Brainiac: Westminster to get new ‘green’ waste bins and Garden Grove set to vote on a sales tax increase
Brainiac might be weird but we are so looking forward to our new garbage can. We probably are weird, aren’t we?
Here’s the deal, though. The Midway City Sanitation District, which serves Westminster, is finally ready to roll out its new green organics waste bins, which are not, you may be surprised to learn, just for organic peas, zucchini, lettuce and string beans.
Oh no, the green we’re talking about here has to do with organic materials that can easily be broken down into reusable byproducts. So the new can is where you’ll put your yard waste – grass clippings, weeds, pruning, and other lawn and garden materials – as well as kitchen castoffs – fruits and vegetables, meat and dairy, even fats, oils and grease.
There’s no change in the cost you’ll pay for garbage collection but the green cans will help the district meet a recent state law that requires California governmental agencies to divert 50 percent of their solid waste from landfills by 2020, with green waste one of the most achievable means of doing so.
And your trash today might power your neighborhood garbage or recycling truck tomorrow. The contents of the green waste bins will end up at the CR&R Anaerobic Digestion Facility in Perris, where it will be converted into renewable natural gas.
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The city of Garden Grove is asking residents to approve a 1 cent increase in the local sales tax when they vote in November.
Measure O, which the city council voted to place on the ballot in July, is presented as a way to provide more money with local oversight for Garden Grove public safety and quality of life programs.
State mandates and diversions have taken some portion of Garden Grove tax dollars away from the city, it says in a news release on the city website. That in turn has hurt the city’s ability to fund public safety and deal with other problems caused by state decisions to release more and more prisoners back into the communities from which they came, city officials say.
If Measure O passes, the money will be earmarked for programs such as 911, improving emergency response times and neighborhood police patrols. It will also help avoid cuts to police, fire and paramedic staffing.
Other targets for spending potential Measure O funds include programs to protect local drinking water, fight gangs and drugs in the city, and work to help the homeless.
If approved, the city says an oversight committee and annual audits will make reports to the community so residents know where their taxes are being spent.