I have tinkered a bit with the following statement, some of which
could be used as a mission statement.... Suggestions?
GRASSROOTS RECYCLING NETWORK LAUNCHES
ZERO WASTE BY 2010 CAMPAIGN
Draft statement for discussion by Bill Sheehan 7/4/96
The Grassroots Recycling Network is a network of recycling activists,
business people, environmentalists, waste facility opponents and other
conservatives who believe that our waste-based economy is radically out
of balance with the requirements of a sustainable future.
We have formed out of a common desire to advocate and implement
policies for a sustainable materials economy, and out of a sense that
industries that promote and profit from wasting have grown powerful
and deceptive.
We aim to tap into the incredibly widespread and durable view that
conserving resources is the right thing to do, and the bedrock
conservatism that says "waste not, want not."
Our vision for a sustainable future is ZERO WASTE. Increasingly
discussed in industry circles, zero waste is also an appropriate goal for
the rest of society.
ZERO WASTE conserves natural resources, saves wilderness, and
creates jobs.
ZERO WASTE requires ending welfare for wasting and investing in
reduction, reuse and recycling instead.
ZERO WASTE requires that manufactures design products for
recycling and price them to reflect full environmental costs;
ZERO WASTE means phasing out landfills and incinerators.
We will expose the hype of those who have a vested interest in
WASTING: (burying or burning used resources):
? Wasting competes with reuse, recycling and composting for the
same materials;
? Wasting is not decreasing in most parts of the U.S. (despite
apparent increases in recycling);
? Wasting currently depends on huge subsidies for extraction or
harvesting of raw materials, for manufacturing, for transportation,
and for landfilling or incineration;
? Wasting in incinerators destroys materials and recovers far less
energy than recycling saves;
? Wasting in new (dry tomb) landfills transfers most environmental
liabilities to future generations;
Reuse, recycling and composting can provide better disposal service for
our discards, at far lower cost than wasting -- if they can compete on a
level playing field. Waste prevention can eliminate the need for many
wasting services altogether.
The ZERO WASTE BY 2010 CAMPAIGN needs your participation to end
the Age of Waste.
For more information, contact the Grassroots Recycling Network at ....