--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: In looking at waste as an entirely…" description: "\"In looking at waste as an entirely modern, man-made idea, I stopped viewing garbage as garbage and instead slowly started to see it as a commodity.\" — ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/046/tom-szaky-54879_commodity_in-looking-at-waste-as-an-entirely-moder_422699.jpg" --- # In looking at waste as an entirely modern, man-made idea… ![“In looking at waste as an entirely modern, man-made idea, I stopped viewing garbage as garbage and instead slowly started to see it as a commodity.” quote by Tom Szaky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/046/tom-szaky-54879_commodity_in-looking-at-waste-as-an-entirely-moder_422699.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/046/tom-szaky-54879_commodity_in-looking-at-waste-as-an-entirely-moder_422699.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/046/tom-szaky-54879_commodity_in-looking-at-waste-as-an-entirely-moder_422699.jpg) > “In looking at waste as an entirely modern, man-made idea, I stopped viewing garbage as garbage and instead slowly started to see it as a commodity.” [Tom Szaky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-szaky/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Reframing waste as a resource shifts mindset from disposal to value creation. **In simple terms:** Seeing waste as valuable. Key Takeaway Identify and repurpose discarded materials. Themes sustainability economics innovation Mood optimistic pragmatic Type inspirational practical When to use this quote - Urban recycling programs - manufacturing - product design - entrepreneurship Key Concepts Circular economy resource valuation Questions to Reflect On - How can you turn everyday trash into a useful product? - What barriers exist in treating waste as a commodity? A Different Perspective Market demand may limit commodity value of certain waste streams. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Commodity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/commodity/) [Environment](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/environment/) [Garbage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/garbage/) [Garbage Instead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/garbage-instead-3743966/) [Ideas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ideas/) [Looking Waste](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/looking-waste-3743965/) [Made](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/made/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Modern](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/modern/) [Viewing Garbage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/viewing-garbage-3743964/) [Waste](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/waste/) [Waste Entirely](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/waste-entirely-3743967/) ## Related quotes > [“One person's garbage is another person's commodity.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aleksandar-hemon/one-person-s-garbage-is-another-person-s-commodity/) [Aleksandar Hemon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aleksandar-hemon/) > [There's this belief that some things can be taken seriously in an intellectual way, while some things are only entertainment or only a commodity.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-klosterman/there-s-this-belief-that-some-things-can-be-taken-seriously-in-an/) [Chuck Klosterman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-klosterman/) > [I would love to say there was some contemporary artist who's work really got me thinking, but lately I have just been trying to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cory-arcangel/i-would-love-to-say-there-was-some-contemporary-artist-who-s-work/) [Cory Arcangel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cory-arcangel/) > [I don't know if it's fair to say that it's a bad time for movies. It seems to me that throughout the entire history…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-h-macy/i-don-t-know-if-it-s-fair-to-say-that-it-s-a-bad-time-for-movies-it/) [William H. Macy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-h-macy/) > [Our bodies are garbage heaps: we collect experience, and from the decomposition of the thrown-out eggshells, spinach leaves, coffee grinds, and old steak bones…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natalie-goldberg/our-bodies-are-garbage-heaps-we-collect-experience-and-from-the/) [Natalie Goldberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natalie-goldberg/) > [Seasides so beautiful! Look at the garbage!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pauly-d/seasides-so-beautiful-look-at-the-garbage/) [Pauly D](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pauly-d/) > [“Sarah Cynthia Sylvia Stout Would not take the garbage out! She'd scour the pots and scrape the pans, Candy the yams and spice the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shel-silverstein/sarah-cynthia-sylvia-stout-would-not-take-the-garbage-out-she-d-scour/) [Shel Silverstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shel-silverstein/) > [Currently, it was leading him through a neighborhood that was on the downside of whatever curve you hoped you'd bought your property on the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/currently-it-was-leading-him-through-a-neighborhood-that-was-on-the/) [Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/) > [Many musicals you can take and throw in the garbage can because no one took the time to write a song you can care…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dennis-deyoung/many-musicals-you-can-take-and-throw-in-the-garbage-can-because-no/) [Dennis DeYoung](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dennis-deyoung/) > [I will be known forever as the Puppy who chased a cutpurse and caught fish garbage instead. My descendants will pretend I'm not in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tamora-pierce/i-will-be-known-forever-as-the-puppy-who-chased-a-cutpurse-and-caught/) [Tamora Pierce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tamora-pierce/) > [Guns cause crime like flies cause garbage!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-neil-smith/guns-cause-crime-like-flies-cause-garbage/) [L. Neil Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-neil-smith/) > [I take apart restaurant menus everywhere I go. I kind of tick off a lot of chefs in restaurants because I'll say, 'You can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/montel-williams/i-take-apart-restaurant-menus-everywhere-i-go-i-kind-of-tick-off-a/) [Montel Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/montel-williams/) > [If you listen to the radio for a whole hour there's maybe one decent song. The rest is mass-produced garbage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/if-you-listen-to-the-radio-for-a-whole-hour-there-s-maybe-one-decent/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [Capitalism, communism ... it's all garbage.