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You founded a nonprofit?

I dreamed up Wastefull Inc. during the pandemic. Trapped inside and recovering from a car accident that wrecked my mobility and independence, I decided to let my passions guide me in my personal research and ended up obsessed with finding a way to marry regenerative soil science and materials science to create practical circular microeconomies for everyday people.

What really motivated me to shape this idea into a nonprofit was the connection I found between sustainability, learned helplessness, and mental health. In my adventures, I have had the fortune to meet some of the kindest, sweetest people in the world, but is it these people in particular that tell me that they feel paralyzed. They shoulder the generational burden of a sick and struggling world that is constantly being shaped by incentives perverse to the very goals of a society. Wastefull has to be a social movement first and foremost, because waste is about people; it's a social construct. What perfectly viable resources we choose to exclude as waste is an extension of our society's values and priorities, but technology can either reinforce or challenge these constructs. When societies prioritize certain values over others, they shape the way resources are allocated and waste is managed, which creates false resource scarcities that disproportionately affect communities over the corporations that generate the waste. For instance, a recent Bloomberg report found that water scarce communities have disproportionately seen their water rights eroded by large AI companies in need of data center cooling solutions by way of fresh drinking water, typically without the community's consent.

America was modeled as a complex system to be managed not by a guiding hand, but through nested systems of checks and balances. Likewise, the capitalist system it has developed requires active feedback from its participants to function effectively. This includes pushback against monopolistic practices and advocating for policies that promote sustainability and social equity—this is the role that the consumer plays in this system. While Wastefull is not a political organization, we strive to develop the tools and frameworks necessary for individuals and communities to engage with these issues meaningfully and with informed consent.

Citizen science is a natural extension of the American spirit of innovation and collaboration. By empowering individuals to contribute to scientific research and environmental monitoring, we can harness the collective knowledge and creativity of our communities to drive positive change. More importantly, we can create community around the idea of shedding the illusion of helplessness that we have inherited after centuries of unjust resource waste.

Where is Wastefull headed?

I see Wastefull as three distinct projects: community engagement, education, and primary research. For the sake of fundraising, we're starting with the community engagement and education aspects of the organization first. If you want to get involved, please check out the website to learn more.