42. Clare Miflin — Waste is a Design Flaw

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A few years back, I began working on a documentary film about waste in New York City with the environmental historian Martin Melosi, who I spoke with in last week’s episode of the podcast.

Marty has written extensively on the history of waste in New York City, and I wanted the film to bring that history into conversation with the contemporary movement to address our waste problem. I began searching for people and organizations who were working on reducing or eliminating waste in the city, and I ran across the Zero Waste Design Guidelines. The report described the problem this way:

“Waste is a design flaw: in our packaging, in our products and in our buildings and cities. Ecosystems recycle materials indefinitely in circular loops, but the human-designed system discards 99% of the materials extracted from the earth within six months. The Zero Waste Design Guidelines address the crucial role that the design of our buildings and city play in achieving zero waste.”

This idea that “waste is a design flaw” fascinated me. I tracked down one of the authors of the report, the architect Clare Miflin, who went on to found the nonprofit Center for Zero Waste Design, along with a design consultancy called ThinkWoven. Clare immediately offered to introduce me to the community of people she works with in the zero waste movement. Along with many others in this community, Clare has become central to my film, which is still in production.

During Climate Week in September of 2025, I sat down with Clare to record this conversation about how she came to this work and what she’s discovered in this new phase of her career.

I’m John Fiege, and this is Chrysalis. You can subscribe at johnfiege.earth, where you will find show notes and all episodes of the podcast, plus my writing, photographs, and films.

Here is Clare Miflin.

Notes and Media Recommendations

• Center for Zero Waste Design
  • https://centerforzerowastedesign.org/
• The Zero Waste Design Guidelines (Official Interactive Site & Report Download)
  • https://www.zerowastedesign.org/
• Put Waste to Work: For Vibrant Streetscapes, Green Jobs, and Healthy Neighborhoods
  • https://putwastetowork.org/
• AIA New York: Zero Waste Design Guidelines Project Hub
  • https://www.aiany.org/membership/special-projects/article/zero-waste-challenge/zero-waste-design-guidelines/
• As the summertime stench reminds us, New York City handles garbage all wrong.
  • https://www.vitalcitynyc.org/new-york-handles-garbage-all-wrong/
• A Future Without Garbage: Center for Zero Waste Design and ThinkWoven's Clare Miflin on Resilience, Persistence, and Reuse
  • https://www.madamearchitect.org/interviews/2024/8/12/clare-miflin
• Architectural Record: Introducing the 2026 Women in Architecture Awardees (Featuring Clare Miflin)
  • https://www.architecturalrecord.com/articles/18320-introducing-records-2026-women-in-architecture-awardees
• Center for Zero Waste Design Linktree
  • https://linktr.ee/cfzw_design
• Center for Zero Waste Design Instagram
  • https://www.instagram.com/cfzw_design/
• Clare Miflin's LinkedIn page:
  • https://www.linkedin.com/in/clare-miflin/
• Center for Zero Waste Design's LinkedIn page:
  • https://www.linkedin.com/company/center-for-zero-waste-design/

Credits

This episode was edited by Domenica Klamm. Music is by Daniel Rodríguez Vivas. Mixing is by Morgan Honaker.