Jul 20 - Bay Area Waste and Recycling Efforts Profiled
The San Francisco Chronicle published a Green Section today on information about how to curtail your waste and what people and organizations are doing already. Everything from how to start a "worm" bin in your home, where to recycle hard and even what to do with today's newspaper when you are done with it besides just tossing it in the recycling bin are in this section.
Currently, the state of California diverts 54% of trash from landfills, a number that has steadily increased since the passage of AB 939 in 1989 that required the state to reach a 50% goal in 2000. This goal however wasn't met until 2005. Increase in the state's population has been one cause of the problem, as well an more and more commercial waste being thrown into landfills. Commercial trash can account for as much as 60& of the waste sent to landfills. CAW Executive Director Mark Murray says in the San Francisco Chronicle,
"We need to update the law to recognize that the waste stream and the waste generating system has changed since 1989. We need to reduce the amount of packaging we're producing."
Check out information about the zero waste policies at the Anheuser-Busch brewery in Fairfield, how to start a worm bin, learn more about how SF's waste goes to Jepsen Praire, and some tips on how to make your home more recycling friendly.
What Else You Can Do
- FIND more tips and ideas for leading a more eco-friendly life in household tips and the rest of CAW's Living Green section.
| Photo Courtesy of San Francisco Chronicle / Michael Maloney |