Waste can have a life beyond the landfill.

Consider the extraordinary efforts we undertake to secure a barrel of oil. Lives lost from wars. Oil-rig blowouts. Cancer clusters downwind of refineries. 100,000 premature deaths each year in America alone when we combust the stuff in our engines. Consider the 28 million tons of plastic waste we send to landfills each year, essentially re-burying the oil in the earth, but this time in places that make it virtually impossible to recover. Then we repeat the process over and over again.

What if we could mitigate at least some of this madness by putting those waste plastics to productive uses? What about the other 140 million tons of other types of waste that we send to landfills each year? Bottom line — is a zero-waste society plausible and profitable, or just a pipe dream?

In 1989, California passed a law that mandated diversion of 50 percent of solid waste away from landfills by 2000. Reducing wasteful packaging and other materials, reusing as much as possible, and aggressively recycling any useful commodities like glass and aluminum resulted in California achieving that goal on schedule. This success led to the passage last year of a new target — 75 percent diversion — and inspired a lot of people to start thinking about a zero-waste society.

Around the world, communities, governments, and companies are beginning to dip a toe in the waters of the zero-waste movement, and the surprising results are that new technologies, businesses, and jobs are being created.

For example, old carpet remains one of the biggest contributors to landfills. In California, The Carpet Recyclers are actually disassembling old carpet into its constituent commodities (including harvesting the components in the glue) and selling the resulting materials back to carpet makers. Other building and demolition wastes are also disproportionate contributors to landfills, but Urban Miners in Connecticut has found a way to disassemble that debris and return it to the construction industry for remodels and new buildings.

Of course, not all waste has quite so obvious a path from “cradle to cradle.” For example, Americans dump over 3 million tons of used disposable diapers into landfills each year, but may learn something about turning, uh, “waste” into wealth. U.K.-based Knowaste recycles soiled diapers and converts them to energy and recovered fibers and plastics.

Electronic waste is another category of opportunity. Everything from fluorescent light tubes to vacuum cleaners to computer monitors once clogged the nation’s landfills, but in many states today they are collected and broken down into plastics, glass, metals, and precious metals. Some states charge a small fee on the purchase of new electronics, which is used to jump-start recycling businesses. In California alone, hundreds of new businesses were started since the e-waste law took effect in 2005, as is amply demonstrated on a searchable database.

With a global population that now exceeds 7 billion and a rapidly growing middle class, especially in developing economies such as Brazil, China, and India, resources are becoming increasingly scarce, and we can no longer afford to waste anything. Many communities are also running out of practical places to bury waste, and neighbors fight expansion of existing landfills.

More than a decade ago, this was already becoming obvious in the Los Angeles area. Over objections of my colleagues in local environmental organizations, I defended the rights of Waste Management Inc. to expand its Sunshine Canyon Landfill, because the alternative was to truck garbage out to the desert some 75 miles away, a practice that turned my community’s waste into someone else’s problem, while generating more air pollution from thousands of additional truck trips each year.

A better solution is to make landfills a thing of the past by challenging our imaginations and ingenuity to devise more zero-waste strategies that convert garbage into gold.

In a previous blog, I mentioned one of these unique leavening agents for any business that spends money on advertising. EcoMedia created a clever program that takes a piece of ad dollars and invests it in community improvement projects, like solar panels on a school. The ad spend is the same, but the advertiser earns more positive impressions than they otherwise would have, when local newspapers and TV cover the story at the school, usually with smiling elected officials, parents, and students. As the Visa commercials say, that’s priceless. EcoMedia has been so successful with this program, it has now expanded into wellness and education — putting fresh money into community improvements and making more corporate halos a lot brighter.

