Sustainable Development and the Future of Waste Management. Richard R Jurin, PhD University of Northern Colorado

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1 Sustainable Development and the Future of Waste Management Richard R Jurin, PhD University of Northern Colorado Richard.jurin@unco.edu

2 I m m often asked: Will we ever become a Sustainable Society? I always answer: Without a doubt Richard Jurin It s s not about David versus Goliath, its about helping Goliath to think differently and support a new way of doing!

3 Sustainability is NOT a half-life life of voluntary poverty and penance for our environmental sins! We can t t ALL be environmental saints, and we don t t need to be. Our major problem is a Pathology of Thinking Badly Being less bad is still BAD!

4 A New Path Extraordinary Challenges but Lots of Hope 1. All ecological problems and destruction are of our own making. 2. All our current problems can be resolved with current technology. 3. All the solutions we need have already been implemented somewhere on the planet. 4. We just need to think differently.

5 No problem can be solved from the same level of consciousness that created it. Albert Einstein

6 If we know where the problem lies, why isn t t the solution completely obvious?

7 Sustainable Development UN definition: Development that meets the needs of the present without sacrificing the ability of future generations to meet theirs

8 A fork in the Road a choice to make

9 We fancy that industry supports us, forgetting what supports industry. Leopold-178

10 Linkages All are connected and cannot exist apart

11 The Natural Step Triple Bottom Line ETHICS Neo-Classical Economics Ecological Economics

12 Misconceived ideas from neoclassical economics Growth (More) is good and essential. We act as if Resources are infinite or substitutable. Long-term effects are discounted. Costs and benefits are internal ignore externalities.

13 Neoclassical Economics

14 Ecological Economics

15 Get the Economic Markets to tell the Ecological Truth U.S. gasoline now $3.50+/gal in 2008 cost only includes Pumping Shipping Refining Delivery to service stations.

16 Get the Economic Markets to tell the Ecological Truth Does NOT include tax-payers $9-10 worth of infrastructure tax subsidies depletion allowance extraction costs production & development costs protective military costs, health costs environmental costs (e.g. GCC, etc ) $13+/gal for a real cost of $13+/gal

17 Nonmarket values Use value Option value Aesthetic value Scientific value Cultural value Educational value Existence value

18 Transactional Transformational

19 Organizational Types These can be focused on the concepts of Involvement with Community Interdependent independent and Inclusion of Environmental Quality Interdependent independent

20 Transformational Contributive Contingent Exploitive

21 Typology Matrix Identifying the green businesses from the dirty browns Interdependent Environmental Quality Independent Transformational (Ecological Economics) Contributive Contigent (Neo-classical Economics) Exploitive Interdependent Community Involvement Independent Interdependent Businesses show Corporate Social Responsibility

22 So where is the balance? We have to understand the difference between the Standard of Living (SOL) and the Modern Quality of Life (QOL)

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24 Materialism and Wealth A Focus on material values unmet needs/lack HYPERINDIVIDUALISM decreased investment in relationships and community decreased empathy and generosity objectification, conflict and alienation Focus on Hedonism and praise instead of Interdependence or intrinsic motivation Focus on status not overall WELL-BEING

25 MASLOWS HIERARCHY Life Purpose Respect Relationships Security Biological Needs

26 MASLOWS HIERARCHY Life Purpose Respect Relationships Security Biological Needs

27 WEALTH The Root of the word Wealth means WELL-BEING A A good Quality of Life NOT Stuff or Money that merely promotes a standard of living BUT, this new concept of wealth has to defined by the currently Wealthy

28 Sustainability = Better Quality of Life and true wealth Increased Happiness The things that really count for happiness: Physical Comfort Good health Good interpersonal Good nutrition relations Satisfying jobs Interesting cultural activities

29 Productivity Boosts from Various Activities Productivity Boost Tracking your time Better To-Do lists Structured Calendar WOW!! Prioritizing your tasks Being Happy at Work Memo to Staff: Flogging will increase until morale improves!

30 BUT don t t we have EXPERTS who make all the decisions for us for our own benefit? If THEY make the decisions then I don t t have to worry about MY decisions right?

31 Dr. Julian Simon, Economics and Business Administration Professor at University of Illinois and University of Maryland, and senior fellow at the Cato Institute, said, In regard to Copper, we will never run out of copper because it can be made from other metals. SCIENCE, Vol 208, p1431, June 27, 1980 and even if the sun were not as vast as it is, there may be suns elsewhere. THE ULTIMATE RESOURCE, Princeton University Press, 1981, p.49

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33 The greatest shortcoming of the human race is our inability to understand the Exponential Function. Albert Bartlett

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36 Let s visit the EXPONENTIAL FUNCTION Doubling time = 70 (100Ln2) % growth rate (gr) Therefore 1% gr 70/1 = 70 years 5% gr 70/5 = 14 years. 7% gr 70/7 = 10 years 10% gr 70/10 = 7 years

37 Let s assume a constant growth rate of say 3.5% which gives a doubling time of just 20 years for an essential non-renewable and finite natural resource X

38 20 This is the amount of resource used after the first 20 years from when it was discovered and the full screen is the finite amount of resource X

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43 So what happens in the next 20 years? 100

44 120 We have reached the half-way point of OIL use (Peak Oil) so how much time is left of oil at current growth?

