The Ocean Beach Planning Board voted unanimously (8-0) Wednesday, March 7, to pass a resolution that would set zero waste as an eventual goal for San Diego’s waste diversion programs. The measure was proposed by Zero Waste San Diego, Ocean Beach Planning Board Chair Tom Gawronski said.
As part of the nonprofit California Resource Recovery Association, Zero Waste San Diego promotes waste reduction, reuse, recycling and composting.
While the passed resolution will not affect Ocean Beach or city policy, it does reflect community support for Zero Waste’s efforts to reduce waste locally.
“[Zero Waste San Diego] want to get support “¦ so they can take it to the city and say, ‘Hey, this is what people want,'” Gawronski said.
The Zero Waste measure recommends that the city divert 75 percent of trash from the Miramar Landfill by the year 2010, Gawronski said. This goal is more ambitious than the state mandated diversion rate of 50 percent and the city’s current rate of 52 percent.
According to the city’s Environmental Services Department, San Diegans throw away enough recyclables to completely fill Petco Park five times each year. The additional “” and unnecessary “” waste shortens the Miramar Landfill’s lifespan by seven months each year. Currently, the landfill is expected to reach capacity by 2012, forcing the city to seek another location to bury its trash.
According to Gawronski, Zero Waste intends to use commitments from local planning boards to encourage the city to provide services and other programs that make reducing waste and recycling easier.
“Zero Waste is a goal,” Zero Waste San Diego Chair Laura Anthony said. “It may not be attainable, but it’s something to look forward to. It’s not going to happen through recycling alone. Businesses have to be on board, the government has to be on board and consumers have to be on board.”
The resolution also includes “” but does not specify how to go about “” encouraging residents, business owners and agencies to use, recycle and reuse materials as much as possible. Gawronski said that not only is waste reduction feasible but it can save companies a lot of money.
“These policies work in the short-term return,” he said. “It’s not pie-in-the-sky long time from now, but they make sense in the short run as well.”
Anthony said it is important that individuals as well as businesses recycle and reduce waste. People must look at their trash “” from yard clippings to an empty water bottle “” through the lens of waste reduction in order to get to that 75 percent diversion rate, she said.
Gawronski said that he sees yard clippings and other green waste every Monday morning in Ocean Beach trash bins. And as someone who composts, he said much of it could make a difference, not only by diverting green waste away from the landfills where it decomposes and emits methane but back into the ground to nourish the land.
For more information on the association, visit www.crra.com. A copy of the Zero Waste Resolution is available at www.zerowastesandiego.org.