The Zero-Waste Park

"The park would be a one-stop dumping ground for truck loads of already-sorted city waste. The park includes a composting facility for organic materials; reuse center for still-good items; a center for hard-to-recycle materials (Eco-Cycle has already successfully created one of these in Boulder); a materials recovery facility for recovering valuable technical nutrients like metals; a residue facility for handling any trash that is leftover after the former; and a public education center.

Lombardi's plan doesn't invent a way to deal with waste, it simply connects the dots between established solutions. "None of the technologies in my park is new," says Lombardi. "They're simple, proven, low-tech and little risk."

And making an investment in zero-waste can be enormously profitable to a city – but only if residents commit to sorting their waste much more zealously than we do right now. But that in itself is a wise move that would benefit everyone."