SF Food Waste (website)
(An excerpt from SF Food Waste, a website created by Feneyda Guerrero and Brittany Ladin in Food Media class)
San Francisco was the first city in the United States to implement mandatory recycling and composting laws in 2009 with the passage of then-Mayor Newsom’s mandatory ordinance, which requires all residences and businesses to separate their waste into three separate color-coded bins (green for compost, blue for recycling, and black for landfill). This law helps divert organic waste from entering the landfills and being used for other purposes, such as energy through anaerobic digestion (Yes, that’s a big, confusing term. Read about it here), a series of biological processes that creates biogas, which can be used for electricity, heat, and fuel.
The SF Department of Environment created a trash-monitoring system and a community outreach program to make sure that trash is being properly disposed of in the correct bins. Garbage collectors are now required to leave a note on the garbage bins to inform residents of improper waste separation, a fair warning to allow residences to fix the problem. Individuals who are found to repeatedly not comply with proper trash separation techniques will be fined.
Long, complicated story short — composting is mandatory. Why? How does it help the environment and where does our compost go? Below, you will find a flowchart showing you where exactly your food waste and other compost goes, from your home to the composting facility and back to your plate.
Government initiatives make up the foundation of solutions to food waste in San Francisco, and make it possible for the public to take action as well. There are multiple citizen-organized programs to reduce food waste. Extra food from restaurants and farms are being donated to public organizations, and being protected under the Emerson Good Samaritan Food Donation Act. With the help of this federal bill, public organizations and individuals are free to donate any food in good faith without fear of being held liable if it goes bad. This is only one example of how the government is making a big change in this big problem.
(For more information and stories about food waste in San Francisco, please visit our web at https://sffoodwaste.wordpress.com/. )
