10Reduce—Getting to Net ZeroEmissions and Releases

This chapter is about voluntary commitments—going beyond government regulations—to making continuous improvement in reducing your total environmental footprint. Many companies and organizations are even making the commitment to reduce their emissions to air, releases to water, and solid waste to zero. It seems impossible to do and even more so to do it cost-effectively, yet all it takes is a voluntary commitment. The following examples show how it is done.

Net-zero-waste pioneer Gunter Pauli was CEO of Ecover, a small company that makes cleaning products (laundry powder, dishwashing liquid, car wax) from natural and renewable raw materials. Ecover opened a near-zero-emissions factory in Gunter’s ...

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