WasteInCommons is an idea, an invitation, a hope, a practice, an experiment…
to reframe our individual understandings and actions around ‘waste’ (in all its diverse forms and origins) by collectively sitting with, working within, and becoming entangled together in the many and complex entanglements that make ‘waste’.
Acknowledgement of Country
We would like to start by acknowledging that we work, play, and seek to (re)common on stolen land, and that sovereignty was never ceded. We also acknowledge that 'commoning' is rooted in Indigenous and First Nations ways of thinking, doing and caring for Country and as we take these steps toward 'waste commons' we do so in solidarity with and in learning from the Woiwurrung and Boonwurrung / Bunurong Country, sky, waters, underground, their people, Ancestors, and Elders, with whom we share our lives on their Traditional Lands. As a collective and a commons, we come from different backgrounds and ideas who celebrate diversity, and collectivity and acknowledge that colonialism has impacted our lives in Australia (in Naarm | Melbourne) and our homelands, and it continues to create imbalanced relationships that have driven us to be where we are. 'Waste' and its damages are not but a flow-on effect of colonialization, discrimination, exploitation, and extraction and so we act as a commons to engage deeply with these entanglements of 'waste'.
Our Principles and Philosophy
WasteInCommons is an idea, an invitation, a hope, a practice, an experiment…
to reframe our individual understandings and actions around ‘waste’ (in all its diverse forms and origins) by collectively sitting with, working within, and becoming entangled together in the many and complex entanglements that make ‘waste’.
Instead of accepting the guilt-free out-of-sight-out-of-mind philosophy of typical waste management strategies or the individual responsibility to simply recycle more and buy better, we seek to foster a place, a practice, and people that respond to waste challenges together through a commoning of ‘waste’, as an affective material and as a regenerative practice.
We see ‘waste’ as a representation of the numerous and detrimental shortcomings of our economic and social systems, and we seek to reposition waste as a tool to stimulate conversation, collective action, and healthy alternatives to these system failures.
‘Waste’ is something we all hold in common, yet not something we hold ‘in commons’.
To hold ‘in commons’ means to collectively manage something ~ land, resources, spaces, ‘waste’ ~ as a group as opposed to as an individual or by the state where commons can become tragedies. Practices of ‘commoning’ help us to reimagine how we can live together through common access and stewardship, through renewed relationships of sharing, caring, and commitment.
When we treat ‘waste’ as the commons it is we can begin to breathe meaning back into the materials, foods, spaces, time, relationships, work, hobbies, and methods of exchange that we underuse, overlook, and waste. When we work as a collective we can maintain an ‘infrastructure of commoning’ through spaces and support for the reframing of us as ‘waste commoners‘.
We, therefore, seek to contribute to the work already begun around ‘waste commons’ through further action and research ~ from separate but coordinated acts of moving beyond zero-waste to wasted space occupation and addressing wasted opportunities in education and collaboration, we can engage with the widest framing of ‘waste’ and the multiple ways we can (re)embed meaning and use.
We are WasteInCommons ~ a thought experiment for the future of ‘waste’ by engaging with waste practices in the present.
What is WasteInCommons?
What is ‘waste’? What does it mean to ‘common waste’? What does it mean to be WasteInCommons?
‘Waste’ can be anything…
Waste becomes ‘waste’ once the use, life, and value of something is no longer meaningful in our every day. Our every day is facilitated by the rapid and routine production and consumption of materials, foods, spaces, time, relationships, work, hobbies, and (of course) money that we need and want to survive and thrive. When and where we encounter waste within each of these processes (and what exactly is or could be being ‘wasted’) is often overlooked or difficult to dissect and slow down.
Look beyond the individual person or household and these multiple encounters with waste become seismic and severe. The amount of ‘waste’ in the every day (across a street, a neighbourhood, a city, or a country and beyond our limited associations of waste as rubbish) is confronting yet so far removed from our sight and mind. This is of course by design and enables the continued and disassociated practices of ‘wasteful’ production and consumption we rely on despite the accumulating threats these hold for our health, wellbeing, and future abilities.
