2022 Zero Waste Conference, Vancouver

Katie Treggiden was one of four keynote speakers at the 2022 Net Zero Conference held in Vancouver, hosted by Metro Vancouver and the National Zero Waste Council.

The Zero Waste Conference is a curated program of thought-leaders and change-makers who provoke new thinking and present new solutions around preventing waste, advancing a circular economy, and taking action on climate change. Nowhere else in Canada can this constellation of innovation and creativity, intentional leadership, radical imagination and practical implementation be found.

For 11 years, the Zero Waste Conference has been at the forefront of Canada’s circular economy journey bringing together thought leaders, innovators and change makers, surfacing some of the best ideas from the past while presenting pioneering solutions that take us to a future we’ve only begun to dare dream is possible.

Katie held the closing keynote Waste: A Category not a Fact where she challenged the very concept of waste.

We tend to think of “waste” as an inevitable byproduct of production and consumption. We even assume that it is dirty, unhygienic, and even pathogenic. But what if there was no such thing as waste? Katie challenged the very concept of waste, arguing that it is nothing more than a construct – a category. She proposed that if we can re-classify once valuable materials as waste, we can also reclassify waste as a valuable new raw material. Her stories begin at the intersection of craft, design and sustainability and involve the thinkers, makers and doers who are bringing us into a regenerative and waste-free future. And find out how you can play your part too.

This was followed by a live Q&A session moderated by Christina Seidel, Founder of Connevera International Corporation & Executive Director, Recycling Council of Alberta