What is the history of waste reduction in machine design and their application?

Question

What is the history of waste reduction in machine design and their application?

Answer 1

It is the history of engineering.  Consider the origin of the fire-pot to contain fire so that environment was not wantonly destroyed yet fire could be available "on call".  (Only the term "engineer" cannot be traced farther back than circa 1250)

"The history of the concept of "engineering" stems from the earliest times when man began to make clever inventions, such as the pulley, lever, or wheel, etc. The exact etymology of the word engineer, however, is a person occupationally connected with the study, design, and implementation of engines. The word "engine", derives from the Latin ingenium (c. 1250), meaning "innate quality, especially mental power, hence a clever invention."[7] Hence, an engineer, essentially, is someone who makes useful or practical inventions."¹

"Term ‘ecology’ (oekologie) defined first by Ernst Haeckel in 1866: “The comprehensive science of the relationship of the organism to the environment” "²