However, to see and sit beyond the individual also invites a shift in thinking from treating waste as an individual or a state problem-solution predicament. It moves us toward the potential of ‘commoning’ waste struggles through collective practices of care, creativity, and commitment. When we treat waste as the ‘commons’ it is, we can begin to breathe meaning back into the materials, foods, spaces, time, relationships, work, hobbies, and methods of exchange that we currently underuse or waste by sharing, repairing, reusing, and redistributing amongst ourselves before ‘waste’ even begins.
‘Commoning’ and the ‘commons’ refer to “land, resources or spaces (including cultural resources) collectively managed by a group instead of individuals or the state” (Waliuzzaman & Alam 2022). It is a “set of sharing relationships with both humans and nonhumans” (Dombroski et al. 2023) that reframe property, ownership, responsibility, and action within a community.
ACT 1. Experimentation
And so it begins…
Our vision toward and through the complexities of waste is in fact a journey…one that we don’t have all the answers to (and for good measure). We therefore must start with what we know (or what we’ve guessed) in order to move deeper toward the unknown and the possibilities for something more. We also seek to act as a burgeoning collective of waste commoners by providing a space and a place to move together ~ forward, backward, sideways, and in ways we never considered. Through this unfolding experiment, we aim to discover what it might mean (and take) to hold waste in commons.
As expanded upon below, we focus our act of experimentation around the idea, the aspiration, and the ultimate shortcomings of zero-waste ~ as a local, national, and global policy aim towards the ‘elimination’ of waste and the preservation of our existing systems.
We live, work, play, and ‘waste’ in a growth-dependent, technology-driven society in so-called Australia that acknowledges the threats of climate change and socio-ecological collapse through ambitious yet fundamentally narrow targets of ‘change’ towards zero.
Aspirations and shortcomings for zero-waste stunt the advancement of radical production-consumption change by suggesting that recycling and resource recovery will allow us to continue producing and consuming as we are; when Australian lifestyles currently consume the rough equivalent of four and a half planet Earths a year (overshootday.org). Rather than focusing on issues of overproduction, unethical consumption, and everyday practices of single-use and short-term convenience, zero-waste strategies target the intensification of typical waste management systems that promote the guilt-free philosophy of out-of-sight-out-of-mind rubbish collection and disposal.
Targets toward zero are thus misguided and miscalculated. Downstream solutions (e.g. carbon offsets and greater recycling infrastructure) deliberately avoid change at the source of the problem. They maintain the failure that business-as-usual can carry on when business-as-usual is what underwrites the very equation. They prioritise individual attention when collective change is required.
Waste, as an evolving commodity, is forever enshrined. Energy, as a means of growth, is forever in demand. And goals of absolute zero are forever beyond reach. So what do we do?
As an experiment, we are interested in the extension of a ‘more-than-zero’, ‘post-zero’, and ‘beyond zero’ provocation within the realm of waste and production-consumption practices. Excited by the theories of degrowth and solidarity politics that position the problems of waste generation within the ‘green growth’ paradox and the individualisation of waste responsibility, we venture to reach for a more collective and subtractive approach to waste reduction by coming together, learning with each other, and exploring alternatives that already exist and those that may need creating (or undoing).
By assembling shared knowledge and action around everyday waste entanglements, we seek to expose first the complexities of the zero-waste equation in order to begin a path and project beyond zero. Going beyond zero is itself an aspiration, one that seeks to understand and overcome the intersections between waste reduction goals and their challenges such as individual control, purchasing costs, time constraints, legal regulations, geographical accessibility, and others to be found.
As an unfolding exploration, we do not claim to know the answers nor be able to solve the problems on our own. But we recognize the issues, in both waste generation and current waste practices, and are actively experimenting among ourselves to uncover alternative possibilities. By working together, we may be able to activate more proactive practices towards waste reduction and material reuse ~ with the eventual goal of creating our own unique ‘waste commons’.
