By Melissa Reynolds

We all create waste, there's no denying it. And it probably seems really hard not to. Whether it's excess packaging from something we've bought, old junk that can't be given away or just plain day-to-day garbage - we all have things that can fill a trash can. But do we really need to? While it may seem as though there are no alternatives, despite the bit we recycle and compost, there just may be. The Zero Waste movement comes with the goal of eliminating waste as a concept completely from the beginning of the product until its use is no longer. With consumerism accounting for approximately 42% of US greenhouse gases, zero waste is an idea at the right time. But how can something as no waste be achieved? There are several key elements that are taken into account in this whole approach.

• Manufacturers would become more accountable for what they put out by producing products that have less packaging and can be easily reused as a whole or in parts when they have outlived their usefulness.
• Production systems would become more cyclical, so that all pieces of the process come full circle, instead of to the landfill.
• Nothing with a second use should be discarded, and should not exist in the first place.
• It means looking at the entire production and consumption cycle of a product to see where waste can be trimmed or eliminated entirely.
• Products would reflect a "true cost," (Extended Producer Responsibility) that includes the cost of its environmental degradation and health impacts of the resource extraction, manufacturing, production, transportation and disposal, into the purchase price. Thus, the environmental friendly version of the product becomes the one of choice.
• Further investment in recycling and composting as opposed to new landfills as well as higher costs for trash dumping can divert waste.
• Making the public aware of what the costs to themselves and the environment are as a result of growing waste.

There are currently several organizations with the goal of getting big businesses to adopt the zero waste view as well. Eco Cycle (www.ecocycle.org), Zero Waste Alliance (www.zerowaste.org) and Grassroots Recycling Network (www.grrn.org) are just a few.

If industries were to adopt a zero waste plan, they may see the benefits in monetary form. Taking care of waste is money spent in transportation and dumping costs.

While recycling centers and compost heaps do help, Resource Recovery Parks can help pick up the slack. Manufacturing and retail businesses share space as well as waste facilities. Therefore, waste from one business can be a resource for another.

The path to zero waste can be walked with even a few simple everyday life changes. Buying in bulk will reduce unnecessary packaging, composting and recycling instead of tossing in the garbage bin, bringing your own shopping bags and even looking for other uses for what could become waste are just a few ways.

If looking for a little inspiration of what some waste management changes can do, take a look at these top five trash-free locations, as taken from www.alternet.org.

Berkeley, CA

In Berkeley, the birthplace of curbside recycling, the Berkeley Ecology Center's fleet of recycling trucks runs completely on biodiesel, and Urban Ore, a local for-profit "total recycling" center, rehabs and resells items that people would otherwise pay to send to the landfill.

Boulder, CO/Santa Monica, CA

You won't find trashcans at some weekly farmers' markets in these towns. Santa Monica's Main Street (Sundays only) and Boulder's Zero Waste farmers' markets offer patrons a choice between composting and recycling their waste -- an ultimatum that prompted vendors to offer compostable to-go materials and patrons to bring their own canvas bags.

Seattle, WA

The Wasteless in Seattle program includes bold new measures to reduce waste -- such as mandatory recycling with fines for violations -- and the Take-it-Back Network, which sent 600 tons of computer monitors and other components back to retail stores in 2004.

New Zealand

In 1999, the New Zealand government launched the Zero Waste New Zealand Trust, an initiative that offered $25,000 (NZ) funding to councils that adopted a Zero Waste resolution. Since then, 48 of 74 (66 percent) of all local councils have made the switch.

Germany

In response to a 1991 German packaging law requiring suppliers to take back and recycle up to 70 percent of their packaging, the Green Dot program was created, in which consumers deposit Green Dot-certified packaging refuse in specially designated bins. It then gets picked up and recycled -- all paid for by the manufacturers.