When Semantics Matter: Landfill vs Trash
By Jocelyn Saurini
TinyGreenBubble.com
8.11.11
I recently returned from a trip to San Francisco. Now, I love San Francisco just like most neo-hippies do, but I do not think that it is the perfect city like many will profess (If I did, I would live there). I say this so that you don’t think that I’m one of those girls on a bandwagon about how San Francisco does everything right. Believe me, I am not that girl. However, the city has nailed one thing fabulously: They’ve found a way to make residents think about landfill size every single time they throw things away.
If you’re not up on San Francisco environmental policy (and I was not), the city is working towards becoming a zero waste city….Part of this effort involves mandating composting. As part of that effort, most residential and business buildings (including movie theaters, which I thought was awesome), have implemented new, color-coded trash containers. Blue is for recyclable items like cans and plastics. Green is for compostable items. And black, black is for “landfill” items.
That’s right. The vast majority of the new “trash” containers don’t say “trash.” They say landfill. And that may seem like a fairly insignificant thing. It’s just a word, right? Except that it’s not just a word. When you take an item and throw it into a container that says “landfill,” you aren’t given the luxury of not having to think about where that item will ultimately end up or how it will impact the planet. You are slapped with it right in the face – this item is going to add to the amount of non-biodegradable material taking up space in landfills.
Nicely played, San Francisco. This is a technique that could work well outside of the ultra-green tendencies of a city like San Fran. Part of getting people to change behaviors is getting them to understand and internalize the impact. Much like we don’t understand food sources because we no longer see animals or fields of wheat daily and instead just see grocery store aisles, the impact of landfills isn’t something intimate to our daily experience. But forcing us to be aware of and acknowledge the issue every time we casually throw something away, that would at a minimum begin a process of planning the though that “waste doesn’t just disappear” into the minds of America.
It’s a movement we can hope catches on – the idea of not thinking of trash as “trash” but instead thinking of it as “an item in a landfill that I personally put there.”

http://www.tinygreenbubble.com/eco/environmental/recycling/item/2036-when-semantics-matter-landfill-vs-trash

Excerpts from an article in PALO ALTO WEEKLY 7/26/11

by GANNADY SHEYNER

The contract with Kirby Canyon Landfill is a “put or pay” contract, which requires the city to deliver a specific amount of waste to the landfill per year or pay Waste Management, the company that owns the landfill, for every ton that falls short of the annual commitment.

The city paid $171,283 to Kirby Canyon in 2009 for the 4,739 tons of trash that didn’t get delivered to the landfill. This year, the city will have to pay the landfill an estimated $648,218 for the 17,633 tons of garbage that won’t be deposited there, according to a Public Works estimate.

Those numbers are expected to remain in the $650,000 to $700,000 range for each year the contract is in place. If the city implements mandatory composting and recycling, further decreasing the trash flow, that figure could increase by $200,000, according to Public Works. Add a waste-to-energy plant in the Baylands, and the number goes up by another $350,000-$400,000 ([www.paloaltoonline.com see sidebar]).The city’s agreement doesn’t expire until 2021.

CHECK OUT THE PRE-TRAILER. WE ARE NOW WORKING ON THE TRAILER AND WILL KEEP YOU POSTED!

PRE-TRAILER FOR TRASH24

Composting for the Masses

IBTimes UK

Composting is the process of taking biodegradable waste and allowing it to breakdown through a natural process that results in a nutrient-rich fertilizer/soil amendment. Everyone should compost. It’s so easy and a great way to do your small part to help our environment.

Why compost?

Why not? Landfills are overflowing. We produce significantly more waste than we can process. In the United States, 21% of that waste is yard and food waste that could be handled through other disposal options. So, why send something to a garbage dump to sit when at very little cost and effort, we can benefit from it right here at home? Compost reduces the waste at landfills, adds to soil fertility, improves aeration, and encourages healthy root development in plants.

Who should compost?

In short, everyone should. In some countries and cities, composting is mandatory. For example, in San Francisco not composting your food waste could result in a $500 fine. Regardless of your living arrangements apartment, condo, house or farm - the opportunity to compost exists and should be undertaken as an easy step toward a greener lifestyle.

Read More…

SAN FRANCSICO: Restaurants Take The Next Steps In Being Green Asking Customers To Bring In Food Containers.

A San Francisco restaurant is promoting sustainability by giving customers a financial incentive for bringing their own food containers.

http://www.ktvu.com/video/28353326/index.html

San Francisco named ‘Greenest city in US’

San Francisco is the most sustainable city in the US and Canada, according to a new analysis of 27 major metropolitan areas in both countries.

One of San Francisco’s greatest green strengths is waste, where it ranked number one among all the cities studied. It was the first community in the US to require residents and businesses to separate recyclables and compost material from regular trash.

Read more…

Send an Email in Support of San Francisco Recycling Programs

Check out SFRecycler and send out an email in support of San Francisco Recycling Programs. We may have the most successful recycling and composting programs in America, but we can always do better, and we can always use more support!

Jeremy Irons in Bay Area

Recently, the BBC and Jeremy Irons visited the Bay Area to document San Francisco’s exceptionally successful recycling and compost programs. Did you see him while he was here? If so, let us know!

About 4000 SFians Take Off With 18 Truckloads Of Compost At Giveaway

Volunteers for the city’s recycling and urban composting program gave out more than 18 truckloads of compost today to about 4,000 San Francisco residents, according to representatives for the city.

Read more…

Go Green! USPS Stamp Set

Eli Noyes has a new project with the USPS, a Go Green stamp set on easy steps anyone can take to reduce their environmental footprint and make for a better environment. Check out his website at Alligator Planet to find out more information on this amazing project, and see even more of Eli’s amazing work.