Zero Waste

Zero Waste in Marin County 

 All of the cities and towns in Marin joined effort after California passed the Integrated Waste Management Act of 1989. "The Act established a new approach to managing California’s waste stream and mandated goals of 25 percent diversion of each city and county’s waste from disposal by 1995 and 50 percent diversion by 2000" (Zero Waste Marin, 2018).
Since the cities of Marin decided to join effort to decrease waste production in Marin, the public and private waste agencies have worked together to develop Marin’s Integrated Waste Management Plan. They also created the programs necessary to meet the mandates of the Integrated Waste Management Plan. In 1996, the partnership forged with the MOU led Marin’s cities and the County to form the Marin Hazardous and Solid Waste Joint Powers Authority (JPA).

Marin is currently aiming to reach a zero waste goal by 2025. Each town in Marin offers free composting services and free recycling. In Mill Valley, where I live, waste management really encourages residents to recycle and compost by making it as easy as possible. Recycling is mixed all together and sorted at the waste management site. They also make it easy to recycle electronics, hazardous materials, and provide information on how to recycle materials that they do not process themselves like construction waste. See https://zerowastemarin.org/residents/recycling-disposal-reuse-guide/
Marin county had decreased their waste by over 90% with recycling and composting. In addition to recycling, I compost all of our food scraps as well as any paper that gets wet from food.

A few years back, I heard about Bea Johnson, the women mentioned in the zero waste Ted Talk. Bea is a local and lives in Mill Valley and is currently living a zero waste life. I found her story inspiring because she has a family of four and produces no more than a shoebox of trash each year. She doesn't buy anything that she cannot recycle or compost. When I read an article about her five years ago, I purchased cloth napkins and paperless paper towels that I used on a daily basis to reduce waste in our house. At that time, I also switched to using baking soda and vinegar as our household cleaning supplies. However, I could do more. I could bring jars to the store to fill with bulk items and bags for my produce.  I could also eat in rather than taking out food at restaurants or only take out of restaurants that use compostable containers.

Why doesn't USF provide composting on campus? Isn't it the law in SF to compost?
Here is a link to Bea Johnson's blog on how to live a zero waste lifestyle.
https://zerowastehome.com/blog/

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Diaster Prepardness

Image
With the extremely poor air quality last week, being prepared for the next natural hazard seems obvious. The city of Mill Valley where I live is engaging in creating a resilient community. Mill Valley fire department is helping neighborhoods become FireWise by educating individual home owners and the collective neighborhood on ways to reduce the risk of fire. FireWise is a fire risk reduction program from the National Fire Protection Association. The fire department chief has visited each neighborhood to hold meetings on this topic. Once a neighborhood has implemented the recommendations that include removing certain brush and debris, cutting back on trees, and eliminating all flammable chemicals, it is certified as FireWise by the fire department. With each additional neighborhood contributing to the FireWise program, the overall Mill Valley community becomes safer and more resilient. As a registered nurse, I am a volunteer for the Disaster Healthcare Volunteers. In the case of a
Read more

Air pollution

Image
Here’s a super brief introduction to air pollution. Simply put, air pollution are chemicals that we inhale that cause negative health effects. Some air pollutants are naturally sourced chemicals like those created from fires, while others result from man-made industrial sites or vehicles. Examples of air pollutants include volatile organic compounds (VOCs,) carbon monoxide (CO), nitrogen oxides NO x , sulfur dioxide SO 2 , particulate matter (PM), and lead (Pb). Unfortunately, these chemicals can create secondary chemicals in the atmosphere resulting in nitric or sulfuric acid rain. Air quality is regulated by government in hopes of keeping us safe. The Clean Air Act set restrictions on the amounts of VOCs, CO, NO x , SO 2 , PM, and Pb that was allowed to be released into the atmosphere. I live in Marin county, the land of environmentally conscious people and the land without any industry produced air pollutants. For a county that prides itself in healthy living, the air q
Read more

Environmental Health Home Assessment

Image
It is easy to passively live in our homes without consideration of potential environmental toxins. After completing this assessment, I am grateful that I do not have a high risk of environmental exposures in my home. While I do have emergency disaster supplies, this list is a reminder that I need to update those supplies.  After listening to the TED talk from Arlene Blum about flame retardants, I am devoted to checking all of furniture and bedding for toxic chemicals. In addition, I will be going through all of my children's toys to check for toxic plastic chemicals.  Comment on other blogs: Monica: It is crazy to stop and think about the possible toxic products in your home. Candles seem so harmless, and so do fragrances. I agree. Franny: I agree that this exercise makes you stop and think about what things in our homes can possible make us sick. 
Read more