Contact Stigmaweb's video: 1095 San Fracisco: America s Greenest City - Part I

Fill in the blanks based on what you listen: Each year, Americans throw away about 250 million tons of garbage. That's roughly four pounds per person per day. You can find all manner of trash in a landfill, old bent music stands, plastic bags, and a lot of items that could have been recycled, like bottles and cardboard. Beyond the obvious blight they cause, landfills create environmental damage and emit harmful greenhouse gases. They are monuments to waste. Those concerns have prompted San Francisco and a handful of other cities to aim for a once-unthinkable goal, zero waste. In 2009, San Francisco became the first city in the country to require that residents and businesses alike separate from their trash compostable items, like food scraps, and recyclable goods, like paper, metals, and plastic, into separate bins. And that has led to a big reduction in the amount of garbage headed to the landfill, according to San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee. "We're proud of the 80 percent diversion rate, the highest in the country, certainly of any city in North America." Lee likes to talk garbage. He talks the fact that the city's recycling and composting law has helped the city keep 80 percent of its waste out of landfills. The national recycling average is just 35 percent. But Lee wants the city to go even further. "All of us, as part of our culture of living here in the Bay Area, have appreciated the goals of our environment and climate change and doing everything that we can. And I think the 80 percent, we're not going to be satisfied with that, Spencer. We want 100 percent zero waste. This is where we're going." "Is that possible?" "I think it is. It is possible." "What do you do with a plastic bag? You can't recycle that." "Well, we have banned plastic bags in the city." San Francisco residents Sven Eberlein and Debra Baida think it's possible, too. They are avid recyclers and composters, so much so that they produce almost no trash. Baida lists what goes into the compost bin. "We put the wrappers from our butter. We put any meat or packaged -- that kind of packaged paper food, soiled food wrappings like that, tissues, Q-tips, paper napkins, which we don't have in our home. If those come in, those go there. Soiled paper plates, milk cartons." "I go and travel somewhere, and I'm, you know, I have, like, eat an apple and where's the compost? You know, and I have to throw it in the trash, and it just doesn't feel quite right, you know." But not all San Franciscans are as enthusiastic as Eberlein and Baida. Those who refuse to sort their garbage can face fines ranging from $100 to $1,000. "So, we're just in the neighborhood trying to educate people on composting and recycling and answer any questions that you may have." Teams of workers from the city are knocking on doors of residents who, unbeknownst to them, have had their garbage cans inspected by auditors early in the morning. On the evening we followed along, outreach workers were visiting homes which had put items in the wrong bins. "We have noticed that there's been a lot of confusion about what goes in what bin, and so I'm here to offer any answers to any questions you may have." "Ok! I think we're pretty good with recycling. I guess, could you give me a rundown on what goes in composting?" "If it was once alive and it's soil or food, then it is compostable." "OK." So far, only warnings have been given out. No fines have been imposed yet. And city officials say the move toward zero waste is catching on. San Francisco's 80-year-old private garbage company, which recently invented a new name for itself, Recology, has been investing in recycling and composting facilities, and trying to change San Franciscans' perceptions of their garbage.