Zero Waste Experiment
Targets towards zero-waste are possible, and practices and products for zero-waste are plenty…
But what is the difference between what it means to be zero-waste and what it means to break free from a waste economy? How can we move beyond zero-waste as a consumer responsibility and toward zero-waste as a way of relating? What would all of this mean and look like?
Through this month-long zero-waste experiment, we aim to provoke such questions and the birth of our collective intentions beyond zero-waste and toward something more. Filled with weekly themes and prompts for practice, we will explore the already existing alternatives, the remaining gaps and opportunities, and the pathways forward we can take for redefining our relationship to ‘waste’ and how to move closer to a ‘waste commons‘.
To hold a commons, we must first understand the ‘uncommons’...so we begin our adventures with a diagnosis, inventory, reflection, and reimagining of the here and now. Through these weekly processes, we will assemble what practices we already hold, where we want to go next, and the specific material streams and political underpinnings we want to (re)common.
So come along if you’re curious or feel the same, this is an open invitation and an experiment. The answers are unknown, but what we know for certain is that we cannot do nothing…
With that, we present WasteInCommons ~ Act 1. Zero Waste Experiment ~ Nov. 12 to Dec. 10 (and beyond!). See below for all the juicy, spicy details :)
To start, we will be mostly sharing experiences online on a WhatsApp group:
Calendar of Themes
Every week, we will be prompting some themes for discussion:
Week 1 | Where and what we are buying? ~ A diagnose
First things first. To kick things off, let's begin by discussing our current status. What do we believe we're wasting? Where do we typically purchase everyday essentials like groceries? What alternatives are out there?
During this stage, we can collaboratively and individually set our own waste reduction goals that we'll be striving for throughout this journey. For instance, you might wonder, "Can I aim higher with my goals? Or is this becoming overwhelming, should I scale them down?"
You can expect some sharing of resources, tips and strategies. Where can I find peanut butter in a reusable container? What strategies do people employ to deal with takeaway food?
Week 2 | What are the remaining gaps? ~ Cooking and Reusables
This week, let's dive into what we've been missing. What has been the most challenging aspect thus far? What limitations have been hindering our progress on the zero-waste journey? It appears that some things are simply unavoidable, and this can differ from one person to another, depending on their lifestyle and demands.
We're also eager to explore the ways in which our consumption processes can be less wasteful. Cooking, for instance, is a prime example. What do you typically do with food scraps? What are the constraints when it comes to composting, both at home and on an industrial scale? Must all my food scraps truly be considered waste? The philosophy is to use things more so that we use less.
Moreover, what about reusing items? How can we extend our commitment to reusability beyond just using keepcups?
Week 3 | Sharing is caring ~ Collectivism and repair
Continuing on our journey, we might reflect on what brings us together and how we can support each other. This goes beyond just the idea of sharing things; it extends to exploring how we can share our skills as well.
Repair is just one example. Do you happen to have a sewing machine? Would you be interested in repairing some worn jeans in exchange for homemade yogurt? Through this process, we can delve into discussions about the role money plays in our society and brainstorm alternatives to shift toward a more collective-based, non-monetary approach.
"Collectivism" is the key concept here, and we aim to explore how this ethos can propel us beyond the concept of zero waste and further unite us in this endeavour.
Week 4 | Reflecting back ~ Moving forward
In our final week, we take a moment to reflect on our time together and reimage where we can go next. We set ourselves the challenge of organizing a zero-waste picnic, where we can finally come together in person to discuss how our journeys have unfolded, showcase the new practices we may have learned, and, most importantly, explore ways to move forward collectively.
We are planning to meet on the 10th of December, at 5 pm at Edinburgh Gardens. More details to come as the weeks unfold :)
Collective Resources
Please contribute to our collective resources file: