Category: composting

What Is Your Community’s Climate Action Plan?

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Washington (GGM) Analysis | November 29, 2022 by Noreen Wise, Founder & CEO of Gallant Gold Media, and author; Image Credit: AdobeStock

The following is the requested feedback to Fairfax County’s draft Resilient Fairfax Climate Adaptation and Resilience Plan, put forth for public comment from May 16, 2022 through June 15, 2022.

With so many lives at stake, as well as the survivability of the human species, it’s vitally important for every single one of us to voice our positions, and our objections when something seems amiss with our local community/county’s climate action plans, including its timeline. Everything we do and don’t do in 2022-2024 will be hyper-analyzed in the future. The IPCC, the UN, many global leaders and thousands of scientists have repeatedly warned about the urgency to act immediately. Yet so few local governments are following through.

“Every tenth of a degree matters.”Peter Kalmus, NASA Climate Scientist

Dear Resilient Fairfax County, thank you for devoting so much time and energy to this herculean task. Although the plan is 90 pages, which made it challenging for the average busy Fairfax County resident to read, it’s very well written and expertly organized and presented.  

The most notable disappointment in this great work is that it appears to be the Swiss cheese plan to address the terrifying climate crisis, with big holes throughout, that results in the Fairfax County Plan not aligning with global climate targets, as well as Biden’s and the US army’s climate goals and plans, and many peer counties across the country. 

It’s unclear why you didn’t simply borrow one of the many existing complete climate action plans, plans that don’t have holes, that are being used in cities, states and countries all over the globe.

Targeted Years of 2050 and 2085, rather than 2025 and 2030

Right from the jump, and throughout the detailed draft plan, there is a repeated emphasis on the years 2050 and 2085, rather than 2025 and 2030. Why isn’t there any action planned for 2023, 2024 and 2025? Tragically, it doesn’t appear that Fairfax County will begin work on any of the climate mitigation and adaptation strategies before 2025.

Biodiversity

The word “biodiversity” appeared only once in the entire 84 page content. Biodiversity was noted in a quote by the IUCN at the very end on page 84 just before the References begin: “Nature based solutions are ‘actions to protect, sustainably manage, and restore natural or modified ecosystems, that address societal challenges effectively and adaptively, simultaneously providing human well-being and biodiversity benefits.'” 

Additionally, the nature-based solutions section repeatedly mentioned “trees” rather than dense native biodiverse shrubs, perennials, ground cover and trees. Why not include “biodiversity” wherever you have “trees” listed? 

Was this omission intentional or have you not been following the many best-selling books about the importance of biodiversity in saving humanity from extinction, award-winning documentaries and podcasts, and the Kunming Biodiversity Conference and Proclamation? Why did you refuse to follow President Biden’s lead when he pledged his commitment to the aggressive 30×30 biodiversity conservation target a week after he was inaugurated? Why so many half-measures?

Everyone in climate circles KNOWS that boosting biodiversity (which includes diverse native trees) is now a top priority. The short-term goal is to scale-up biodiversity restoration quickly and effectively by planting native shrubs, perennials and groundcover, which includes grasses, under every native tree on every single landscape, and transforming a certain percent of back and side yards to meadows with tall grasses, with the vitally important deep roots, as well as native wildflowers. 

Biodiversity dramatically boosts soil health, helps purify the air, lowers the heat island effect, restores habitat for pollinators and birds and insects, and is a major climate mitigation solution based on how much more carbon drawdown it generates.

In New York state, the median down interstate 84 has been transformed into a dense, biodiverse no-mow median comprised of a wide variety of native flowering groundcover species. This simple project created a biodiversity corridor that stretches nearly 100 miles. Not only that, it’s absolutely beautiful, and again, significantly increases carbon drawdown. So many layers of life-saving benefits at one low cost. 

Many Fairfax County homeowners and neighborhoods are biodiversity superstars. Fairfax County residents clearly know the importance of creating biodiversity corridors in our community and the remarkable benefits. It’s shocking that Fairfax County committee seemed to intentionally exclude biodiversity. Is this because someone doesn’t want to manage the wildlife, such as deer, fox and coyotes? 

If other counties successfully manage restored wildlife, we can too. Los Angeles is building the largest wildlife crossing bridge (Annenburg Wildlife Crossing) that will stretch across 10 lanes of Hwy 101 in the Santa Monica mountains. Why is Fairfax County so reluctant to do what needs to be done? Why so much apathy? We need a wildlife crossing on Fairfax County Parkway which recently had a flock of geese stop traffic when it tried to waddle from lane to lane northbound, using their webbed feet rather than wings on a Sunday morning near the Monument Drive exit.

High Albedo Surfaces | Paint It White & Light Grey

There was not one single mention of white or light roofs, roads, sidewalks and parking lots to reflect the sun (which lowers the heat 10ºF inside the building, and 30º-50º on ground surfaces). 

Additionally, transforming surfaces to white, light grey or silver, will help save our icecaps. The albedo effect. We only have 2.5 years to save the Doomsday Glacier, which if completely melted, will result in a sea level rise of 2 – 10 feet. 

Fairfax County knows the importance of white surfaces. The school buses all have white roofs to lower the heat. Bridgewater Corporate Center, at end of Government Center Parkway in Fairfax, painted its parking lot light grey to cool the surface. 

Image Credit: Noreen Wise

Asphalt is 50ºF warmer than the air temperature. Car tires can become soft in the heat. For each 10ºF of warming on a summer day, the air pressure will increase one pound PSI. Tire range varies between 30-35. If it becomes too hot, the tires will pop when the temperature and pressure keep rising above the tire range. 

Top Climate Actions We Can Execute Immediately:
Cutting Food Waste Urgent Priority
The Whitest White Paint to Help Lower the Heat
Informed Action Will Help Restore Biodiversity
Alfalfa and Tall Grasses Are Carbon Capture Superheroes

North Carolina has light cement roads / highways so the roadways won’t buckle in high heat. White and light also helps cars stop quickly on hot days. Car tires on sizzling black asphalt, don’t have the same traction when both the tires and asphalt become soft. Cars can slide when they have to stop fast at a changing light. There will be more car accidents during high heat because of this failure to transition to white and light grey high-albedo road colors. 

Raleigh, NC
Image Credit AdobeStock

Switching to light-coloured roofs and roadways would have the equivalent effect on greenhouse grass emissions to taking one billion cars of the road for 11 years. *2009Steven Chu, Nobel laureate, Physicist and Former Energy Secretary under President Obama

Fairfax City just replaced tan cement sidewalks on Lee Highway to white cement. There’s now a line in the middle of both the sidewalk and the median, where Fairfax City white cement meets Fairfax County dark tan cement. Sadly, Fairfax County has black asphalt sidewalks lining much of Lee Highway. 

I mentioned the importance of high albedo through chat during two public virtual meetings held by Resilient Fairfax. The county obviously knows how effective high albedo surfaces are, yet chose to ignore this solution, which makes me loose faith. 

Popular Science published an article back in September 2017 with news that Los Angeles was using CoolSeal to paint miles and miles of its roads white and light grey. 

In 2018, Insider gave a shout out to NYC for its exemplary initiative in painting 9.2 million square feet of skyscraper rooftops white. Schools in Massachusettes and NY are painting their roofs white to lower the heat inside the schools which cuts electric bills and reduces CO2 emissions by 29%. 

Fairfax County is stuck on ONLY planning for green roofs. “No” to white roofs. This is NOT accidental, it’s a sad choice.

Additionally…

•No mention of living walls to lower the heat island effect in urban areas. The Kennedy Center has a fabulous living wall on its new Reach building. Georgetown has living walls on buildings lining the canal. Philadelphia has living walls throughout the historic downtown as well as up and down Independence Mall. Downton London, England has city blocks filled with living walls.

Reach Building, Kennedy Center
Image credit Noreen Wise

•No mention of countywide, weekly compost collection pickup using green bins that would be placed curbside with the black and blue bins. Many cities across the globe added curbside compost collection years ago.

•No expectations of corporations mentioned, especially large corporations of which Fairfax County has many. Corporations are often the biggest carbon emitters and need to be regulated. 

•No mention of climate refugees from inside US. The UN warned that countries/states have to build refugee crisis into their Climate Plans. Again, that’s refugees from INSIDE our country. Dulles Airport is a major draw for people across the United States, especially those who can’t take the drought lifestyle anymore, or who have lost everything, again, in a wildfire. Millions of people from the Western states, as well as Southern coastal states, will potentially descend on Northern Virginia. Yet no mention of this likely occurrence is in the Fairfax Plan, despite UN’s insistence that it be included.

