This year, the focal point of the parade was the renaissance of community. The parade’s theme, “Doing Our Part” focused on helping the planet, embracing and keeping alive small town values, supporting neighbors, local businesses, and schools during these difficult times and of course, honoring and remembering our nation’s veterans.

Sustainable Mill Valley marched and biked at the parade with banners expressing our support for all us doing our part to save the planet.

April 21, 2010 – In an effort to meet Marin County’s diversion and zero waste goals, Mill Valley Refuse Service has included in the company’s annual rate application a proposal to add residential food waste composting services to all of its service areas, which include Mill Valley, Corte Madera, Tiburon, Belvedere and the unincorporated areas surrounding those cities.

If approved, the food waste composting service would allow residents to mix all food waste and food-soiled paper together with yard waste into the green cans that residents currently use for yard waste only. The company would then pick up these cans on a weekly, rather than the current bi-weekly, schedule.

The Marin Hazardous and Solid Waste Management Joint Powers Authority (JPA) has established a goal of 80% waste reduction in the next five years and “zero” disposal by 2025. The JPA recently concluded a zero waste feasibility study that identified food waste as comprising 23% of all waste disposed in Marin, and targeted food waste composting as an important way to reach diversion goals. The report estimates that households generate between 8 and 10 pounds of food waste per week.

Preserving landfill space by diverting food waste away from the landfill is just one benefit of a composting program. Rotting food waste buried in a landfill produces methane gas, which is a major source of global warming, so a composting program aids in the efforts to reduce such gasses. And food waste mixed with yard waste produces rich compost that can be put back into the earth, closing the recycling loop.

“We believe food waste composting is a service our customers want,” said Mill Valley Refuse Service spokesperson James Iavarone. “Articles about food waste collection in San Francisco and the East Bay have been appearing in the past few months, so now we’re getting calls asking when Marin is going to get this started.”

“I am so pleased with the leadership demonstrated by Mill Valley Refuse and the Redwood Landfill in bringing food waste composting to Marin County,” said Carol Misseldine, Sustainability Director with the City of Mill Valley. “Composting food scraps not only eliminates the greenhouse gas emissions from these materials when they’re landfilled, but also serves to create a nutritious soil amendment. Food scraps composting will help us achieve our Zero Waste goal, and I encourage everyone to participate fully.”

“Neighboring counties of San Francisco and Alameda have had this service available for years, and it is surprising Marin is so far behind on this one,” said Joan Irwin, Tiburon resident and Compost Educator with Full Circle Food/Energy. “One of the best things we each could do is to compost our food scraps; it reduces what goes into landfills while it feeds the earth. Since many people cannot compost in their backyards, curbside pickup of food scraps in green bins is the next best thing. I am frequently asked in my composting classes why we don’t have it. I respond, if you want it, tell your city council members, city manager, district representatives. It is in our hands.”

The current proposal from Mill Valley Refuse Service covers only residential food waste collection. Restaurants and supermarkets cannot participate at this time because the larger amounts of food waste generated by businesses would raise the ratio of food waste to yard waste beyond what The Redwood Landfill is permitted to accept. Another food-to-energy project in the works through the Central Marin Sanitation Agency would be able to handle food waste from commercial generators. Mill Valley Refuse will participate in that project when it comes online, Iavarone said.

The cost of adding residential routes to handle the new weekly service schedule for food waste composting averages $3 to $4 per month for customers in areas serviced by MVRS, according to the company. If approved, MVRS would begin a campaign to educate its customers about what can and cannot be composted in a variety of ways including posted information on their website, www.millvalleyrefuse.com, and public workshops held in partnership with the Environmental Forum of Marin.

“To produce good, clean compost,” Iavarone said, “it will be important for everyone to be sure they know exactly what can and cannot go in the composting carts. Basically, food waste, food-soiled paper and yard waste are okay, but no pet waste, plastic of any kind—including so-called bio-degradable plastic—glass or metal.”

Food waste collection for composting has already started in San Francisco and the East Bay. Marin’s Redwood Sanitary Landfill now has its permit to accept residential food waste mixed with yard waste for composting. If approved by town councils and sanitation boards in May or June, Mill Valley Refuse Service will be able to provide this service by July or August at the latest.

“We’ve already got the routes planned and the trucks available,” Iavarone said, “We’ll just need a short time after approval to hire qualified drivers, send out educational flyers and conduct the workshops so the program can be successful from the start.”

pas 4/22

                                       Bioplastics – Caution Advised

 The best alternative to single-use produce bags is no bag at all.  If that isn’t possible, a reusable bag can come in handy.  But what about the new bioplastic bags?