I saw another force multiplier last month in Brazil. The Agencia Nacional de Energia Eletrica announced a new net metering program modeled after California’s successful Million Solar Roofs Initiative. Brazilians who install solar can now sell excess power to the grid, encouraging residents and businesses to become clean energy entrepreneurs. Today, Brazil has only about 1 percent as many solar installations as world leader Germany, but in the days following the announcement, this simple regulatory change inspired Braxenergy Desenvolvimento de Projetos de Energia to announce a new $50 million factory to make solar panels, and Tecnometal Equipamentos announced a new $127 million facility to refine silicon and make other components for the panel market. Considering that the sun shines about 40 percent more in Brazil than Germany, every panel installed thanks to this new rule will be a force multiplier of its own.

Closer to home, Phoenix-based Climatec is a force multiplier for large energy consumers. Unlike other contractors that perform energy audits and upgrade inefficient lighting, HVAC, and other systems, Climatec keeps a building “tuned up” by monitoring energy use and performance from its high-tech headquarters often hundreds of miles away. Climatec is leveraging what we learned in California a few years ago when the state conducted an experiment in “retro-commissioning,” essentially tuning up existing energy systems to operate as originally intended. We achieved an average of 18 percent energy savings from those tune-ups and learned the valuable lesson that, just like a car, you need to stay on top of those maintenance metrics to maintain peak performance and maximum savings of energy and money. Hospitals discovered that a small investment with a service like Climatec’s pays even bigger dividends when they use the same monitoring system to manage fire and safety alarms and things like patient call and a/v systems, saving more money and improving customer service.

Finding force multipliers for your company may not be obvious, but the thing these examples have in common is that they look at existing resources and ask, “What more could we get out of what we already have or already spend?” In June of this year, when many will focus on the Rio+20 “earth summit” to look for ways to make resources support a population of 7 billion and a rapidly growing middle class, finding your force multipliers can make a big difference in a more sustainable planet, economy, and business.

GOING UP: Insurance. California, New York and Washington recently mandated that insurance companies report how they plan to handle growing claims from extreme weather events related to climate change. No, a little extra paperwork won’t cause your premiums to rise, but rather the record-setting damages and consensus by meteorologists that a year like 2011 won’t be an anomaly in the future — because of measurable impacts of climate change. Yes, according to the Insurance Information Institute the insured losses in 2011 approached $36 billion from record-setting extreme weather catastrophes, forces that will most certainly raise premiums, especially because the actuaries and forecasters are convinced there’s more to come. The Institute also reports the 552 deaths caused by tornadoes was the highest figure in over 75 years. Some things are priceless.

GOING WAY UP: Water. Texas imposed restrictions on water use in 1,000 cities as droughts worsened and numerous experts reported that this is not your grand-daddy’s periodic dry spell, but rather the direct result of climate change. Spicewood Beach, a community of some 500 homes near Austin, became the first Texas town to officially run out of water and now must buy the precious commodity by the truckload. A bit farther south, severe drought in Mexico has cost farmers more than a billion dollars in crop losses; killed 60,000 head of cattle and weakened 2 million more; and forced the government to spend nearly $3 billion in emergency aid. “Droughts are cyclical — we know that — but they are growing more frequent and severe due to climate change,” said Elvira Quesada, the Minister for the Environment and Natural Resources. Oh, did I mention that when the price of water goes up, so does the price of food? Mexico’s food imports leapt 35 percent last year.

GOING WAY, WAY UP: Coastal real estate. Four South Florida counties have begun drafting plans to pay for the costs associated with sea level rise, the direct result of climate change. Home to some of the nation’s most valuable real estate, officials of Palm Beach and its neighbors believe the cost of protecting those assets will skyrocket — and that much of the effort will be a losing battle, because more intense storms will erode vast chunks of trendy beaches away, no matter how many seawalls or higher bridges are built, no matter how far inland they relocate drinking-water wells to protect them from contamination by salt water.

GOING DOWN: Electricity bills. Whew, at least some good news from Q1 2012. Thanks to the California Energy Commission, those ubiquitous chargers for cellphones, iPads, laptops, et al will become far more efficient. These “vampire loads” waste about 60 percent of the electricity they consume and the new standards will save enough electricity to power 350,000 homes and cut $306 million a year off energy bills in California alone. What does this have to do with climate change? Well, nothing directly, but much of the impetus in California for saving energy comes from the need to deal with increased loads during hotter summers, the direct result of climate change.

