Environmental education is vital for raising awareness of sustainable develop-
ment. Zero Waste is a holistic model that goes beyond waste reduction and
recycling, and calls for a reshaping of contemporary modes of production and
consumption while also promoting active citizenship awareness. Exploring Zero
Waste principles, this article situates and demonstrates its alignment with key
international documents, such as the United Nations’ 2030 Agenda for Sustain-
able Development. Already used in some educational contexts, the Zero Waste
model has the potential to encourage a new perspective to fundamentally recon-
sider and redesign our relationship to what it means to be actively more sustain-
able, through a systemic and circular approach. We outline how educational
geography and sustainability practices can both benefit from, and support, a
dialogue with Zero Waste principles.
