Reducing the amount of waste being produced makes a great deal of sense, provided it does not cost more, in either environmental or financial terms, than disposing of it in the usual way.

ECONOMIST: Less is more

There are many areas of overlap between biomimicry and "cradle-to-cradle" particularly in the way that ecosystems present a great model of closed loop systems in which any waste from one organism becomes the nutrient for something else.

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"Composting is an easy way of cutting down the amount of garden and household waste sent to landfill, and is a great way of feeding the garden, " he said.

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He compared the two parties' differences on the policy to a "great dividing line", with "Labour standing for waste and taxes" while the Tories stand for "efficiency and aspiration".

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Some companies are great at using off-the-shelf products and others waste a lot of money.

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While social networking sites like Facebook and LinkedIn can be great ways to meet up with people and share ideas, they can also be a big waste of time.

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The global economy was growing nicely, and analyzing it (or even paying attention to market cycles) seemed like a waste of time, as the economy came in only three flavors: good, great and awesome.

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Not only does it waste her time, but also sometimes brings her down when she sees pictures of her friends having a great time together.

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