What Actions Did Santa Monica Take to Recycle and Cut Waste?
The City’s food waste composting program kept more than 1 million pounds of waste from Santa Monica restaurants out of the landfill in 2008. In addition, the Community Waste Diversion Program reduced GHG emissions by 36%. The City is committed to making procurement decisions which minimize negative environmental impacts. While the City’s purchasing structure is fairly decentralized, the City charter requires purchasers to choose the “lowest and most responsible bid,” regardless of the size of their purchases. This sustainable procurement program helps to ‘green’ the City. The City also purchases 100% post-consumer recycled content copy paper for municipal operations. Annually, this saves an estimated 1.2 million gallons of water, 158,000 pounds of CO2 and leaves 1,700 trees standing in the forests.
