Hi there! 

I am a resident of Santa Cruz, CA and I am making efforts to change the city’s recology system to move toward Zero waste. Other cities nearby offer programs for residents to compost or recycle just about everything, Santa Cruz needs to get on board!

Currently our green bins are only being used to collect yard waste. The city does not collect food waste or soiled paper. The city only offers a $40 rebate for a $199 compost bin where you have to compost your own materials in your yard.  I am proposing for the city to collect food waste, soiled-paper, and plants, picked up weekly by the city, and composted into nutrient-rich soil to be used by local farms. 

Cities on every continent are rising to the challenge of delivering on the highest ambition of the Paris Agreement.

Waste management is one of the primary services that city governments provide and is a sector over which mayors exercise significant authority.

How come the Mayor of Santa Cruz, Donna Meyers, and City Council, are not taking this seriously?

Global waste generation is increasing faster than any other environmental pollutant. Therefore, action in this sector can have a much greater impact on reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Food waste is a particularly critical issue. Currently, one-third of all the food produced for human consumption is lost or wasted, amounting to 1.3 billion tonnes every year. When food waste decays in landfills, it produces methane, a greenhouse gas 87 times more potent than CO2 at retaining heat in the atmosphere over a 20-year period and already causing 25% of current global warming.

Yet when food scraps are separated and treated rather than sent to landfills, they can produce compost to grow new food and enhance the soil’s carbon capture capacity to pull CO2 from the atmosphere. and recover energy.

That is why, it is important our mayor and city council take action to transition towards a zero waste and more regenerative future.

This petition is for the city to:

• Implement source separated collection for food scraps and other organics and treatment infrastructure that recovers nutrients, energy and contributes to the restoration of carbon storage capacity in soils.

• Increase accessibility, awareness, scale and inclusivity of reduction, reutilization and recycling programmes and policies for all communities and neighbourhoods, investing in city wide communication and engagement efforts, offering resources in multiple languages, and ensuring benefits are distributed equitably across the city population.

• Publicly report every two years on the progress the city is making towards these goals.

Thank you for taking the time to read through this, together we can make efforts toward change!