I think that we should regard the waste basket as a mark of shame for our culture.
Our culture is built around disposability. We are the first culture in the history of humanity to believe so completely in the idea that there is always going to be more for us to extract from the earth. We seem to believe that sustainable means extracting resources that are finite at a slightly slower rate, and extracting renewable resources while only giving back a quarter of what we took.
If we extract a finite resource at any steady rate, it is not sustainable. It will run out, and we will be left overdrawn on out planetary credit card. This is not rocket science.
If we extract renewable resources without replenishing that resource or at least allowing it time to fully recover, then that resource will decline until it runs out. Once again we will be left overdrawn- this time on our planetary bank account. This is also not rocket science.
As long as our culture and general attitudes render waste baskets necessary- then we are still not living in a sustainable way. Even the day when recycling bins replace all wastebaskets is not going to herald the advent of sustainable culture. This is because we cannot recycle 100% of something we have fabricated. So if we are using and discarding items for recycling at the same rate that we are currently throwing items into the wast basket, then we are still living in a culture that believes in a world of 'ever more' resources.
To live sustainably means to live within LIMITS, and accept that the human race is not exempt from these basic biological limits any more than any other species.
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