, and higher standards of living are making zero waste achievements not just a vision, but also a necessity.

"We are both forced and inspired to live in more sustainable ways, where waste is much less an issue and much part of a natural ecosystem," said Nicholas Eisenberger, managing partner of the sustainability strategy firm, Green Order.

Defining Zero Waste
Zero waste occurs when a given process has no output that isn't used. Garbage to one is food for another. Although many think of zero waste as encompassing only solid waste, it can also include water, energy, and air pollution. A forest is a prime example of zero waste, where nutrients and water cycle over and over.

"Nature is really innovative in how it functions and how it designs its systems," said Hanh Pham, creator of Pretty Dirty, an art performance that uses trash. "It is a naturally evolving process that is intelligent."

Like nature, the zero waste vision also requires human actions to constantly evolve and improve. "Even if we're recycling something, how do we reuse it?" asks Harry Lamberton, vice president of Manufacturing & Industrial Segment for Waste Management. "If we are reusing something, how do we reduce what is being generated? A lot of our efforts involve finding the better economic and environmental option for that waste stream."

Such a complex concept does not present a one-size-fits-all solution. It requires numerous approaches, paradigm shifts and strategies to evolve towards the vision of zero waste.

Some of these include:

Constant Improvement and Review
By its very nature, zero waste is a vision and not a destination. Like the forest floor, it is constantly shifting and in a state of fluctuation.

"Zero waste is not a definitive state," explains Lamberton. "I'll contrast it with zero landfill. I'm not a big fan of the zero-landfill goal because it is a pretty concrete, definable end state. We've seen organizations that have established zero landfill goals and they will move materials to a waste-to-energy facility, but it may be more expensive from a cost perspective and more harmful to the environment from a lifecycle standpoint. The facility however is ultimately able to check that box and say, 'We're zero landfill.'"

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In the Photo: Hanh Pham wears a base dress and the trash decorates the fabric. Photographer: Patty Mason