Again, thank you for everything you did so well. It’s a great accomplishment. As for all the issues you ignored and even rejected, these will create life-threatening circumstances for many innocent people who reside in the county. When extreme climate weather events occur, there will be some residents who point to this draft plan and ask why you ignored the UN, esteemed climatologistsns such as Michael E. Mann and Peter Kalmus, and global leaders like Al Gore, Bill Clinton and Nobel laureates like Stephen Chu.

NASA scientist and climate activist Peter Kalmus warned that every tenth of a degree matters. Dr. Michael Mannwarned that 1.5ºC is catastrophic warming. We’re already at 1.2ºC, just three-tenths away from catastrophic. Swiss cheese climate plans result in our community being many tenths of a degree off of where we need to be. There is not a single Fairfax County resident who wants to reach 1.6ºC or irreversible 1.7ºC. Yet, Resilient Fairfax Plan seems to be the action plan for doing just that.

© Copyright 2022. ALL Rights Reserved.

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San Francisco’s Goal to Become Our First Zero-Waste City

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Washington (GGM) Analysis | February 28, 2022 by Noreen Wise, Founder & CEO of Gallant Gold Media, and author; Image Credit: AdobeStock

In 2002, San Francisco set its sights on becoming the first waste-free city in the United States. Since then, the Golden City has proven itself to be a national waste management role model. Phase 1 of the city’s masterplan was to divert 75% of its waste by 2010, which it artfully achieved two years early. The speed of San Francisco’s success was likely tied to California’s Integrated Waste Management Act of 1989 which mandated that each local jurisdiction in California divert 50% of its waste materials. California fined cities $10,000 per day if they fell below 50% which led to strong compliance. 

Once 75% was reached, San Francisco soon had its eye set on 100% diversion, a true circular economy. The city’s rapid positive results were achieved through a series of strong legislative measures:

Three-stream Collection Program

The three-stream collection program (green bin for kitchen and yard scraps, blue bin for recyclables, and black bin for everything else which should be very little) is mainstream in most communities in Canada as well as many EU countries. If it’s not mainstream where you live, it means we have to work that much harder as individuals to create a three-stream program in our homes since composting is required if we are to stay below 1.5ºC and cut CO2e emissions 50% by 2030. 

San Francisco began its journey to become waste free in 2002, 20 years ago. Despite their early start, they still rushed. We have to hurry that much faster since most US communities are very far behind. 

For example, Fairfax County, Virginia, has no plan to mandate composting anytime soon, 2024 or 2025 at the earliest. But there are thousands of residents who are very green and want curbside compost pickup. Most of the schools in Fairfax County compost. The county set-up drop-off locations that are full to capacity at the end of each week, which shows how dedicated so many county residents are to green bins. Legislation would speed things up. Since those of us in Fairfax County know the county plans to wait years, and San Francisco has proven that the only thing that works is legislation that mandates composting with very steep fines, we’ll have to lobby to get the board of supervisors to move more quickly. In the meantime, we’ll have to signup for compost collection on our own.

Compost collection services are popping up in most metro areas across the country. If our towns and cities don’t have drop-off locations, and we don’t have a yard to create our own outdoor bins, we can easily signup for compost collection. Composting is an absolute necessity in saving the human species. Not only does composting cut methane, compost added to our soil boosts carbon drawdown. Putting a banana peel in a paper bag and dropping it at a compost drop-off location is not difficult. Composting is very low hanging fruit.

Methane

One third of all the food produced becomes waste, much of which in dumped into landfills. As mentioned, this rich organic material turns into methane. Landfills emit 2 billion tons of methane each year. Methane is 80 times stronger than carbon dioxide. Cutting methane from landfills is the quickest and easiest greenhouse gas to eliminate. If you’re not already composting, you can begin today. Just place all kitchen scraps in a brown paper bag and drop-off at town site each weekend. The bags can be stored in the refrigerator until you’re ready to drop-off.

Plastic Packaging

Most community waste comes from unrecyclable plastic. The vast majority of plastic is manufactured from petroleum and is toxic. The global plastic crisis that has killed millions of ocean species, and according to Sir David Attenboroughis responsible for up to one million early deaths per year, generates mountains of microplastics that are now in our food supply (we eat 100 bits of microplastics per meal, which amounts to one credit card a week, 52 credit cards per year). Recent news about nanoplastics found in the air that we breath, especially those who live and work in our cities, is that much more alarming and should motivate us to refuse plastic. Green sustainability companies have spent years inventing plastic-free alternatives for nearly every plastic-packaged product. Bar shampoo is a great example, laundry detergent sheets is another. 

