Perspectives Article
Anthropocene Convergences: A Report from the Field
Sideris addresses the challenge of achieving interdisciplinary dialogue to tackle the notion of humans as a geophysical force.
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Perspectives Article
The Crisis of Environmental Narrative in the Anthropocene
DeB. Richter addresses the problem with declensionist narratives of the environment, proposing the Georgic narrative as a valuable alternative.
Perspectives Article
Whose Anthropocene? A Response
Chakrabarty responds to the contributors of this volume by addressing five issues he considers fundamental to discussions on climate change.
Perspectives Article
The Politics of Nature in the Anthropocene
McAfee examines the changing roles of scientists and politicians in the decision-making processes that affect the environment.
Perspectives
A Future without Waste? Zero Waste in Theory and Practice
Is a world without waste truly achievable? The essays in this volume of RCC Perspectives discuss zero waste as a vision, as a historical concept, and as an international practice. Going beyond the motto of “reduce, reuse, recycle,” they reflect on the feasibility of creating closed material cycles and explore real-world examples of challenges and successes on the way to zero waste.
Perspectives Article
Learning to Celebrate Our Human Footprint
Society’s approach to environmental protection has so far relied on certain prevailing, but perhaps specious, beliefs—that we cannot impact the environment positively, or that environmental protection is incompatible with economic growth. Braungart explores how, rather than making ineffective changes to an already broken system, it would be more beneficial to rethink that system entirely.
Perspectives Article
Upcycling in History: Is the Past a Prologue to a Zero-Waste Future? The Case of Aluminum
The history of aluminum not only illustrates how upcycling has helped producers increase profitability since the 1950s by turning low value materials into high value products; it also shows how the transformation processes involved in a circular system of reuse can challenge its environmental sustainability.
Perspectives Article
Waste Utopias: Lessons from Socialist Europe for the Twenty-First Century
This essay examines practices in socialist Hungary in the 1950s that can be considered a historical antecedent to contemporary zero-waste programs. The experiences and challenges of implementing waste collection and reuse programs can offer lessons for us today.
Perspectives Article
An Impossible Ideal: The Use and Misuse of Zero Waste
Though a desirable environmental prospect, many wonder if zero waste is a realistic goal or merely a pipe dream. Starting from an analysis of the laws of thermodynamics, this article argues that it is an impossible ideal; however, along with the principles of the circular economy and reform of modern economic systems, the idea of zero waste can provide valuable insights into how we can establish a future ecological civilization.
Perspectives Article
Why Wait for the Future? There Could Be a Present without Waste
Taking on the big players in media technology, whose business choices are dictating the changes and transitions in our society and environment, Köpnick questions the economics and ethics behind mobile phone production. He envisions a situation where company strategies are turned around to reduce waste and wastage, and thereby begin to benefit the environment, consumer and company alike.