Zero Waste for geographical education on sustainability

Abstract

Environmental education is vital for raising awareness of sustainable development. Zero Waste is a holistic model that goes beyond waste reduction and recycling, and calls for a reshaping of contemporary modes of production and consumption while also promoting active citizenship awareness. Exploring Zero Waste principles, this article situates and demonstrates its alignment with key international documents, such as the United Nations’ 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Already used in some educational contexts, the Zero Waste model has the potential to encourage a new perspective to fundamentally reconsider and redesign our relationship to what it means to be actively more sustainable, through a systemic and circular approach. We outline how educational geography and sustainability practices can both benefit from, and support, a dialogue with Zero Waste principles.