OK, before anyone comes for me, hear me out.
Last year when MacKenzie Elmer, our environment reporter, told me the city of San Diego was rolling out green bins so residents could separate food scraps and yard clippings from their regular trash, I was intrigued.
Th city was doing this to divert food waste from the landfill. That’s because when organics rot, they produce methane. When that methane leaks out of landfills — and it does — it’s a big problem for the environment.
When the city delivered my green bin, and little kitchen pail, I was excited to try it out. But I quickly started running into problems, as many others did. I didn’t have enough yard clippings to layer the food waste, and since you can’t put it in a plastic bag, for example, it was stinky. Flies loved it. It was pretty gross.
I tried using paper bags to layer it but that didn’t stop maggots from making my green bin their home. The only thing that worked, was keeping my little pail in the freezer and stuffing it as much as I could until the next trash day. Eventually, I gave up. I started throwing food waste in the trash again.
I’m sure I’m not the only one who has struggled. But it was good to hear that other San Diegans are doing a better job. Elmer reported that San Diegans are throwing less food waste in the landfill and sending more to be recycled into compost.
You can read her story here. Have you had any trouble using your bins? Let me know.
I’m giving it another try. I’ll be right back, going to throw this bad boy in the green bin.
It’s Time to Go Back to School
Most kids across San Diego are returning to school today.
To mark the occasion, Jakob McWhinney, our education reporter, has a new story on the top four issues he will be following during the new school year. That story is running tomorrow. If you are subscribed to the Morning Report, you’ll get a link to it in your inbox.
In the meantime, we have a couple education stories for you.
Active-shooter drills: McWhinney wrote about a local school that attempted to prepare their students for the most horrific, and sadly not uncommon, experience: an active shooter. The school, though, ended up traumatizing many students and teachers because one administrator chose to play the sounds of screams and gunshots during the drill. McWhinney unpacks what happened and what experts say schools should do in a new story. Read it here.
Related: Assemblymember Chris Ward is exploring a way to rein in active-shooter drills. That’s because these types of drills are all over the place. He wants to put guardrails around how schools run active-shooter drills. Learn more about his proposal here.
Money for school buildings: Capitol reporter Deborah Brennan explained what you need to know about Proposition 5, which if California voters approve it, would allow the state to borrow billions to fix up schools. Read her story here.
More Chisme to Start Your Week
- North County reporter Tigist Layne profiled a family’s experience with homelessness. Their story is one many families are living through as they struggle to make ends meet in San Diego. Read it here.
- Other families struggling: Voice contributor Kate Morrissey reported that asylum-seeking families who had no where else to go settled in Barrio Logan at a park. But now, they have been told they need to leave. Read more here.
A note from me: Thank you to everyone who reached out about my last newsletter. Your kind words mean more to me than you’ll ever know. It also has been touching to hear from other Dreamers about similar experiences. It’s good to know I’m not alone.
“It’s Time to Go Back to School
Most kids across San Diego are returning to school today.”
i actually went up to look at the date of the newsletter since i *know* VoSD only publishes real correct information.
Just performed a quick google search and compostable bags are available, but the city of san diego says we aren’t allowed to use them in our green bin for some reason. That’s a colossal mistake. Evidently it now says you can put the waste in paper bags which is better than nothing. The whole program is poorly thought out by city officials. People living in condos and apartments won’t have yard trimmings to layer the food waste within. City needs to do a better job of explaining why “compostable” bags aren’t not allowed. Until then I can understand why many people don’t use their green bins.
https://www.sandiego.gov/environmental-services/recycling/sb1383/organic-waste-recycling-faqs
Those “compostable” bags aren’t really compostable. Sure, they’ll eventually break down given high temperatures and some other very specific conditions, but they are for all intents and purposes, plastic. Don’t believe me? Put one in your back yard, and see how long it takes to start falling apart. San Diego’s composting program just shreds the green stuff and puts it in big piles and lets the micro-organisms go from there, but unfortunately that approach doesn’t work with those green bags. I’d highly recommend anyone with questions about the composting program sign up for one of the free tours of the dump at Miramar. It’s an eye-opening experience.
I’ve been putting vegetables in my apartment’s green bin but I might be the only one. Someone put a plastic bag in it a long time ago. Could that be why it hasn’t been picked up in months?