Living in Peace and Wisdom on our Planet

It's one of the latest, and ultimate, environmental concepts. Reduction goals can change again and again, but there's nothing below zero (unless you consider the growing trend of companies and products being carbon-negative or climate-positive – but let's get to zero first).

Large corporations like Wal-Mart and AAMCO have declared ambitious zero waste goals, so it should be possible for an office to get there, too, right? It depends on what you're looking at.

There are enough products, technologies, processes and organizations in place to make it possible, in a sense, to have a zero waste office (which for our purposes means no waste and zero greenhouse gas emissions). Zero waste in the purest sense just isn't possible yet, but by utilizing what is available, an office can get pretty close.

"At this time zero waste is more of a journey than something that can be achieved," said Larry Chalfan of the Zero Waste Alliance, a non-profit consortium of educational, government, business and other groups. "Too much of the things we need simply aren't ready for us to truly be zero waste. That said, a lot can be done, and many organizations make the goal 'zero waste to landfill' and then further define it to mean over 90 percent of waste being diverted into reuse or recycling."

Before taking up a zero waste program, an office should conduct an audit of what it's using and tossing out. Initially, abide by the first word of the "reduce, reuse, recycle" mantra. Cut down on the things you're using instead of switching wholesale to eco-friendly alternatives. Encourage employees to print less and you're saving paper, energy, ink, toner and time. The money saved through reductions could help offset the added costs of some green products or fund other green initiatives. You'll also need someone dedicated to the goal, or a zero-waste committee, to oversee the project – figuring out where recyclables and compostables will go, researching renewable energy projects and other tasks.

Where you can't use less, use smarter. Recycled paper. Refillable pens, pencils and ink cartridges. Reusable, biodegradable or compostable plates, cups and utensils. CFL bulbs. Rechargeable batteries. Solar-powered calculators. There has been a boom in eco-friendly products across all industries, and there's no shortage of products with at least some green aspect. The major office supply chains are adding green products to their catalogs, and at the other end, eco-friendly office supply stores are selling conventional products, too.

Taking up all these measures can help an office get as close to zero waste as possible. As stated before, there just aren't enough products and processes in place to ensure every item lives in its own closed loop and will for sure be recycled or reused. And any purely zero waste office would include restrictions that could be unpalatable to some employees. Bringing your own lunch? Better make sure it doesn't include any packaging that will have to be thrown away or else you'll need to take your trash home with you.

Despite the inability to have absolute zero waste, things are better than they were a few years ago. More stores are stocking green products, recycling efforts are spreading, renewable energy and carbon reduction projects are available all over the world, more groups and consumers are pushing companies to make greener products and there is a growing awareness across all industries of the need for everyone to reduce their impact on the earth, whether at home or the office.