In this rapidly changing area, Green Sangha currently advises “caution.”

Government regulation over bioplastics is sparse.  Voluntary collaborations (visit www.sustainablebiomaterials.org and www.greencitiescalifornia.org) are working to keep up with new developments, to sift valuable innovation with potential merit from mere greenwashing.   Produce vendors may attempt to select among alternatives, but in an ever-changing environment, the “best” is very hard to discern.  Not all bioplastics are created equal, and the careful consumer needs to know more about the bioplastic bags that they are using. 

DEFINITIONS MATTER: IS THIS BAG REALLY COMPOSTABLE?  Many consumers choose bioplastics because they want a compostable product that is not derived from fossil fuel.  Whether a particular bag meets these criteria depends on what it is made of.  In short, a truly compostable bioplastic bag should meet the standards set by ASTM (American Society of Tests and Measures) D6400.  The Biodegradable Plastics Institute (BPI) will certify bags complying with ASTM 6400, if the manufacturer submits for certification.   Look for the following BPI logo:   

To clarify, here are key definitions:

• Degradable Bags: In terms of environmental protection, this designation is meaningless.   Just about any bag is “degradable”.  This means that it will eventually degrade in the right conditions (including chemical). “Eventually” could mean centuries! Degradable bags may be fossil fuel based.   
• Biodegradable Bags:  These bags must break down through the metabolism of naturally occurring microorganisms such as bacteria or fungi over a reasonable period of time.  “Reasonable” can cover a wide range of time, even many years.  Biodegradable bags may contain toxins. 
• Compostable:   These are what most people think of when we hear the term “biodegradable”. Compostable bags biodegrade relatively quickly, completely and safely (no known toxins) in a professionally managed municipal or industrial compost facility.  (It may take longer in a home compost system depending on system variables).  Look for BPI Certification to assure that the bag meets the ASTM D6400 test for compostability. Look for the BPI Logo (circle and leaf design above), or go to the BPI website (www.bpiworld.org), and look for the “Directory of Certified Compostable Products”. (If a bag is labeled “compostable”, but does not have a BPI label or other indication that it has passed ASTM standards, it may not be truly compostable).   

BPI Certification is not a guarantee that unwelcome byproducts are absent from the product.  For example, even with BPI Certification, a bag may be derived from crops containing genetically modified organisms (GMOs).  Look for a bag that is both BPI certified and states that it does not use GMOs.

 BIOPLASTICS DISPOSAL: WHERE DO THEY GO?

• RECYCLE?  No! NEVER put bioplastics in with recycling! Any potential for batch recycling of other plastics is ruined by contamination with bio-plastics.
• COMPOST?  Maybe! If you have a home compost pile or have a community compost program, bioplastics may be composted.  How fast these will breakdown in home compost depends upon how frequently the pile is turned over, moisture,  material content and temperature (“hot” compost is faster than “cold”).   Community Composting is a growing phenomenon, bit is not universally available.  There are few community-wide composting facilities in Marin TO DATE .  There are pilot compost programs, with hopes of introducing full-scale composting (including curbside pickup) soon.  TO DATE, Sonoma does not accept bioplastics for many reasons, mostly related to the rigors of meeting certified organic requirements.  Other localities, such as San Francisco and many East Bay cities, accept bioplastics, many with a program to educate consumers on which bioplastic to purchase.
• LANDFILL?  Without community or home composting, bioplastics go to landfill. In an airlocked landfill, no bag will decompose.

 SO, SHOULD WE USE THEM?  

Certified compostable bags  have a few “end of life” advantages: If the purchaser has a compost pile or lives in an area with community compost, the bags have the distinct advantage of biodegrading. They also have some “beginning of life” advantages as they do not use fossil fuels as a materials base.  Compared to paper, they are lighter, so use less energy in transport than paper (depending upon where the bags are coming from).  .

 But use bioplastics as a last resort.   In some important environmental ways, they are worse than paper or plastic, including water consumption and methane generation.   Many bioplastics are made from food sources, leaving less for the world’s hungry. Industrial agricultural practices for many crops are energy intensive, requiring petroleum to power farm machinery and irrigate growing crops, and to produce fertilizers, herbicides, and pesticides. The amount of energy used in continual manufacturing, production and transportation of throwaways is also a consideration. And, if bioplastics end up in cold oceans, not all will biodegrade.

 Let’s get away from our throw-out mentality and enter an era of producer and consumer responsibility.   When a bag is needed, choose a reusable. 

