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We coordinated a tour today at Oceanside’s  El Corazon Compost Facility for cities in LA’s San Gabriel Valley.  They are concerned; the Puente Hills Landfill is closing in 3 years, and they need to plan for proper organics management. The economics are driving this one.  Costs could double to $80 per ton for disposal.

In the City of Oceanside there is a Public-Private Partnership between the City and Agri Service, Inc. to operate the El Corazon Compost Facility: the contents of those Green Bins gets recycled locally.  El Corazon Compost Facility has composted over a million tons of “green waste” into value-added products; and none of it has gone to Alternative Daily Cover (ADC).  At the end of the day ADC = Landfill Cover. If you do not live in Oceanside, you may have been separating your “green waste”, and thinking that you were recycling it. But actually, you have just been separating it, and it ends up as a cover on a landfill.

What is a more sustainable solution? In order to determine the answer to this question, one must first know the answer to other questions. What is your organic waste stream? How can you first Reduce it? In your city, can you bring together your planning, permitting, parks, water, energy, and waste department heads? Can you look at a bigger picture to find shared threads of opportunity? What are your needs for organic amendments in your community? If you don’t know, ask. How can you reduce chemical, water, and energy demand by using organic amendments? Again, ask.

In southern California there are percieved barriers to siting composting facilities.  At this point, to me, it seems like these ‘barriers” have turned into convenient “excuses”.  We have become accustomed to creating all kinds of waste and then looking for solutions to deal with it. Let us start over.  Organics are a huge part of our waste stream; and they are different. We actually need organic amendments in order to keep out soils healthy.  Civilizations have failed throughout history because of eroded and unhealthy soils. So let’s restart here: how can we create less organic waste? And then how can we use the rest as a resource? Let us take responsibility for what we produce.  And let us find creative and innovative solutions to recycle and reuse it within our own communities.

Let us look at smaller community-based facilities, like El Corazon Compost Facility in Oceanside, that can serve a local population.  We do not need to fight to site larger regional facilities that no one wants in their backyard.  Do you want your neighbor’s waste? We can instead create community facilities that are a benefit and a resource for a community. We do not need to re-create the wheel.  We have a wonderfully successful model right here in Oceanside!