The common thread in these trends is that we cannot afford to continue policy debates about whether climate change is real. Scientists have spoken. Governments have spoken. Markets have spoken. More important, the solutions are speaking loud and clear — they’re saying we can save money by using the problem to inspire our ingenuity to make America more efficient, competitive, and safe.

5. Grow more of my own food. China’s biggest dairy admitted that some of its products contained a toxin commonly found in corn and wheat, transmitted to the milk of cows eating the tainted crops. Maine residents were sickened this month when contaminated beef carried the salmonella “superbug” that had already sent many other Americans to hospitals. Wood shipping pallets have been suspected of transferring the bacteria from one place to another. McDonald’s, Burger King, and Taco Bell stopped adding “pink slime” to burgers, a cleaning chemical meant to kill salmonella and pathogens. What are they adding instead? Need any more reasons for a home garden or vegetarian diet?

4. Save more energy and $$. I’ve done the insulation, smart thermostat, LED bulbs (check out Home Depot’s EcoSmart LEDs for a great value), and yelled at my teenager to turn off the computer at night, but I recently found there are even more ways to save. Belkin’s “Conserve” line of power strips and switches pay for themselves in a few months and take the guesswork (and yelling) out of the equation. I gave them as holiday gifts and won “Geek of the Year” awards from friends and family, but everyone has already put them to use.

3. Stop killing people for oil. OK, this one has been on my to-do list for several years (right up there with losing 20 pounds), but every year we see more financial and environmental reasons to move off of oil and, as we leave Iraq, are reminded of the latest payments. The loss of human life is the most staggering price, but the cost to our struggling Treasury is also worth recalling for motivation to finally get this resolution done. Read former Fed chair Alan Greenspan’s The Age of Turbulence: Adventures in a New World for evidence that Iraq was entirely about oil, then read The Three Trillion Dollar War: The True Cost of the Iraq Conflict by Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph E. Stiglitz for the pricetag (no, unlike the hideous sweater your aunt gave you for Christmas, this one can’t be returned even with the tag still attached). Extra credit for reading my book Lives Per Gallon: The True Cost of Our Oil Addiction to see how we pay almost $7 per gallon more than the pump price for gasoline, and Tar Sands: Dirty Oil and the Future of a Continent by Andrew Nikiforuk to understand why the price of oil won’t be going on sale after the holidays — or ever.

2. Keep my cell phone out of my pants pocket. 2011 was so full of astonishing events (the Arab Spring and the Japanese tsunami, for example) that it was easy to miss the World Health Organization’s listing of cell phone radiation as a “carcinogenic hazard,” right up there with lead and car exhaust. As a former government regulator, I’ve seen enough of these studies to realize there are uncertainties, but I’m at least going to use earphones instead of holding the phone next to my brain, and I’ll stop keeping the phone in my pocket next to my, well, you know.

And my No. 1 New Year’s resolution for 2012 …

1. Convince more people that we’re in this together. Scripps Institute of Oceanography researchers  ecently reported evidence that pollution from China is impacting our climate in the U.S. Radioactive material from Japan’s Fukushima disaster has shown up all over the globe, much as pollution from its predecessor in Chernobyl has done. Year-end reports from weather watchers everywhere count 2011 as the weirdest in history, as growing evidence links the increase in severity of these events to burning fossil fuels. The economic troubles of Greece have impacted the global economy in some of the same ways that the U.S. meltdown impacted them.

In other words, 2011 was a year of persuasive evidence that all living things are connected and that the fallout from our mistakes travels faster than ever (Scripps estimates it takes only five days for Chinese pollution to hit California, and we all know how fast Germany’s monetary policy helps or hurts global stock markets). Self-interest tends to trump being my “brother’s keeper,” but it may help us tackle problems sooner and more effectively if we realize how small this planet really is.

Given that the only international agreement so far, the Kyoto Protocol, expires in 2012, and greenhouse gases have been rising instead of falling, we clearly need a new obsession – - or a way to pay for the most catastrophic impacts of climate change.

