Landfills alone in California produce about 20% of all the methane from the state. Methane is one of the most notable greenhouse gases affecting the environment. In an effort to combat these greenhouse gases, Sonoma County will be adopting a new ordinance that will affect how residents sort their trash.

Starting Jan. 1, residents will be required to separate organic material out of their regular trash. Organic materials can be anything like food scraps, yard waste and manure. Residents will be receiving a third bin to put these in. It will be a green bin for organic waste, along with the black and blue bins for regular trash and recycling. The City Sustainability Coordinator Travis Wagner noted that meat, fish, and dairy products are now supposed to be put in the green bin.

This is a change that may take some time for Sonoma County residents to get used to, but in the long run, keeping organic waste from the landfills will help significantly with methane emissions.

“This is a significant change in behavior,” said Travis Wagner, via the Sonoma Index-Tribune. “It is going to take a while.”

This ordinance comes in response to the Climate Pollutant Reduction Strategy that was passed in 2016 by the state Senate. It stated that local jurisdictions must create an organics ordinance that requires the separation of organic materials by Jan. 1, 2022. While this new ordinance will be put into effect in the new year, enforcement of this protocol is not required until Jan. 1, 2024. 

In other news from the city council, Sonoma County resident Sandra Lowe was sworn into city council on Nov. 17. She received 61% of the vote on Nov. 2 to receive her seat at the council. Lowe will be filling a spot that has been left empty since July, when Amy Harrington resigned.

Also on the agenda for city council is the consideration of a new resolution to shorten the application process for commercial cannabis companies within the city. The new resolution is expected to shorten the application time by about 10 weeks. This will be done by cutting down the Request For Proposal response time, eliminating the “zoning verification” letter, and decreasing staff review times, via sonomanews.com.

Although greenhouse emissions have become a huge issue for not only California state, but also the entire world, Sonoma County will start doing its part to limit emissions in the new year. Look out for a new green trash bin to sort out organic materials from other typical forms of trash in the near future.