Blog 2

I really enjoyed looking at Connett’s 10 step plan for no waste.  I think he has a lot of good ideas that could be implemented pretty easily.  What struck me most was when he mentioned making sustainability and no waste a part of the lives of not only people handling the trash, but also our farmer, doctors, teachers, etc.  I think that this is an important part of such plans that is often overlooked.  I think we stress the idea of sustainability for citizens in towns and large corporations, when it is equally important for anyone in any career to understand the importance of zero waste and why they should do it to.  So I decided to do some research about different lines of work that were trying to rid waste from their businesses.  The most interesting one I found was an indoor farm in Japan.  The creator, Shigharu Shimamura uses LED lights and vertical shelves to grow lettuce in an indoor climate controlled space. The farm produces about 10,000 heads of lettuce a day using 40% less power, 80% less food waste, and 99% less water usage than outdoor fields.  There are a lot of advantages of companies such as this.  For example, with the growing climate issue food is becoming harder to grow, this almost completely eliminates such issues.  It also cuts down on water usage and could mean that it would be easier to grow food in areas where water is more sparse.  What the article does not mention is how organic these foods are.  It is unclear whether or not Shimamura is using GMOs to grow lettuce faster and in a different environment.  But for now this looks like a good option to a lot of problems especially since Shimamura anticipates growing lots of other produce.  

I also really enjoyed reading about his three C’s especially because some of these ideas I have stressed before.  For example the importance of children and informing them.  Many of the changes that we need to happen really begin at home.  By making recycling and zero waste the norm for children, it will become something they do all of their lives.  For example, my parents taught me from a young age the importance of saying “please” and “thank you” this is something that has stuck with me my entire life.  If we can teach our children the importance of source separation and living without waste, it will become the norm and they won’t know anything different.  

http://weburbanist.com/2015/01/11/worlds-largest-indoor-farm-is-100-times-more-productive/