In a world facing economic meltdown, the question for many is not “how” but “why.” Even with carbon caps and emissions trading systems limited to Europe, parts of the US, and a voluntary market, the value of carbon trades in 2011 will top $140 billion. That’s a big tax already imposed on the economy, even if offset by benefits that are less obvious. So could we stimulate economic growth (which would certainly answer the “why”) with policies and technologies that emerge from something other than those being considered around the United Nations’ table in Durban this week (thus answering the “how”)?

The answer is yes. For example, according to a report from Environment America, California’s “Million Solar Roofs” initiative helped homes and businesses install one gigawatt of rooftop solar in just five years. This cost-effective program has put thousands of people to work all around the state, stimulating the economy in one of the few bright spots of the construction sector these days. Twenty-nine other states have followed suit, establishing targets for all types of renewable energy for themselves, which collectively will create new local businesses, jobs, contribute sales tax to state treasuries, and cut carbon emissions dramatically.

Even more impressive – - and a more immediate boost to the economy – - are energy efficiency measures begun by states, then transferred globally. California once held the crown of “most energy efficient state in the nation” at 40% more efficient than the national average. Recent figures show that Connecticut and New Jersey have adopted many of the same efficiency standards for buildings and appliances, propelling them into the lead in this competition to see who can get the most out of the least. Using similar measures, along with tough new limits on inefficient smelters and industrial facilities, China reports an improvement in energy efficiency of almost 20% in the past five years, helping it usher in a period of unprecedented economic growth.

Of course carbon emissions also come from transportation fuel, but again it is the regional governments that are making a difference. California set carbon pollution standards for new vehicles, which were adopted by thirteen other states and finally by the Obama administration as federal rules. The result? Automakers are already delivering less-polluting, more fuel-efficient cars and trucks of all sizes to showrooms, which save money for owners, improve air quality, and help to solve the climate crisis simultaneously.

Some quick calculations show that if the world followed these examples and became a third more energy efficient; switched at least a third of its energy supplies to renewables; and improved vehicle emissions by the same standards set in the US today, we would achieve half of the long term carbon cutting goals set by many experts to avoid the most costly impacts of climate change. And all of these measures would be paid for with savings and sustainable economic growth

Realizing that this is their time, regional governments are helping each other do just that – - in new organizations like Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s R20 Regions of Climate Action – - with policy, technology, and finance to build a low carbon economy and harvest these benefits. More can be done over time as technologies improve even further and as a rebounding economy recognizes that it can afford a global cap-and-trade system or carbon tax to deal with the remaining carbon cuts that are needed.

There’s nothing wrong with an obsession, as long as it’s focused on clear goals with proven methods of accomplishing them. By looking to regional governments instead of obsessing over new treaties, the goals pursued in Durban are well within reach.

In the Broadway hit musical, “Book of Mormon,” a woman from Uganda envisions paradise as a place where warlords are benevolent and the Red Cross hands out as much flour as you can eat. In other words, the things that inspire hope and gratitude in any part of the world are in the eye of the beholder. 

In this season of Thanksgiving in the US, I am grateful for clean air, water, and a productive landscape. Oh sure, we still suffer from too much pollution and degradation of these shared resources, but compared to Uganda or many other parts of the globe, we live in paradise. And what provides our comparative advantage in this regard? In a word, regulations. 

Environmental laws and regulations are not the evil that some politicians would have you believe. They are the hallmarks of civilization that give us a better quality of life and the ability to conduct business on a level playing field in ways that other countries can only dream about. Take for instance our air quality laws. 

The Obama administration was wrong to delay implementation of smog-busting rules, especially in the misplaced hopes that conservative opponents would see this as an olive branch and somehow begin to compromise on other tough issues. Our air quality regulations, many of which were first tested in my state of California and proven effective both for public health and the economy, differentiate us from Beijing or Delhi, where a lack of such rules means you are inhaling the equivalent amount of toxins of two packs of cigarettes a day – - just by breathing the air. 