Reduce-Reuse-Refuse-Upcycle

We have to be strong and refuse to buy products if there are no non-plastic alternative. Initially, this wasn’t easy for me. But, I soon found that it becomes easier with practice. Three years ago I took my first step at refusing when I refused to buy ketchup because I couldn’t find an alternative brand packaged in glass. Heinz sells ketchup in glass bottles in Canada, but not the US. So, I switched to barbecue sauce, and haven’t looked back. I also refuse to buy organic margarine because it’s only packaged in plastic. Just this past weekend, I added refusing to buy my absolute favorite salad dressing when the manufacturer switched from a glass bottle to plastic. I had to find a new favorite brand.

Reusable containers or bags instead of single-use plastic is another way to reduce waste. Upcycling is fun and creative and is an excellent way to reduce waste as well. Children love upcycling projects where they can create something new from old scraps, especially gifts for family and friends. The goal is to create a circular economy where nothing is ever thrown away.

Pay-as-you-throw

Many communities in multiple states are beginning to charge households for the amount of black bin trash they have each month. Blue recycle bins are free. But black bin is pay by quantity. “Pay-as-you-thow” (PAYT) is the common nickname cities give their black bin programs, although it’s typically a purple bag that can be purchased in stores, either a 15 gallon size or 30 gallon. Across the country, cities are finding that once households have to pay for the quantity of landfill trash they have, they drastically cut the amount without any hesitation.

Coalitions

San Francisco is a member of various zero waste and climate action coalitions whose members share ideas and brainstorm solutions:

Being part of a coalition of like-mined, green-action individuals and/or organizations is a very effective way to build momentum within a community to transition to a green lifestyle. Churches are often an effective driver of climate action, especially when they connect with the other faiths in town and form a united force.

CLIMATE CHANGE & ENVIRONMENTAL HAZARDS:
Plastic Bank and Ocean Bound Social Plastic, Really?
Alarming Findings | Are We Inhaling Nanoplastics?
Golf Courses and the “Good Life” May Kill You

The vast majority of initiatives that drove quick change in San Francisco were mandatory with painful consequences for anyone who failed to comply. Voting for climate candidates who truly believe that the best time to act on climate was yesterday will be what makes the difference in getting legislation passed. 

Today, the IPCC held a press conference when it released its 2022 findings on the climate crisis. The UN Secretary General, António Guterres spoke first, and very passionately stressed the urgency of action. “Now is the time to turn rage into action. Every fraction of a degree matters. Every voice can make a difference. And every second counts.”

All of us who care must be the voices in our communities that drive our leaders to act immediately and pass the much needed green legislation. If San Francisco can do it, we can all do it.

© Copyright 2022. ALL Rights Reserved.

How Does Compost Collection Work? | Compost Crew

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Washington (GGM) Analysis | January 14, 2022, by Noreen Wise, Founder & CEO of Gallant Gold Media, and author; image credit, Compost Crew

Composting home kitchen scraps is essential. It’s one of the most critical climate actions we can take as we rush to keep global warming below 1.5ºC and avoid the much feared tipping point (that threatens to trigger runaway warming). In fact, composting is so vital to our survival as a human species, that if you’re not already composting, it’s imperative that you begin today. 

In John Doerr’s new book Speed & Scale, An Action Plan for Solving Our Climate Crisis Now, he explains that food waste is roughly 33% of all the food that’s produced, and is responsible for 2 billion tons (GtC) of CO2e each year, most of which is in the form of methane emitted from landfills. “Every pound of wasted food is a pound of wasted water and energy,” he asserts. In order to reach net-zero, Doerr outlined that we must decrease food waste from the current 33% of food produced to 10%.

In order to achieve this goal, composting should be mandatory in every state. But there’s more. Compost significantly increases soli health in the following ways:

  • boosts carbon drawdown substantially
  • increases soil water infiltration rate
  • keeps soil moist during high heat especially when dense biodiverse plants are grown on the surface to keep the soil protected
  • adds vital nutrients and microbes to the soil which increases the nutrient density of vegetables and fruits

“Compost is like a sponge that helps soil retail moisture.” 

