Was bleibt

At a neighborhood meeting on sustainable living, I met Dr. Susan Rößner — an expert on waste reduction who has been dedicated to minimizing waste for over ten years. She spoke about a special city tour in Altona, where participants trace the paths of our waste: Where does it come from? What are its consequences? And how can we prevent it?

These questions — especially regarding our responsibility to future generations — motivated me to join the tour with my family. I realized that waste is not just an ecological issue, but a symptom of deeper flaws in our economic system, which prioritizes short-term profits while shifting long-term costs onto society and the environment.

Our current economy relies heavily on externalizing costs — so-called negative externalities. For example, a company may produce cheap plastic packaging and earn high profits, but it doesn’t pay for the environmental damage or disposal. Those costs are ultimately borne by all of us — and by nature itself.

In my comic, I use plastic waste to illustrate why our economic system urgently needs to change — and how we can work together toward a more sustainable future.