Fw: ZWIA Global Call - Friday, December 19, 2025

[rican...@aol.com]

Richard Anthony

____________________

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----- Forwarded Message -----

From: Amanda Waddle <ama...@zerowasteusa.org>

To: Amanda Waddle <ama...@zerowasteusa.org>

Sent: Friday, December 12, 2025 at 10:00:08 AM PST

Subject: ZWIA Global Call - Friday, December 19, 2025

Join us for the Zero Waste International Alliance's Global Call on Zoom on Friday, December 19, 2025, at 11 am Pacific Time (link is below). 

 

Richard Anthony, ZWIA president, will lead a lively discussion, and I invite you to attend. 

 

Everyone who joins will have an opportunity to share their work on Zero Waste.  

 

Use this link to join us. 

URL: https://tinyurl.com/ZWIAglobal
Password is: ZeroWaste

 

Thanks!

--

Amanda Rice Waddle, she/her

Program Manager, Zero Waste USA

ama...@zerowasteusa.org

Certified Zero Waste Associate

zerowasteusa.org

___

Zero Waste USA Affiliation Program

Zero Waste USA Education Program

 

[rican...@aol.com]

Join us for the Zero Waste International Alliance's Global Call on Zoom on Friday, December 19, 2025, at 11 am Pacific Time (link is below). 

 

Richard Anthony, ZWIA president, will lead a lively discussion, and I invite you to attend. this week the future of. zwia.

 

Everyone who joins will have an opportunity to share their work on Zero Waste.  

 

Use this link to join us. 

URL: https://tinyurl.com/ZWIAglobal
Password is: ZeroWaste

 

Thanks!

--

Amanda Rice Waddle, she/her

Program Manager, Zero W

A Reflection on Meaning, Guardianship and the Future of Zero Waste Rodrigo Sabatini Zero Waste International Alliance Dec 2025 1. Purpose of this document I am writing to the ZWIA Board to contribute, in good faith, to the ongoing reflection about the future role, structure and responsibility of the Zero Waste International Alliance. This document is not intended to prescribe outcomes, nor to reopen past disputes. Its purpose is to help frame the present moment with clarity, historical awareness and a forward-looking sense of responsibility — particularly toward future generations. 2. A moment that requires reflection before action The Zero Waste movement has reached a point of maturity and visibility that inevitably brings new pressures. After more than twenty-five years of collective effort, Zero Waste is no longer a marginal or purely grassroots idea. It is increasingly referenced by governments, institutions, corporations and international bodies. This growth reflects success — but it also introduces risk. Recent events, including the Global Zero Waste Forum in Istanbul, did not create this situation. However, they made visible a broader dynamic: the meaning of Zero Waste is becoming contested territory. At such moments, the greatest danger is not disagreement, but ambiguity. 3. Zero Waste as an ethical and intergenerational commitment Zero Waste is not merely a technical framework for waste management. At its core, it is an ethical position grounded in responsibility across time. Waste represents a failure to take responsibility for the future consequences of present choices. For this reason, Zero Waste is intrinsically intergenerational. Decisions taken today — especially when framed as “pragmatic” or “transitional” — often shift environmental, social and economic burdens onto future generations. Defending the meaning of Zero Waste is therefore inseparable from defending futurity. 4. The original role of ZWIA The Zero Waste International Alliance was created in 2003, in Wales, as a voluntary international alliance with a focused purpose: to define, protect and communicate the meaning of Zero Waste globally. ZWIA was not conceived as: ● an operational organisation, ● a certifying body, ● an academy, ● or a funding or project-implementing institution. Its legitimacy has always been moral and conceptual, grounded in shared commitment rather than institutional power. The later concentration of administrative functions in California reflects the dedication and generosity of volunteers who sustained the Alliance when others could not. This contribution deserves recognition and gratitude. At the same time, it invites reflection on how shared responsibility can evolve more equitably and inclusively in the future. 5. The cost of inaction Choosing not to clarify ZWIA’s role is not a neutral position. Without conscious guardianship: ● the definition of Zero Waste risks progressive dilution; ● practices incompatible with its ethical core may be normalised; ● alternative certifications, academies or narratives may emerge that redefine Zero Waste without reference to its original commitments. Beyond future risks, there is also a cost to the past. Allowing the concept to be displaced or overwritten would quietly invalidate decades of voluntary, collective work — not through rejection, but through erasure. Legacy and futurity are inseparable. 6. A structural dilemma — and possible paths ZWIA now faces a genuine strategic dilemma: ● Total informality risks loss of relevance and voice in an increasingly institutional world. ● Excessive institutionalisation risks capture, mission drift and loss of moral authority. Between these extremes lie intermediate possibilities, including ethical guardianship with minimal formal structure, designed solely to: ● ensure transparency and accountability, ● enable principled public positioning, ● and protect the integrity of the concept. Any formalisation, if pursued, must be strictly instrumental and subordinate to meaning. Structure should serve clarity — never replace it. 7. Futurity and the next generation A movement oriented toward the future cannot rely indefinitely on the same generation that founded it. While Zero Waste has benefited from extraordinary long-term commitment, other movements have strategically organised, trained and empowered younger generations around very different worldviews. This has long-term consequences for influence, legitimacy and continuity. If the current moment is understood as a constituent one — a moment to clarify purpose, limits and responsibility — then the inclusion of younger voices is not symbolic. It is essential to ensuring that the values being defended remain alive, transferable and meaningful across generations. 8. A constituent moment Rather than rushing toward predetermined structural solutions, I respectfully suggest that this moment be treated as a constituent moment. Much like a constituent assembly tasked with clarifying a shared constitution, such a process would focus first on: ● purpose, ● ethical boundaries, ● responsibilities, ● and long-term orientation, before decisions about structure, form or operations are taken. A time-bound, representative and intergenerational process could help ensure that any future configuration of ZWIA honours: ● the legacy of the past, ● the challenges of the present, ● and the rights of future generations. 9. Closing reflection Zero Waste was never intended to be comfortable, fashionable or expedient. It was intended to be coherent across time. The question before the ZWIA Board is therefore not merely organisational, but ethical and temporal: How can we act today in a way that future generations will recognise as responsible — and worthy of the legacy we inherited? I offer these reflections with respect for the work that has been done, awareness of the complexity of the pre

aste USA

ama...@zerowasteusa.org

Certified Zero Waste Associate

zerowasteusa.org

___

Zero Waste USA Affiliation Program

Zero Waste USA Education Program

 

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[Neil Seldman]

I will be on the call.

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