Trash Can Police

I returned from my travels on Thursday evening. Steve was quick to put out our trash cans (one black, one blue and one green) for pick up early Friday morning. Imagine my surprise when I saw “barrel inspection” notices on two of the trash cans when I went out to my car on Friday morning!

Apparently the inspection notices were in line with a bill passed in 2022 to “monitor trash, recycling and organics barrels to minimize contamination.” 

According to the website wm.com, “The California State Legislature passed Senate Bill 1383 (SB 1383) in January 2022, which requires cities and counties to reduce organic waste disposal by 75% by 2025.”

The goal of the bill, apparently, is to “reduce organic materials going to the landfill, decrease greenhouse gas emissions and slow climate change.” While I agree these are important goals, I can’t help but ask myself why is it that California (Southern California particularly), which has such a high rate of homelessness and high gas prices (to name two problems), is spending money on having our trash inspected? Aren’t there better places to put our money?

And there is a really confusing component to this law: namely, into what bin do you put bagged organics (egg shells, food, etc.)? 

The term “organics” is driving some folks nuts because there is a

misunderstanding regarding what the terms “organic” and “organics” mean.

organic. In this context, the term “organic” does not refer to the type of product

purchased or how it was grown; rather, “organics” refer to food-related items. It’s confusing. So we called Burrtec and they said these items, either bagged or unbagged, should be put into the green waste container.   

Hopefully I’ll sort correctly and won’t receive a notice on my trash bins.