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mstislav-rostropovich/capitalism-communism-it-s-all-garbage/) [Mstislav Rostropovich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mstislav-rostropovich/) > [I'd take garbage, and I'd glue them together and create inventions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-makosinski/i-d-take-garbage-and-i-d-glue-them-together-and-create-inventions/) [Ann Makosinski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-makosinski/) ## More by Tom Szaky > [I've always learned on-the-job, in real time. A problem comes up; I research it, and try to solve it. You can't study to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-szaky/i-ve-always-learned-on-the-job-in-real-time-a-problem-comes-up-i/) [Tom Szaky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-szaky/) > [“The idea of finding value in what people are willing to pay to get rid of it one of the fundamental backbones of ecocapitalism,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-szaky/the-idea-of-finding-value-in-what-people-are-willing-to-pay-to-get/) [Tom Szaky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-szaky/) > [The challenging part is in the beginning; its a leap of faith. But I think the most important thing is to just do it.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-szaky/the-challenging-part-is-in-the-beginning-its-a-leap-of-faith-but-i/) [Tom Szaky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-szaky/) > [If you are at all successful in your business, be prepared to never have another good day or bad day at work. 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It is the repository of the inner divine,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sue-monk-kidd/i-eventually-found-that-the-soul-is-more-than-an-immortal-commodity/) [Sue Monk Kidd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sue-monk-kidd/) > [Exploitation and manipulation produce boredom and triviality; they cripple man, and all factors that make man into a psychic cripple turn him also into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erich-fromm/exploitation-and-manipulation-produce-boredom-and-triviality-they/) [Erich Fromm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erich-fromm/) > [It is an anomaly that information, the one thing most necessary to our survival as choosers of our own way, should be a commodity…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-j-liebling/it-is-an-anomaly-that-information-the-one-thing-most-necessary-to-our/) [A. J. Liebling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-j-liebling/) > [Petrol price is a deregulated commodity, price of which is decided by our oil marketing companies based on input cost and other parameters.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/veerappa-moily/petrol-price-is-a-deregulated-commodity-price-of-which-is-decided-by/) [Veerappa Moily](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/veerappa-moily/) > [Oil painting did to appearances what capital did to social relations. It reduced everything to the equality of objects. Everything became exchangeable because everything…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-berger/oil-painting-did-to-appearances-what-capital-did-to-social-relations/) [John Berger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-berger/) > [The great lesson in microeconomics is to discriminate between when technology is going to help you and when it's going to kill you. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlie-munger/the-great-lesson-in-microeconomics-is-to-discriminate-between-when/) [Charlie Munger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlie-munger/) > [It were good to know how much hay an acre of every sort will bear; how many cattle the same weight of each sort…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-petty/it-were-good-to-know-how-much-hay-an-acre-of-every-sort-will-bear-how/) [William Petty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-petty/) > [Barge traffic on the Mississippi River represents the most efficient, most cost-effective, most environmentally sound means of transporting commodity goods from this region of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonard-boswell/barge-traffic-on-the-mississippi-river-represents-the-most-efficient/) [Leonard Boswell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonard-boswell/) > [Regardless of the importance of known evidence to the contrary, the arts are generally regarded as being so much entertaining fluff, a commodity that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-danby/regardless-of-the-importance-of-known-evidence-to-the-contrary-the/) [Ken Danby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-danby/) > [The proposition of Mr. Ricardo, which states that a rise in the price of labour lowers the price of a large class of commodities,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-malthus/the-proposition-of-mr-ricardo-which-states-that-a-rise-in-the-price/) [Thomas Malthus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-malthus/) > [To be happy you have to know what you really want. After all, you can never have enough of what you didn't want in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-holden/to-be-happy-you-have-to-know-what-you-really-want-after-all-you-can/) [Robert Holden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-holden/) [Browse all 673 Commodity quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/commodity/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "In looking at waste as an entirely modern, man-made idea, I stopped viewing garbage as garbage and instead slowly started to see it as a commodity.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Tom Szaky" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-szaky/in-looking-at-waste-as-an-entirely-modern-man-made-idea-i-stopped/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Commodity" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-szaky/in-looking-at-waste-as-an-entirely-modern-man-made-idea-i-stopped/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/046/tom-szaky-54879_commodity_in-looking-at-waste-as-an-entirely-moder_422699.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/046/tom-szaky-54879_commodity_in-looking-at-waste-as-an-entirely-moder_422699.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/046/tom-szaky-54879_commodity_in-looking-at-waste-as-an-entirely-moder_422699.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“In looking at waste as an entirely modern, man-made idea, I stopped viewing garbage as garbage and instead…” — Tom Szaky", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Tom Szaky", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-szaky/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "In looking at waste as an...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-szaky/in-looking-at-waste-as-an-entirely-modern-man-made-idea-i-stopped/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-szaky/in-looking-at-waste-as-an-entirely-modern-man-made-idea-i-stopped/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```