Zero Waste Movement For a Sustainable Life

Zero waste movement focused on preventing waste, using resources more efficiently and reducing waste generation is extremely important for a sustainable life

The quality of human life is directly related to its immediate environment. With the developing technologies, we cause the structure of the soil, water, air or fire (incoming and outgoing solar radiation) to change resulting from our activities by ignoring the ecological system. The changing environment directly or indirectly affects the quality of life in a negative way. The increase in meteorological disasters also worries us about the safety and sustainability of life.

The report prepared by more than 100 scientists from 52 countries in August 2019 with the support of the United Nations states that 500 million people live in lands turned into desert. And more than 10 percent of the world’s population is undernourished. With the consumption frenzy, soil and water resources are used in “unprecedented amounts” throughout the world. In fact, about 30 percent of food is wasted. Therefore; the zero waste movement focused on preventing waste, using resources more efficiently and balanced, reducing waste generation and recycling the minimum waste generated by collecting it separately is vital for human life to be quality, safe and sustainable. The importance of zero waste movement for a sustainable life can be evaluated from the global climate change point of view.

The increase in consumption with industrialization has brought global warming and climate change with it. The science world considers climate change as one of the biggest dangers for humanity. In this context, climate change can be evaluated under four headings as: The proof of climate change, what causes it, its effects and solutions. And the causes and solutions of climate change are closely related to zero waste movement.

What is Greenhouse Gas and Carbon Footprint?

The sun rays come to the earth at a short-wavelength and they are emitted from the earth at a long- wavelength. Greenhouse gases in the atmosphere hold some of the outgoing radiation like greenhouse gardens. Increased in the atmosphere as a result of industrialization, greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), diazote monoxide (N2O) and chlorofluorocarbon (CFC)  cause the earth to overheat globally by holding the radiation emitted from the earth more. And the carbon footprint is the unit used to measure the amount of greenhouse gases in terms of carbon dioxide resulting from human activities. Greenhouse gases are usually caused by the electricity generation, heating and transportation sectors. A slice of bread we didn’t eat, an outfit we don’t wear or a paper that we throw away without using have all negative impact on the environment. Buying and using sufficient amounts and making them suitable for re-use if possible, will the biggest environmental movements.

Negative Effects of Consumption Frenzy

Records and findings obtained show that the CO2 level in the atmosphere has been below 300 particle number (ppm) in the last 800 thousand years before the industrialization period. Greenhouse gases have increased due to fossil fuel overuse in the last 140 years, waste of resources and other human activities. While the CO2 values, one of the greenhouse gases in the atmosphere was 291 ppm in 1880, it reached 412 ppm in 2019 increasing by 42 percent. The USA, European Union, India, Russia, and Japan are among the regions releasing the most greenhouse gases to the atmosphere.

Our world is quickly getting warmer day by day resulting from the countries’ desire to earn more and their consumption frenzy after World War II. According to the reports of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), human activities are the main reason for climate change with a 95 percent probability, especially as of the middle of the 20th century.

Developed Countries Cause Climate Change

Globally, meteorological measurements are made continuously over 20 thousand points on land, sea, and air. Furthermore, information about the previous climate is obtained from the waterfronts and the sediments beneath them, from rock layers, glaciers, and tree rings. The data obtained directly or indirectly show that our world is getting warmer globally. Temperature data reveals that the average surface temperature of our world has increased by about 1.1 centigrade degree since the late 19th century. Globally, 20 of the hottest 26 years in the last 140 years have taken place since 2000. Generally caused by developed countries, climate change creates more socio-economic losses for backward and developing countries.

Effects of Climate Change

Resulting from global warming, climate change keeps affecting our lives adversely. Scientific studies carried out in this context also reveal that the frequency and severity of these adverse effects will keep increasing. While we can observe some important climate change effects with measurements, we actually live some of them. This include; increased land and water surface temperatures, increases in hot and cold airwaves, increased forest fires, changes in precipitation, less rainfall in some regions and resulting with drought, increases in the severity and frequency of extreme weather conditions, floods caused by sudden and heavy rains, rapid melting of glaciers at poles, rising sea levels, changes in the geographical distribution of some plant and animal species, the early bloom of plant flowers and changes in bird migration patterns.

Zero Waste As a Solution For Climate Change

We observe that people can act independently from the ecological system with the industrialization. There are several ways to slow down the rapidly increasing climate change and then recover it. Thereby, we need personal lifestyle changes that can help us reduce our carbon footprint. Technologies of today that make our lives easier use more fossil fuels or they are produced using fossil fuels. Reducing fossil fuels, preventing waste and recycling are vital for fighting against climate change. What we can do is to make the buildings and roads more suitable for climate conditions, increase energy efficiency in all areas, use efficiently, consume less, live in places where work and houses are within walking distance, encourage public transport, use a bicycle, make the home-office culture popular, plant at least ten trees when a tree is cut, make renewable energies such as sun, wind, water and geothermal widespread.

ITU Meteorology Engineering Department Assoc. Prof. Dr. Hüseyin Toros