Davis composting for a greener community
Davis is known for being a green community. Not only does the town include The Co-op, over 31 parks, the UC Davis Arboretum and miles of paved bike paths, but it also has its own bioreactor landfill. Noted for many resident’s dedication to save the planet, Davis has proven its point: it is environmentally aware.
However, Davis has overlooked a vital factor of its green reputation; little efforts have been made to improve Davis’ trash services. Sure, Davis has the standard regulations of trash removal, but is that the limit to reducing trash? Here’s a suggestion: food waste composting.
In April of 2008, San Francisco’s Mayor Gavin Newsom passed a mandatory composting and recycling law that was planned to cut two-thirds of the 618,000 tons of waste San Francisco deposited in 2007 and reduce the emission of greenhouse gases. Currently, the law will fine residents who fail to sort their garbage properly.
Berkeley also followed suit and implemented a compost sector in its trash removal. The city provided its residents with small green buckets that are still used today to store all compostable items, which typically tend to be food scraps. According to my aunt and uncle, who are Berkeley residents, they have about three-fourths the trash they used to due to the available composting bucket.
Every day the average American throws away 4.5 pounds of garbage; 25 percent of that is compostable. Yard trimmings and food remains make up 23 percent of the U.S. waste stream. And although Davis does collect yard trimmings weekly, Davis continues to leave out the major component of food residuals. Without strict composting, people are unnecessarily contributing to global warning and growing landfills.
Composting, as small of a factor it may seem, is logical and crucial. No defamation intended, but Davis seems to be falling short of its highly regarded “green” reputation. From the looks of it, the Bay Area seems to be the greenest city around.
Come on Davis, let’s follow in San Francisco’s footsteps and compost. It would reduce trash (which would open up the opportunity to sign-up for the small trash can size and ultimately save residents money), capture and destroy 99.6 percent of industrial chemicals in contaminated air, reduce the need for chemical fertilizers and facilitate reforestation.
It’s time Davis takes on decomposing compost and devises its own mandatory compost system. Let’s reclaim the green title by overcoming the “yuck” factor and be even more environmentally responsible.
