Weekly 12

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/04/01/MNF316N0CV.DTL

Almost 2,000 restaurants, 2080 large apartment complexes, and 50,000 single family homes are making San Francisco a greener place to live. Each participant places compost (old food, grass clippings, etc.) in a green bin for garbage trucks to pick up daily. The compost is then taken to farmers who use it for fertilizer for their crops. In one year, 105,000 tons of waste turns into 20,000 tons of compost for over 10,000 acres of farming. This measure has substantially decreased waste and farming production costs. The crops that are grown return to feed the bay area—thus, the food comes full circle. The compost also stores carbon, which prevents it from destroying the atmosphere. San Francisco also sells the compost (at a low cost) which creates an additional source of revenue for the City.

This policy was enacted at a City level but its affects reach a regional and state level (some of the farms were not in San Francisco) As a City measure, San Francisco wants to eliminate ¾ of waste from making it to landfills by 2010: food constitutes 1/3 of that waste. Other cities and counties around San Francisco, seeing the obvious logic and efficiency in the project, are following suit: largely to abide by a California state law that requires all cities to substantially decrease waste going to landfills. Thus all three regions are affected, but again, it is the City that is officially enacting the sustainable measure.

Waste Management is largely a City duty for good reason. The state is far too large, and demands vary too much, for an effective waste management system to exist at a state level. Furthermore, although this policy really affects the regional level, as Wheeler pointed out “…this is the weakest level in terms of government institutions and public understanding.” Thus, citizens or cities as a whole might not abide by a regional sustainable act. Regions simply do not have as much political power as individual cities.

However, both of these governments can do a lot to help the cities. Laws can be passed at these levels (and perhaps some funding and support can be accrued) to aid local governments. As Wheeler pointed out in chapter 9, states wield an incredible amount of power that can influence the enactment of sustainable measures. Cities are already responding to the state law of reducing waste going to landfills. Thus, it is reasonable to assume, that cities will also respond if states mandate that each city pick up compost items from willing participants daily—especially if some form of incentives were involved. Regions can further facilitate the process—like spreading information about the program and getting more farmers outside of San Francisco involved, and perhaps more participants as well.

Again, as this measure largely affects a regional area, it would be ideal if it could be enacted at this level. And in time, it might be. The downside of a city implemented plan is that many cities do not have farms in or around their communities—thus the city cannot as effectively pick up waste and distribute compost as a region could. However, this is really a bottom-up measure (individual citizens did this on their own before the City picked it up) and as more people become involved and passionate about this form of sustainable living, it may very well allow regional governments to become more involved and influential.