 Prepared by Cathy Rosekrans, March 18, 2010

Project Leader, Rethinking Plastics Campaign

Green Sangha (www.greensangha.org)

Nonsense: Marin Clean Energy is a risky scheme designed by politicians.

Fact: After seven years of study, three independent peer reviews, and participation and review by eighty stakeholders, forty task force members, seven city and town councils, the Marin County Board of Supervisors, the California Independent System Operator and the California Public Utilities Commission, the conclusion is that Marin Clean Energy has zero fatal flaws, presents zero risk to cities’ general funds, and will result in local greenhouse gas reduction.

Nonsense: MEA isn’t promising a more environmentally responsible energy mix.

Fact: MEA guarantees  a 25% (Light Green) and a 100% (Deep Green) renewable energy product compared to PG&E’s 14% renewable energy product.  MEA’s 2010 electric supply is 60% non-CO2 emitting. PG&E’s 2010 electric supply is only 51% non-CO2 emitting. MEA’s 2015 supply will be 85% non-CO2 emitting. PG&E’s 2015 supply will only be 63% non-CO2 emitting.

Nonsense: Opting out of MEA keeps your options open.

Fact: If you return to PG&E after the initial 120 day opt-out period, you will not have the option to return to MEA for 3 years. PG&E will not allow you to leave until after this time.

Nonsense: Marin Clean Energy presents the Marin taxpayers with an unacceptable risk.

Fact: The claim by a PG&E-funded special interest group is a complete distortion. Under the guidance of numerous financial and energy-sector advisors over several years, the Marin Energy Authority has developed a comprehensive business and implementation plan that examines every aspect of the program and minimizes any risk to consumers and taxpayers. The plans have been subject to public review and approval. Now is not the time to be engaging in risky ventures, which is why the Marin Energy Authority has taken such careful and deliberative steps to avoid risk. Indeed, the risk to Marin consumers and taxpayers may be higher under the current utility provider. Marin Clean Energy will provide greater rate stability and greater local control of rate setting. In addition, Marin Clean Energy can help Marin cities and the county reduce its greenhouse gas emissions (GHG), comply with AB32 GHG reduction goals and avoid far more costly measures to reduce GHGs.

Nonsense: Marin Clean Energy could create a $5,000 debt per Marin household.

Fact: Marin Clean Energy could not create a $5,000 debt per Marin household. This is a false allegation based on bond analysis on inaccurate assumptions and faulty analysis. Instead, Marin Clean Energy actually reduces financial impacts for customers by providing a choice of energy products and providers.

Nonsense: MEA lacks the expertise needed to run an energy program

Fact: Elected representatives manage the policy formation for numerous complex issues in their respective cities and in the County, including land use, public works projects, transportation, and energy. Furthermore, 1 in 4 Californians receive their electricity from public utilities, which generally charge their ratepayers 20% less than the investor-owned utilities.

Informational brochure: A mailer providing facts and details about the Marin Clean Energy program was sent to Phase I customers on Friday April 9th 2010. To view it, click here.

(Material provided by Marin Clean Energy)

Chris Nelder, a Marin resident, is an energy expert and active supporter of Marin Clean Energy.  Chris is a thought leader on local energy generation as the way tosolve our peak fossil fuel issues.

He has just published an article which I believe needs promoting on our web sites and anywhere people go to read professional opinion on CCA, prop 16 etc

http://www.getreallist.com/david-vs-goliath-in-the-energy-revolution.html

pas 4/6/2010

	Learn More
Marin Clean Energy Frequently Asked Questions Marin Energy Authority

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I have been published in the NYtimes! 
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/16/fashion/18spy.html

www.thezerowastehome.com

Also available is their new  Zero Waste page -  great  inspiration! http://www.millvalleyrefuse.com/zerowaste.htm

 
The Transportation Authority of Marin’s Safe Routes to Schools program is pleased to announce that its new SchoolPool trip matching program is now available on-line.  Parents from any school in Marin County can go to www.SchoolPoolMarin.org and register to reduce car trips to schools and the related greenhouse gases and traffic congestion.
 
SchoolPoolMarin.org is an online referral service from Safe Routes to Schools that connects families to travel to school together.  Registering is easy and free. Once a parent/guardian registers online, the trip share system provides a match list of other interested families who travel the same route to their school. The parents then contact each other to discuss carpooling, walking, biking or introducing their kids to be bus buddies.
 
Registrants also will help their school win the Green Ways to School Challenge award worth up to $2000.  Those who do not need a SchoolPool at this time can still register for the Green Ways to School Challenge to help their school.  For more information contact info@schoolpoolmarin.org .