We consume an enormous amount of energy to heat our homes, transport ourselves, and manufacture things. We hear a lot about the need to transform our energy systems in order to combat climate change, about how energy and transportation are the two primary contributors — the smokestacks and tailpipes. More than 40% of our climate impact in the United States is due to our stuff and food — how we make, transport, use, and discard them. This is referred to as our consumption emissions. The more stuff we buy and discard, the more energy is required to create new stuff, and the more quickly climate change accelerates.

Zero Waste addresses the entire system of our stuff and has the potential to significantly reduce climate emissions by altering what and how much we buy, the resources used to make it, the lifespan of the product, how much is reused, recycled, or composted, and what we discard. We require additional time to address our long-term energy and transportation challenges. Zero waste strategies can be implemented immediately by leveraging existing technologies and proven programs. Zero Waste can buy us time to develop more sophisticated energy and transportation solutions. By 2030, Zero Waste strategies have the potential to cut GHG emissions by over 400 million metric tons CO2 per year, the equivalent of shutting down more than 20% of coal-fired power plants in the United States. This means that Zero Waste generates more annual GHG savings than nuclear power expansion, significant vehicle efficiency improvements, carbon capture projects, and a variety of other prominent climate strategies.

Zero waste strategies are also cost effective in terms of climate change mitigation. Recycling and composting, according to ICLEI, are two of the most cost-effective measures local governments can take to reduce community GHG emissions. Communities worldwide are prioritizing Zero Waste as a climate action priority. California's landmark climate change policy included a requirement for businesses and apartments to recycle, which will result in a five million metric ton reduction in GHG emissions.

Experts from a variety of fields support Zero Waste as a climate solution. The immediate climate benefits of Zero Waste are largely due to the energy savings associated with recycling. Recycling materials to create new products consumes less energy than manufacturing new products from trees, fossil fuels, or metal ores. This means we consume fewer fossil fuels — such as oil, natural gas, and coal — and emit fewer greenhouse gases. The energy savings occur when the paper, glass, metal, and plastic that you and I recycle are repurposed into new products. Rather than using trees, oil, natural gas, and raw minerals to create new products, manufacturers use our recycled materials and save between 30% and 90% of the energy required to manufacture new products.