A Trashy Topic

I thought that title might get your attention!  In San Francisco, trash has become the talk of the town.  Overflowing black garbage bins are so passé.  Multi-material recycling containers are entirely de rigueur.  And now it is not only cool to compost, it is the law! 

On October 21^st 2009, the San Francisco Universal Recycling and Composting Ordinance began requiring all businesses and residents of our city to separate refuse into recyclables, compost and trash.  Those who do not comply will be subject to fines, fees or liens on their property or business. 

Watch out, ye citizens of our fair city, the garbage police have arrived.  I wholeheartedly welcome their posse and endorse their proliferation across our once-fair land.

In May of 2008, after touring San Francisco transfer facility, which used to be called the dump before its sexy makeover by Recology, I commented, “Everyone needs a compost container in the kitchen.  If we really want to contribute to reducing the stress on our environment and to safeguarding the health of our planet’s creatures and organisms, we all have to learn why it should be against the law to throw an apple core in the trash.”

I was kidding. 

And while I doubt that anyone from City Hall read that post, I am very happy to live in a place where the people who are in a position to empower citizens to respect our environment have taken that responsibility seriously.

Now, let’s not fool ourselves.  There are PLENTY of people who would not agree.

Certainly there will be a disgruntled and inconvenienced local population of taxpayers who do not appreciate being micro-managed by our green Mayor, his can-do Department of the Environment and our progressive Board of Supervisors.

No doubt our civic leaders will hear from these irate citizens, telling them where they can stick their rotten banana peels.

But months from now, when our green bin protocols become a seamless - and painless - matter of routine these naysayers may wonder what the fuss was all about.

We are spoiled in San Francisco.  Our waste management infrastructure is world class and our only task as residents is to put it to good use. 

Mayor Newsom and his team are working against a set of metrics that include reaching a goal of zero waste by 2020.  What that means is that over the next decade, we will not only have to amend our disposal habits, but also take a hard look at our consumption volumes and our commitment to reuse many items we would normally pitch into our blue or black collection bins. 

Just because a glass pickle jar can be recycled doesn’t mean it should skip becoming a soup container or a piggy bank.  We win when we discover the utility in everyday objects that were once thrown away without a second glance. 

More than anything a state of mind has to accompany the shift.  It is a point of personal pride that my huge black garbage can is less than half full at the end of every week.  At the same time my compost container, of equal 32-gallon size, brims with Biobags up to the lid. 

I am a rookie.  Less than two years ago, I thought composting was for farmers, not city moms with small kitchens and weekly trash pick-up.  But once I understood how harmful the organic matter from our household becomes in the landfill, I simply shifted some long-standing habits and now it pains me to toss food in the trash.

My kids roll their eyes in unison when I politely ask the counter girls at our favorite yogurt shops where I can compost my cup.  I mean really, if you go to the trouble to serve organic dairy products with compostable utensils, why in the world would you forget the green bin at the door?  It is so very simple.  And I figure that if I keep asking, one day it will happen.

The same psychology holds true as we attempt to make San Francisco THE example the rest of our country should follow.  We need to raise our own bar and pepper our tourist areas with the enabling services we enjoy in our homes.  

Hello...where are the recycling and composting receptacles in Fisherman’s Wharf?  We have the awesome potential to inspire millions of tourists to demand a similar commitment from their own hometowns from Bombay to Birmingham. Clearly our infrastructure can deliver so hopefully our parks and public spaces are soon to be outfitted with state of the art collection capabilities.

While we are on the subject of responsible disposition, SF Environment launched a pilot drug mail-back program that I recently used and it is fantastic.  After ridding our shelves of expired Sudafed, Tylenol and prescription medications, I deposited everything into envelopes provided by Sharps Rx Takeaway and simply dropped them at our local post office.  For free.  Yes, for free.

The process is simple and critical to perform.  When we toss our medications in the trash, or wash them through our water system, they make their way back into our environment.  They are causing significant harm to the integrity of our natural resources and they are powerfully circling back to our very own faucets and food supply.

I applaud our city for not only enabling healthier habits, but for demanding them in the first place.  

Wendell Berry, one of our country's much-lauded agrarian voices, wrote, "The care of the Earth is our most ancient and most worthy, and after all our most pleasing responsibility.  To cherish what remains of it and to foster its renewal is our only hope."  

It took a trip to the dump to teach me how to take ownership of my family's refuse.  For others, it might require a hefty fine.  Or a reduced garbage bill.  Or maybe a walk along Crissy Field as the ruby sky melts into our gorgeous Bay.

The motivation is irrelevant.  The action is essential.  So bring on the compost buckets, worm bins and Biobags!  Let’s step up and show our country how it’s done.