?? World Zero Cup

Are you ready to win?

The start of the FIFA Women’s World Cup France 2019? is less than 50 days away. More precisely: 49 days, 2 hours, and 5 minutes from right now (as per fifa.com, at time of publication).

Hey, just a thought. What if……

What if the competition was based solely on a country’s ability to most efficiently use resources? To narrow down the parameters even further:

Whose country is the least wasteful?

In the FIFA lexicon, let’s use 2019’s Group F (????????????????) as a hypothetical Battleground of the Zero Wasters. As such, Sweden is the overwhelming favorite in several zero waste categories:

• Since 2011, Swedes sent only 1% of their waste to landfill.
• Sweden even has a cultural trademark: “milj?n?r-v?nlig” — environment + millionaire Translation: people save cash AND the environment.
• Prodigal young Swede Greta Thunberg. This teen is poised to bag the ultimate MVP trophy: The Nobel Peace Prize. In soccer terms, here is a clip showing her (played by Ingrid Johansson) anecdotally striking a thunderbolt into the back of the opposition’s net:

Before all us soccer/fusball fans get up in arms about the literal translation of this victory, hold that thought. Consider:

“Competition is a zero sum game.”*

Right?

Hmmm… for more than 350K years of existence, our ancestors competed tooth and nail for scraps of food. We’ve proven time and again there is no greater motivator than The Spirit of Competition. After all, perhaps zero-something is actually what the planet needs right now. Maybe encouraging various regions and markets to compete for cleanest, greenest status in today’s global ecosphere is not such a bad idea. 

By embracing competitive sustainability, we strive to engineer our BEST version of natural capitalism. Our egos will invigorate our respective “circular economics” initiatives, and fostering #reinvention benefits all of us. Like the hungry, food-scrap-embattled homo sapiens before us, survival is the only rule in the game.

But what is the prize?

The prizewinners will be announced seven generations from now. Meanwhile, here’s a very brief survey of some competitive milieux in play today:

?? Trickle Up — Regional Examples

Countries

See ???? examples above. Also, see China’s Five Year Plan “peaking target (ahem, not Peking Target store)” for 2030.

Municipalities

Wilton, CT — Local residents Dana Gips and Tammy Thornton are inspiring, and collaborating with, other Connecticut towns vis-a-vìs the WiltonGoGreen.org platform. (Full disclosure: The author is a resident of the town, so this nomination is biased.)

Washington State — Cleaning up their state’s energy mix by proclamation of The Guvnah.

Individuals

Monthly electric bills from utility companies such as Eversource Energy include infographics like “How Does My Energy Use Compare to My Neighbors”

… Grrr, the Smiths win again. They consumed far less energy for the second month in a row. Yeah, but maybe they’re not opted in to the 100% renewable electricity source like I am. Ha!

?? Trickle Down — Large-Scale Adoption

NGOs

Let’s face it, non-profits and other humanitarian orgs compete against each other for funding. So, in a weird way they’re competitive even when seeking the same outcomes (cf. my critique on this circular firing squad syndrome in a future LI article).

Well, if that is the case, probably the best deferment strategy is to pivot the competitive focus to market-driven #corporations. Thereby keeping the Non-Governmental Organization out of the sales & marketing biz.

ZeroEnergyProject.org — By synthesizing an online community of lenders, realtors, homebuyers, and homebuilders, co-founders Joe Emerson and Ann Brayfield (and their team of volunteers) are able to serve as an unbiased clearing house for all things green tech in the built environment. Use the site’s vendor finder and, while you’re there, sign up for their jam-packed newsletter.

RMI.org — These guys don’t always get press because they generally work behind the scenes with key stakeholders like the U.S. Department of Defense, sitting Presidents, or #corporations … and, almost forgot, #China. Oh, and remember to read today’s pop-ed in The New York Times.

TerraCycle.org – Tom Szaky’s global team has devised an inventive #corporation-driven system that allows users to select from various brandname #reusable packaging options, which earn points toward donations to other NGOs. Non-competitive kudos!

Private Sector

GSSG Solar, LLC — Forget about the archaic, fossil-fuel-based Stock Market and all those risky bonds. Jump ahead, lock, and load on the #renewable wave of the future. CEO Tomakin Archambault is 100% focused on winning 30-year IRRs.

For more on why solar project funding can be a great long-term investment, see my LinkedIn article Profits not Prophets.

?? ?? ?? ?? ??

Got any other names to add, or “wins” to boast?

Hey country/company/person, are you feeling best-in-class for zero impact living?

Do tell, in this article’s Comments below.

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* Unless it’s a tie score in a Group Play match at the #worldcup or any game during regular season soccer. So, yeah, maybe a tie score should go to the more resource efficient club/country?