Waste As Resource

“Waste” is a very powerful thing. Most of us just don’t know it or, have forgotten it. It can be used to nourish our soil creating biodiversity and food security. It can also be used to create energy, which pretty much helps with everything in our modern world. Waste water (grey water) can also help alleviate some avenues of water usage, in turn creating clean water security as well. Even industrial waste can be used and reused if properly managed, all at a very low cost if any at all! As Dr. Culhane mentions throughout this course, waste doesn’t really exist because it is actually a resource. In the book Cradle to Cradle authors McDonough and Braungart explain that “cultures went into conflict with other cultures for resources…”. Shifting the paradigm to seeing waste as a resource, or multiple types of resources can also foster peace between communities and nations.

I enjoyed the part of Dr. Culhane’s lecture when he explains the ways that managing waste has been a part of cultures for centuries. Getting back to my roots is something that really inspires me to make lifestyle changes because it makes me feel closer to my ancestors and their balanced way of life. It helps me access the nexus way of thinking that is innate but has been forgotten through “civilization”, colonization, and subpar primary educational systems currently in place that squash creativity and resourcefulness. When I decided to change to a plant-based diet, it was learning about how my indigenous ancestors ate that really reinforced my decision and helped me find balance. They did eat meat but the Muisca people were predominantly vegetarian. More specifically their main sources of food were: potatoes, beans, yuca, tomatoes, calabazas, peppers, maize (the holy crop) and numerous fruits. When they did eat meat, it was mainly fish from rivers and lakes of the area as well small game like guinea pig, and capybara which are native to South America. My point is that learning from the past, from your own and other historic civilizations can motivate us to implement the same or similar nexus thinking solutions to our modern-day problems, including waste.

To be honest at the moment I don’t do much about waste in my own home. However, there are some things I have tried over the years and do off and on. I have tried composting in my apartment many times over the years and feel like I just now have the hang of it. In the past, I have had issues with smell and pests, forcing me to make changes. The current system I have is not the best but it is the easiest to manage. I used a large plastic planter (container) that I already had as my bin. It already had drainage holes at the bottom but if yours doesn’t you can easily drill just a few 2 or 3 small ones so pests can’t get in. I placed it on a drainage tray so that I can catch the compost tea and use for plants. Inside the container I made a layer of rocks and branches at the bottom to create a bit more space for drainage and air to circulate. Then I added a layer of soil mixed with already made compost. Some of the soil I added was from the courtyard in my complex that has

very rich soil full of millipedes. I decided to add those instead of purchasing earthworms because there are so many where I live and free! The rest of the container is left with space for all of my food scraps (other than dairy and meat). To keep the smell and pests away I always add equal parts organic matter (nitrogen) to dry “browns” (carbon). The “browns” I use are brown paper bags from grocery shopping, egg cartons, or just dry leaves I forage from the same courtyard. To top it off I clip on a piece of netting that I found as a lid to keep pests away but still let oxygen in. I don’t know if this would work for everyone but I’m happy to say this is currently working for me in my environment very well. Whenever I have too many scraps to fit in this bin, I simply refrigerate or freeze them until my compost pile breaks down and creates space. I plan to incorporate another one or two containers to my system so I always have somewhere to put my scraps and also allow one bin at a time to fully compost without adding more matter to decompose at the top.

Once I live somewhere that has a yard, garage or just not an apartment complex with silly rules, I would love to implement a biodigester as my home waste management system. From the readings and videos in this module it seems like a very simple, yet nexus approach to turning waste into resource. I actually think the management is easier than that of traditional composting. The fact that it doesn’t require oxygen or sunlight makes it quite accessible to have anywhere without the possibility of odor seeping into your living space. Also, the bacteria in the biodigester breakdown the organic material in 24 hours instead of 30 days, meaning no more piling up food scraps in the freezer! Additionally, you can add dairy, meat and even manure of any sort meaning literally ALL of your organic waste is accounted for instead of going to landfills. Last but not least you get two amazing resources from it (instead of one in a traditional compost). You not only get liquid fertilizer for your garden but also an energy source (biogas) to power your home or at the very least an appliance (like your stove) for free! Though it seems too god to be true, many have proved that it’s not including Dr. Culhane’s NGO, Solar CITIES. This nexus technology not only improves our odds of existence on Earth, but also our quality of life as well as that of underserved communities all over the world. The biodigester is truly a win, win, win! It is interesting that a biodigester which is a biological metabolism can be made with reused industrial materials from the technical metabolism. Both very important for a cradle to cradle future of resources.

It would be nice to implement a biodisgester in the space I live now or perhaps my community/building itself could implement one on a larger scale servicing its residents and beautiful green property/land it sits on. But as Dr.Culhane mentioned in the lecture, “getting there is a psychological, marketing, socio-political process…” and “…must include the proper social and political preparations even when a technology is undeniably simple, effective, and inexpensive.” Unfortunately, knowing many apartment management companies I have lived in, none of them would invest in something like this right now. It would take proper education and paradigm shift as well as policy and incentives for these corporations to consider implementing this type of technology into the communities they manage. Because the only form of capital they value is financial, it would be crucial to explain how a biodigester could actually cut energy bills, waste management bills, fertilizing bills and more. Though they may not care about other forms of capital it would still be important to mention how a biodigester also provides a return on investment through intellectual, social, material, living, cultural and experiential capital. All very important things to create a thriving community.