By comparison, a study released last March by the USEPA documents about $2 trillion in benefits by 2020 from our air quality laws, if we actually implement them all, including prevention of about 160,000 deaths, 200,000 cases of heart disease, and over twenty two million missed school and work days – - each year (note to Republican opponents of these regulations: the 1990 amendments to the Clean Air Act were signed into law 

by President George H.W. Bush with support from both parties).

Let’s also consider water quality regulations. Polluted stormwater runoff impacts the US economy with massive dead zones in the Gulf of Mexico that decimate commercial fisheries. Such unchecked pollution also seeps into groundwater, forcing cities to spend millions on treatment systems. Although the Clean Water Act regulates stormwater pollution and has made great strides towards cleaning up toxic runoff from sources such as agricultural runoff, industrial sites, and roadways, politics have prevented state and federal regulators from finishing the job. But as with our air quality, it could be even worse if we had no regulation at all.

Consider Nigeria, where polluted stormwater and dumping from oil fields has fouled entire river systems, or Ecuador, where rivers have literally burned with such waste. The gold rush mentality that allowed uncontrolled exploitation of those resources is now at work in the US where regulators are under pressure to approve hydraulic fracturing of underground formations to extract natural gas, regardless of demonstrated contamination of drinking water supplies. I’m not against domestic natural gas development, but it can and must be done sustainably, because one thing that all environmental degradation has in common, regardless of nationality, is that it is far costlier to clean up a mess than to prevent one. In other words, regulation saves money.

OK, I admit that as my family gathers to give thanks this holiday season, environmental regulation may not be the first thing on my list. But I do appreciate the benefits that thoughtful laws and regulations deliver and I give thanks to those leaders and officials with the courage to keep us moving forward, instead of allowing America to deteriorate into a third world country.

I’m not saying Americans have lost their inventive mojo, just that I have met 50 innovative, inspirational thinkers from other nations for every one working equally hard in Silicon Valley or MIT. And most are tackling the greatest challenge to our environment and economy — securing sustainable, clean energy for the 7 billion people now living on earth and the 10 billion we’ll have by 2050. So where will solutions come from that will fundamentally alter how we harness, deliver, and use energy, just as Jobs fundamentally changed his industry? Let’s look in Geneva, Beijing, and Abu Dhabi.

I’m speaking this week at the European Future Energy Forum in Geneva, Switzerland, and am astonished by the number of clean energy innovators from all around the world gathering here, but especially surprised by the domestic companies. Solar energy leadership from a country that is shadowed by the Alps and covered in clouds and snow for most of the year? Yes, because even in climates like this, these innovators are proving you can run homes, factories, and even yachts on nothing but energy from the sun.

Last month in China, I toured the Tianjin “eco-city” near Beijing that is taking sustainability innovations from hundreds of inventors and putting them to work in a real world setting. It will take this kind of scale to commercialize disruptive technologies to bring down cost and teach more users about the benefits — much like Steve Jobs taught us all to use a smartphone.

Finally, every year in Abu Dhabi at the World Future Energy Summit, I have seen brilliant innovations showcased and adopted for use on all parts of the globe. Many of these technologies are also being proven at scale by the Masdar initiative there. Masdar, which means “the source” in Arabic, is a new city that holistically integrates many different elements required for the rapid and agile R&D of renewable energies and sustainable living models.

The Summit has also been the catalyst for awarding the United Arab Emirates’ world-renowned Zayed Future Energy Prize and, as a finalist myself in 2011 and a nominee again in 2012, I have seen first hand the depth and breadth of my fellow entrants from all corners of the world and was reminded that good ideas will come from the most surprising people and places.

The great thing about this year’s award is that it highlights three categories fundamental to solving our future energy challenges — small and medium size enterprises (SMEs) and non-governmental organizations (NGOs); individuals; and large corporations.

Why does this matter? Working on sustainability initiatives for the state of California, I learned that it requires a confluence of ideas from various individuals, companies, and organizations — not just government — to make the transition from environment-friendly ideas to concrete, wide-reaching systemic change.

