ZWATeam members….

• Eliminate waste and manage resources through the incorporation of the environmental principles of rethink, refuse, reduce, reuse and recycle in daily business practices using teamwork and information exchange as their guide.
  
• Educate the IC&I Sector and community organizations through information exchange and assistance in setting up 3Rs programs in workplaces, schools and at special events.
  
• Promote local environmental initiatives that help eliminate waste and support a healthier environment, maximize employment opportunities and provide for the greatest degree of local economic self-reliance.

Nature Is Our Model

• Nature does not waste.
• A waste to one species is food or a resource to another.
• Everything is connected.
• We may not get rid of all landfills as we know them today, but we should not design our economy to be dependent on them. 

The goal of "Zero Waste" is to eliminate 100% of the waste presently being generated. It is a process that unites environmental, community and economic sustainability, promotes local employment and improves a community's health and quality of life. This is achieved through resource protection, conservation and recovery, materials efficiencies, minimizing pollution, recycling and the elimination of  waste.  Zero Waste moves responsibility for the waste stream to the product designers, manufacturers, advertisers and consumers. It focuses on renewable resources and paying up front for the environmental and social costs. These costs occur all along the waste stream, not just when products are disposed of in landfill.

Emphasis is placed on the repair, resale and reuse of durable products designed for recyclability when they outlive their usefulness.  There are several declared  "Zero Waste" or "Sustainable Cities" in Canada, United States, Europe, Australia and New Zealand.  (For more info go to "What is Zero Waste")