Kiss the Ground, Netflix

Click here to learn more about what food scraps can and can’t be composted. 

There are 3 options for what to do with your compost each week once it’s collected:

1. Create your our own compost pile. Depending on what size yard you have, and how much time and patience you have are at your disposal, you may decide to set-up your own compost pile, or purchase and manage a compost bin. Bins are sold at Lowe’s, Home Depot, Amazon, and most big box stores. YouTube has a large number of “How To” videos that will guide you. Warning, there’s a bit of science and math involved. You’ll have to keep track of green and brown ratio, etc. And compost piles often attract wildlife that will have to be managed.

2. Compost Drop off. Most communities now have at least one compost drop-off location. Drop-off works well for a household of one, possibly two people, but families will likely prefer signing up for compost collection service.

3. Compost collection service. The Compost Crew provides weekly curbside pick-up throughout metro Washington DC. They are a great example of the evolution of the composting industry and a model for how the industry has taken off as millions of us rush to change our daily habits to minimize our impact on the environment and become more sustainable. Hopefully, laws will be passed soon requiring composting in all communities.

Below are the questions I asked Compost Crew’s Dan Israel, Senior VP, Sales & Marketing, in order to provide the public with insights into the how a composting collection service operates.

When did you start Compost Crew? Compost Crew was started in 2011.  Last year, we celebrated our 10 year anniversary and received proclamations from both the State of Maryland and Montgomery County.

In a few sentences can you explain how you got off the ground.  (How did you find funding?) The company was originally self-funded.  In 2018, Ben Parry purchased Compost Crew and became our CEO.  Last year, we raised additional funds for further expansion from several investors including Exelon’s Climate Change Investment Initiative (2c2i).

Who were your first customers? Compost Crew originally started by servicing homes in Montgomery County.  Over the years we have expanded geographically into the District of Columbia, Baltimore, Northern Virginia and much of the surrounding area.  We have also expanded to serve commercial customers like grocery stores, restaurants, hospitals, senior living communities and property management firms.

How did the growth happen? We’re now in our 11th year.  There’s so much opportunity in front of us – the region produces 700,000 tons of food waste each year, and only a fraction of that is composted.  So, we expect to be able to keep growing.

Two states and DC are a unique arrangement. Different laws, different climate action plans, different levels of urgency. Which communities and which state have/has best existing legislation that supports composting?Maryland passed a law last year that will require large waste generators to compost their food waste, starting in 2023.  Ben (our CEO) spoke in front of both the House of Delegates and the Senate in support of this legislation.  Outside our region, California’s new composting bill requires all businesses and residents to compost their food waste – we want to work with DC, Maryland and Virginia to make that a reality in our region.

Do you plan to grow down to Fredericksburg and out to Gainesville or is your goal to have more customers sign up in your established area? We see plenty of opportunity to grow within our existing service area.  Many homes and businesses still throw their food waste in the trash, which is a missed opportunity to recycle these materials into nutrient-rich compost.  Having said that, we’re open to expanding into other communities, particularly in partnership with local governments.

Have you ever tried to win over Longworth House Office Building on Capitol Hill as a customer? While we generally don’t discuss the work we may do for specific customers, we have seen significant growth in the number of area office buildings and other businesses using our composting services over the past year.  And we’re always happy to speak to anyone about the benefits of composting at their workplace.

How much does the service cost? Our standard residential rate is $32 per month for weekly curbside collection.  Many neighborhoods have lower rates, based on large numbers of homes who have signed up for our service as a community.  Our rates for businesses depend on the amount of food waste and the frequency of collection.

What did I forget to ask, or what additional information would you like readers to know? Compost Crew has begun building distributed composting facilities in the region, including our first one at One Acre Farm.  We call them our Compost Outposts.  We’re aiming to put more of these Compost Outposts around the region, in partnership with farms, schools and local municipalities, to process the food scraps closer to where they are generated.  That will reduce the amount of resources spent hauling the food scraps and will make our communities more resilient.  

Twice a year, spring and fall, Compost Crew delivers a bag of finished compost to your doorstep to use in your yard, or for your house plants. You may decide to share with neighbors and encourage them to compost as well. Our future will become much brighter when everyone is composting.

Treehugger named Compost Crew the “Best Composting Service in DC, 2020.” Congratulations, Compost Crew! Keep up the great work.

© Copyright 2018 – 2022. ALL Rights Reserved.

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