Question:

Serial replacement has become invisible; somehow, we don’t notice the extinction of the TV repairman. In two generations, we’ve shifted from refillable glass bottles to single-use packaging. Shelf appeal has improved, but we’re left with the “un-useful” remains. Our city has reduced tonnes of waste entering the landfill with recycling and composting options.

If we envisioned a future of zero-waste, what’s left to be done?

Panelists:

Adam Corneil is a Vancouver based entrepreneur with a background in passive house construction and wood reclamation. In 2018, his passion for sustainability led him to launch unbuilders. Providing an alternative solution to traditional demolition companies, unbuilders helps salvage re-usable and recyclable materials and diverts unnecessary waste from demolition.

Sharon Howland has worked with various municipal governments operating waste management programs and facilities. She currently leads the program management for waste and recycling at the City of Calgary, focusing her efforts on the important role that municipalities can play in developing strategic waste management plans and programming based on the waste hierarchy.

Lourdes Juan is a Calgary based entrepreneur dedicated to making a positive difference. She is the founder of Leftovers Foundation, a charity that ensures that nutritious food is diverted from the landfills of Calgary and Edmonton. Fresh Routes is about food security, a mobile food market that brings healthy/affordable foods to underserved neighbourhoods in Calgary.

Sumer Singh operates MTHARU, a creative practice at the intersection of design, engineering, architecture, and fabrication. Since 2013, the studio has grown into a materials and process research lab at the forefront of digital design and fabrication. The body of work is driven by narratives with the current focus on post-digital techniques of production.

Moderated by: Jennifer Koole, an environmental scientist advancing waste diversion and minimization locally and internationally. Her work in the waste industry includes experience as a zero-waste planner of Masdar City, UAE. She currently leads the solid waste team for Rocky View County and serves on the executive board of the Recycling Council of Alberta

Discussion:

The single-use container was developed in the 1930s. Glass and steel had became precious materials during WWII, so the single-use container didn’t really take off until the 1950s. In 1958, 98 percent of sodas were consumed in refillable bottles. By 1972, refillable soda bottles had dropped to 39 percent of consumption. (1)

The profits were significant; every time a drink was consumed, the empty package was thrown away. For every reusable bottle, anywhere from twenty to forty single-use containers were bought and permanently trashed. And since shoppers were willing to pay for the added price of the bottle along with the contents, manufacturers could introduce a new form of almost hidden consumption. (2)

Between 1959 and 1972, the per capita increase of soft drinks and beer consumed increased 33 percent while the per capita containers consumed increased 221 percent. (3) This research reveals how the market has helped to shape our waste. The non-returnable bottle offered a gigantic branding opportunity—imagine all the packaging designers we’ve employed finding new bottle shapes and label designs. It’s been a good run, but what have we done?

The discussion explored ways to mitigate risk: from entrepreneurs starting organizations that disrupt the industries of our food system, out building and construction industry, and our industrial design process. If designers are recognizing the value proposition in closed-loop design, can designing out waste be good for business?(4)

It was recognized that our City has made incredible inroads to diverting waste, but there’s more to do. The endgame is: what can designers, entrepreneurs and public bodies do to become a zero-waste city?

Rogers, Heather, 2007. “No Deposit, No -Return”, Trash, 118.
ibid.
Fenner, Thomas W. and Gloria, Randee J., “Local Beverage Container Laws: A Legal and Tactical Analysis.”
Fairs, Marcus, 2019. “Embracing the circular economy is ‘good for business’ says Adidas innovation leader.” link here.
Rogers, Heather, 2019. Green Gone Wrong, link here.

Event Support:

This evening was made possible with the support of the Alberta Foundation for the Arts, our favourite library, the Calgary Public Library, and our media partner CJSW 90.9fm.

If you’d like to continue the conversation with us, join us on a tour of a landfill on September 27th. Sign up here.