California Gets It Right

The Palisadian-Post has partnered with locally founded environmental nonprofit Resilient Palisades to deliver a weekly “green tip” to our readers. This week’s tip was written by Sheda Morshed

Every year, California’s legislature approves new laws aimed at improving our working and living conditions. Last year, there were over 770 new laws. Two of the laws going into effect this year can create huge strides in lowering every Palisadian’s eco-footprint.

Senate Bill 1383 requires residents and businesses to divert all food waste from landfill-destined trash. This is a tremendous step to curb the Golden State’s output of methane—a greenhouse gas that’s approximately 30 times more potent at trapping heat than carbon dioxide (over a century). And decomposing organic waste in landfills is the third-largest human source of methane in the U.S.—so this law has a big potential to help our future.

In the city of Los Angeles, the Bureau of Sanitation expects curbside pickup to “begin by next summer.” But why wait? As is the case with most sustainable solutions, local is key.

To reduce the emissions of transporting your food waste to a faraway facility, consider a local composting solution: at home, through a drop-off or using a pickup service. LACompost and CompostableLA are two great resources for all these solutions. There are even countertop e-composters on the market today—so no matter what your lifestyle, there’s a local solution out there for you and your family.

Starting on June 1, restaurants will no longer be able to hand out plastic utensils without an affirmative customer request under Assembly Bill 1276. This law is designed to address our dire plastic pollution problem by helping us rethink our addiction to plastics, especially where zero-waste alternatives are readily accessible. Plastic trash is poisoning our land, water, marine life and food systems.

Consider purchasing reusable utensil sets for your family and visit resilientpalisades.org/zero-waste-team for tips, local resources, and events about zero-waste living. If you’re interested in hosting a live composting demo for your neighbors, write us at connect@resilientpalisades.org.

Alternatively, stay tuned for updates from Cal Recycles and the LA Bureau of Sanitation.