SMEs account for over 90 percent of business worldwide and drive both innovation and competition. NGOs are strong platforms for advocating renewable energy and sustainability ideas, while providing a reliable conduit between business, government, and communities. And, as our reflections on Steve Jobs remind us, never underestimate the power of the individual — especially one with a bright, innovative and truly disruptive idea.

As many have said, there’s no “silver bullet” to achieving 100 percent clean, sustainable energy to power our world before the end of this century. Rather, it’s going to take the “silver buckshot” from all elements of society to achieve this necessary goal. But if we find and encourage the Steve Jobs of cleantech, wherever he or she may be today, I’m convinced this dream will soon be a reality.

The House voted last week 249 to 169 to curtail the EPA’s ability to reduce air pollution — increasing the asthma and lung disease it causes — by passing a bill that would delay or scrap regulations to reduce harmful air emissions. The bill was astonishingly broad, including everything from mercury to carbon emissions to smog-forming gases.

And those voting in favor of the bill apparently think they know more than doctors, proposing to change health-protective limits for particulate matter, the tiny soot particles that get deep into our lungs and are blamed for asthma and heart disease. I’m guessing that some in Congress haven’t read my book, Lives Per Gallon: The True Cost of Our Oil Addiction, because if they had, they would know that these particles have been found to enter the blood stream through lung tissue and literally thicken the blood, like adding flour to turkey grease to make gravy, which can cause heart attacks. They would also know that kids living within a mile of a busy freeway lose as much as 1 percent of their lung function every year, the result of inhaling that same soot.

Welcome to China. Studies show that living in Beijing is equal to smoking two packs of cigarettes a day, with many of these same results. But at a conference in Tianjin, I heard one high-ranking government official after another declare war on air pollution and the impact it has on public health and worker productivity. And privately, many of those same officials expressed astonishment that the U.S. Congress seemed to be moving in the opposite direction.

For years, China sacrificed public health for rapid economic development and is now spending billions to clean up the mess. In the next phase of its growth, Chinese officials are cracking down on polluters and financing eco-cities and clean energy, like the one I toured in the Binhai New Area of Tianjin, to end the false choice of “green versus gold,” but the action by the House would give America neither.

While tackling air and water pollution, China is simultaneously investing in its infrastructure and creating millions of new jobs in the process. On the other hand, Congress is tying a lead weight to President Obama’s efforts to clean the air, reduce pollution-related disease and deaths, and move ahead with a new package of investment in roads, bridges, schools, and other vital infrastructure that would not only stimulate the economy, but keep us competitive with countries like, oh I don’t know, let’s say China.

Even as some have suggested that the Chinese yuan should be the new global currency to replace the U.S. dollar, we are likely to fall behind in the race to invent the future if we continue to pursue short-term financial gains over long-term public good and even greater financial security. There’s actually nothing wrong with emulating many of China’s accomplishments — but we should be focused on the way it does things today, not the China of 20 years ago.

Rex Tillerson, CEO of Exxon/Mobil: Hey Russ, I can’t wait to get my hands on some of your expensive, hard-to-refine oil from the Canadian tar sands for my refineries in the lower 48. What’s the hangup? The White House?

Russ Girling, CEO of TransCanada: Nah, Rex, President Obama is playing ball, but I’m really concerned about the USEPA’s ozone rule. If he doesn’t delay tightening that screw, we’ll run the pipeline to Beijing instead.

Rex: Ha, ha! What would China do with all of that oil? Make plastic toys and sell them to Americans? C’mon, get real. But you make a good point – - Exxon/Mobil just won’t refine oil and sell fuel any more if that ozone rule gets tightened. After all, we can’t risk reducing any tiny fraction of the $10.65 billion profit we made in the first quarter of 2011 just to save a few people from getting asthma.

Of course CEOs aren’t the only ones who will gather and schmooze as leaves start falling faster than demand for Euro-bonds. Imagine the next National Governors Association meeting:

Texas Governor Rick Perry: Whew, sure is hot in the Lone Star State these days. New record for number of days over 100 degrees and the drought sure left us parched. Big strain on the power grid too.

Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin: Oh Rick, y’all think you had it bad, the average temperature in all of Oklahoma for July was nearly 90, a new record for the all-time warmest calendar month for any state in the US during any month! You know, Rick, global warming really is taking an economic toll.

Perry: Darn tootin’, lil’ lady. And I have just the plan to deal with the energy crisis and global warming – - learned it from my days with Al Gore – - solar. Yup, turns out the solar industry was one of the few in America that has a trade surplus over the past decade, according to the new Solar Energy Trade Assessment.

Fallin: Great idea! We could help companies manufacture more solar panels in our states and sell them to China and Europe, but we could also use them here to generate clean power immediately.

Perry: You bet – - I’m told that both of our states have lots of sunshine and we pay nothing for it, compared to the fully-laden cost of coal or oil. What a deal!

Finally, celebrities are always at Hollywood parties and the conversation inevitably turns to raising the debt ceiling or bi-lateral trade issues, but you won’t hear this one:

Oprah Winfrey: Did you hear about the delay in the technical report from the US Coast Guard and Bureau of Ocean Management on the exact causes of the BP oil spill last year? I was counting on that as the September selection for my book club, because I know how everyone wants to learn how to avoid paying such a dear price ever again for our oil addiction.

Lady Gaga: Bummer, Oprah. BTW, is wearing beef after Labor Day “in” or “out” this year?

No, you won’t overhear any of those conversations in the foreseeable future, but if we read the news carefully and connect the dots of how the world really works, it may enlighten us to uncover some new ways to get us out of the economic doldrums of late 2011.

In East London, for example, the organizers of the 2012 Olympics are restoring a massive industrial wasteland into an efficient eco-city. A million cubic meters of contaminated dirt has been converted into parkland, nearly 3,000 apartments, and shopping centers, all with high tech amenities and smart energy meters to make future improvements plug-and-play. Biomass boilers with efficient waste-heat capture will power much of the development at first, but clever “energy centers” will make it possible to add solar or other renewables in the future.

In New Jersey, Toys R Us just unveiled a huge solar array — the largest of its kind in North America — providing nearly three quarters of the energy used by its 1.5 million-square-foot distribution center and its iconic Times Square retail store.  This is one of the projects that has now placed New Jersey second only to California in terms of installed solar power capacity, thanks to shrewd financial incentives, streamlined regulations, and by encouraging solar power generation on old landfills and farmland.  At the current rate of growth, New Jersey is on track to create approximately 80,000 jobs in the solar sector over the next decade. 

In mid-town Manhattan, the U.S. Postal Service’s Morgan Processing and Distribution facility hosts a green roof – - 2.5 acres of plants and grasses – - that cut the building’s storm water runoff by as much as 75% and reduce energy costs by $30,000 a year.  On still another part of the globe, the city of Tokyo is filtering its water supply by restoring forests in the watershed, which cuts greenhouse gases and air pollution at the same time.

What do all of these initiatives have in common? A recognition that the almost 7 billion people on the planet (yes, the UN estimates we’ll hit that number this October) will only enjoy a decent quality of life if we make better use of the resources we already have. That, in turn, highlights that there are vast economic development opportunities in efficiency, renewable energy, and converting waste into valuable assets.

Another lesson from these examples is that while these business opportunities are global, so is the competition for them. China’s vehicle manufacturer BYD is selling battery-powered buses to the city of Los Angeles, while Smith Electric Vehicles of England is selling electric trucks to the U.S. Marines. Those trucks will at least have some American components – - Texas-based Valence Technology makes the lithium iron magnesium phosphate battery systems for Smith Electric.

So the city of the future is actually here today, just not yet aggregated in one place nor designed and built by any one nation’s innovators. But we can learn from these scattered examples of what works, how these developments are increasingly cost-effective alternatives to business-as-usual, and what great business opportunities are all around us in the sustainability space.

And if more American companies take heed, we might change that famous sign to read, “If you lived here, you’d be in a much better home by now.”