The Approach Towards a Zero-Waste New York City
In the village of Kamikatsu, Japan, a meticulous and detailed recycling guide was created for proper and adequate waste disposal. The guide classifies over 40 different types of waste. On the farms of Vergenoegd, South Africa, farmers employ ducks as a natural and chemical-free pesticide. Throughout Chinese history, human excrement has been used in a multitude of ways, namely as a fertilizer for agricultural processes. In space, bioregenerative waste systems were created by NASA in order to manage waste aboard space stations. The establishment of these solutions to what is arguably the biggest issue on the planet is key in understanding how New York City can begin envisioning a zero-waste city. Notorious for its trash, New York City is far from a zero-waste city, but we argue that through the adoption of methods similar to those mentioned previously, New York City would begin seeing the change it crucially needs. Currently, waste management in the city has not been “microed” enough. That is to say that in order to bring about substantial change to the city and its waste, solutions have to be created for smaller sections of neighborhoods. By understanding how neighborhoods should be better saturated by the systems used in other zero-waste towns, New York City could finally grasp and execute the zero-waste ideal as opposed to just having it as an ambition. Thus, by using the examples as microcosms of the city’s individual bits, zero-waste is feasible and attainable in New York City.