45 and our RATE of usage is now INCREASING? Developing Countries are coming on board

46 Commenting on a scientific analysis done by petroleum geologists of oil peaking in 2010, one expert said, This analysis is a piece of foolishness the world will never run out of oil, not in 10,000 years. M.A. Aldelman,, Economics Professor at M.I.T., in FORTUNE, Nov 22, 1999, p.194

47 Is resource sharing really a problem? LDCs MDCs Current Population Current planetary Resource use If just India and China also get our U.S. lifestyle Or in reality terms

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50 Let s s review where the problem really lies and the solutions to resolve it

51 There are two spiritual dangers in not owning a farm. One is the danger of supposing that breakfast comes from the grocery, and the other that heat comes from the furnace. Leopold-6

52 Facts do not cease to exist because we ignore them Aldous Huxley

53 Error 1: Irrelevance Trap Environmental protection seen as irrelevant to most peoples lives Elitist & Special interest Only for the Yoga and Granola crowd It s s someone else s s problem Environmental Sainthood is NOT Required to Create the Solution

54 Error 2: Vision and Values Trap It is not shown how crucial ecological protection: Is to our everyday lives Is important to our social and economic well-being

55 Error 3: Symptoms Approach We have several approach problems: We focus on the Symptoms - Solutions Band Aids We take an issue-by by-issue approach We fail to recognize the connections We largely ignore root causes and the system

56 Error 3: Symptoms Approach We ve enjoyed successes? laws & regulations Traditional environmental protection is end-of of-pipe where symptomatic thinking is failed thinking We keep focusing on solving the problems after they have occurred rather than preventing the problems in the first place

57 One day, with the money made by industry, we ll be able to clean up the environment.

58 Real Thinking - SUSTAINABILITY Everything is connected Everything has to go somewhere There are "no free lunches" Every action has a consequence

59 It all begins in the HEARTS and MINDS of the PEOPLE. A return to the Pursuit of happiness and a desirable Quality of Life for all Relationships Not commodities

60 Solving Social Problems Sustainably 4th Quadrant (Van Jones) 1 Rich 3 Brown- Grey problems Green Solutions 2 Poor 4

61 Coming of Age Green Citizenship See the effects of the invisible strings of subsidies and taxes on our daily lives

62 Coming of Age Green Citizenship See the effects of the invisible strings of subsidies and taxes on our daily lives

63 Coming of Age Green Citizenship Make politicians accountable for our daily lives Growth isn t bad but it should mean BETTER not more

64 Coming of Age Green Citizenship Empathy move from Build Empathy move from destructive individualism to regenerative community

65 A New Politics Green Citizenship Need to create dialogue on issues that really matter Don t t let economists drive the debate It s s about QOL not $ How have speed, privacy, and personal connections changed the way we live? Keep money flowing Locally Focus on Community

66 A New Path Far from being an impediment to progress, Sustainable Development and Mindful Thinking and Attention to Relationships is a precondition for our long-term success

67 A New Path So How will this affect the Waste Management and Recycling Business? Well for a start, we ll have to rename what you do Industrial Nutrient Management and Life-Cycle Design

68 Sustainable Development McDonough & Braungart: Development that Eliminates the concept of Waste Industrial Ecology Green Chemistry & Green Engineering

69 Out of the Hundreds of Environmental Problems, which ones do we tackle first? the ROOT PROBLEMS? and which ones are the most able to give us a better set of solutions?

70 Water Pollution Nutrient pollution Sediment pollution Toxic pollution Groundwater pollution Infectious agents Thermal pollution Food Security Starvation Malnutrition Obesity GMO s Air Pollution Acid deposition Global Climate Change Urban air pollution Ozone Depletion Root Causes Physical Over-Population Over-Consumption Fossil-Fuel Dependence Psychological Inefficiency Linearity Frontier-Mentality Depletion of Minerals Poverty & Health Depletion of Oil Hazardous & Solid Waste Pesticide- Herbicide Contamination Destruction of Farmland & Rangeland Species Extinction & Ecosystem Collapse Depletion of Water Groundwater overuse Contaminated non-portable water Adapted from Dan Chiras, 1992, Lessons in Sustainability

71 NON-Sustainable development: The problems of linearity

72 NON-Sustainable development: The problems of linearity

73 Food chains and webs The cycle of life shows interconnectedness

74 Food web for an eastern deciduous forest

75 Industrial Food web

76 Industrial Food web A new start will be Green Chemistry and a new Bio-Engineering FEEDSTOCK industrial food for other processes

77 Sustainability Assessing Materials

78 Sustainability Sustainable solutions found by mimicking nature s s time- tested patterns and strategies the R&D is already done for us

79 Sustainability - Biomimicry

80 Sustainability - Biomimicry

81 Sustainability - Biomimicry

82 Sustainability - Biomimicry

83 Sustainability

84 Achieving Sustainability and Regenerative Community is about making CHOICES You make those kinds choices all the time It s s About Working Together for the Common Good as Citizens for Well-Being with Empathy to be Happy as Mindful Consumers as Mindful Producers Be the change you want to create Ghandi

85 Come to the edge. We can t, we re afraid. Come to the edge. We can t, we ll fall. Come to the edge. And they came. He pushed them and they flew. Guillaume Apollinaire

86 Let s all create clean, reliable, affordable energy, a clean healthy environment, and a secure and prosperous future Thank you for doing your part

87 Comments? QUESTIONS? Thoughts?

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89 New Urbanism New urbanism seeks to design neighborhoods on a walkable scale, with homes, businesses, schools, and other amenities all close together for convenience.

90 Old Successful Urbanism

91 New Urbanism

92 Different levels of basic comfort but all on same ship

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105 Come to the edge. We can t, we re afraid. Come to the edge. We can t, we ll fall. Come to the edge. And they came. He pushed them and they flew. Guillaume Apollinaire

106 Let s all create clean, reliable, affordable energy, a clean healthy environment, and a secure and prosperous future Thank you for doing your part

107 Comments? QUESTIONS? Thoughts?