Page 8 - Sonoma County Gazette - October 2017

What da ya mean, Greenin’?
BLUEPRINT cont’d from page 1
By Rebel Fagin
Greening is a process for diverting waste away from the landfill (dump) as
and beauty of the county through the conservation of scenic hillsides, greenbelts, and natural resource lands.
much as possible and into compost, recycling and repurposing. You will find Greeners at foot races, concerts, festivals and other public events. Greening is front line climate change push back.
General Manager Bill Keene has been with the District for nine years. “While we are proud of our accomplishments to date, our most important successes are yet to come,” says Keene. “As we look ahead to the next 15 years, we face exceptional challenges — population growth, escalating land values, drought, increased pressure on farmland, open space, and wildlife habitat, and the growing impacts of climate change.”
70% of all waste that goes into our land lls is organic waste.
Organic waste releases methane and other greenhouse gases as it decomposes. When we compost it right, these gases can be converted into biofuel which
can be used to run public buses. This is a double win for the climate. Not only has compost been prevented from releasing methane into the atmosphere, but municipal bus companies don’t have to buy gas from the fossil fuel companies, leaving that gas in the ground where it belongs. We can compost anything that has been alive since the meteor wiped out the dinosaurs. This means
Our Green Future
food waste, paper and cardboard. It doesn’t mean diapers, sanitary napkins or treated wood. Cigarette butts are a huge problem. They can turn methane- heavy compost into landfill. All tobacco products must go into the landfill.
With these multiple challenges in mind, the District began work earlier this year on the Vital Lands Initiative, a comprehensive plan that will guide the organization’s work for the next 15 years. The Vital Lands Initiative uses the best available science, data and technical information to identify strategies for prioritizing conservation of our agricultural and natural lands, scenic views and greenbelt areas, as well as protecting land for recreation, education, and urban open space within communities.
Recycling at public events comes down mostly to plastics.
The Vital Lands Initiative also relies heavily upon community input
and involvement gathered through public meetings, technical workshops, stakeholder interviews, polling, community events, and online outreach. The District hosted a series of public scoping meetings in March of this year and is now asking the community to weigh in on the plan’s draft goals, objectives, and strategies before taking a full draft plan to its Board of Directors in December.
You can also recycle dry cardboard, dry paper and metals. Recycled plastics comes back as decking, recycling containers, furniture and other useful objects. Plastic is made from oil. The more we reuse plastic, the more oil can stay in the ground where it belongs.
Don’t recycle little plastic utensils for they get caught up in the machinery at the final stage of recycling and cost the companies thousands of dollars when they have to shut down the machines to remove them. These can be replaced by compostable utensils made from bamboo, corn and potatoes. Better yet, bring your own utensils. It can become a habit, like bringing your bags with you when you go shopping.
The District invites the community to provide input at the following public meetings:
• Thursday, October 12 - 6:00pm – 8:00pm - Petaluma Veterans
Memorial Building
• Saturday, October 14 |- 10:00am – 12:00pm - Community Church of
Sebastopol*
• Monday, October 16 - 6:00pm – 8:00pm - Santa Rosa Veterans
Memorial Building
• Tuesday, October 17 - 6:00pm – 8:00pm - Villa Chanticleer
(Healdsburg)
• Wednesday, October 18 - 6:00pm – 8:00pm - Sonoma Veterans
Memorial Building
*Note this meeting will be held on a Saturday morning. “Over the past several months, we have engaged with hundreds of
community members and groups through public meetings, workshops, and discussions with local leaders, partners, and technical experts,” said Keene. “Now we’re ready to share what we heard. We look forward to hearing from the community about whether the Vital Lands Initiative re ects their vision for land conservation in Sonoma County.”
Healthy Lands, Thriving Communities
Broken glass, jagged metal, treated wood, cigarette butts, diapers and incandescent light bulbs all go in the landfill. Florescent bulbs need to be set aside as toxic waste.
Repurposing gives items a second life. Hangers, clothes, pallets and sterno cans can all be repurposed. Sterno fuel is toxic waste and needs to be disposed of as such.
Greeners both sort materials and help celebrants understand what goes where and why. This is called eco-education; the impacts of which are phenomenal and show what humans are capable of with a minimal amount of effort.
Here are the results from one event in San Francisco earlier this year.
The diversion report showed that 1668 pounds of garbage had been produced. 700 pounds were composted, 700 pounds were recycled, 208 pounds were repurposed and 60 pounds of waste went to the land ll.
In Sonoma County we currently have a deficit in our capacity to be proper earth stewards. Unlike the immediate bay area, we have no composting facility. Oakland and San Francisco have laws requiring promoters of large events to Green them. While events here ranging from the Human Race to the Railroad Square Hootenanny do employee Greeners, it isn’t required. We need this law so that even events like Iron Man have to be part of the solution. With Recology as our waste diversion company this seems quite possible. We need to eco-educate and divert garbage as one form of climate change push back.
As a result of the District’s work, the Sonoma County community can take pride in its vision for conservation and its investments in over 112,000 acres
of working lands and natural areas. The District has helped to provide nearly 12,000 acres of protected land open for public recreation, including helping
to create 32 new parks, preserves, and public spaces. The District has also purchased 7,350 acres of land that has been added to existing State and Regional Parks. Moreover, the District has protected nearly every mountain adjacent
to the county’s major urban centers, including Fitch Mountain (Healdsburg), Taylor Mountain (Santa Rosa), and Montini Open Space Preserve (Sonoma) — offering opportunities for residents to get outdoors and experience the region’s natural beauty.
Rebel Fagin writes for the Sonoma County Peace Press and the Global Critical Media Literacy Project (gcml.org).
8 - www.sonomacountygazette.com - 10/17
The District has protected thousands of acres of land that contribute to healthy watersheds, ecosystems, and groundwater basins that provide clean, abundant drinking water for our community, and critical habitats for sensitive, threatened and endangered plant and animal species. Further, by working with farmers and ranchers to safeguard their land from the threat of subdivision and development, the District contributes to a thriving $650 million agricultural economy that features artisanal cheeses and dairy products, free-range meat and poultry, organic produce, world-class wine, and more.
For more information on the Vital Lands Initiative, please visit www.sonomaopenspace.org/vital-lands.