South San Francisco, CA June 10, 2021
The South San Francisco Scavenger Company continues to employ outreach educating the public on the best practices of reducing, reusing, and recycling our unwanted stuff. While we all work to make great strides in reducing our carbon foot print and our impact on climate change, we cannot over look the tremendous pollution of our earth. Between our City and our County, there have been thousands of volunteer and staff hours spent cleaning debris from our own Colma Creek due to local trash dumped. Litter that is carelessly tossed, debris that is illegally dumped, makes its way to the bay, and then to the Pacific Ocean.
Colma Creek begins in the San Bruno Mtns, winds through Colma, Mission Road, crossing Hillside Blvd towards Orange Park, as it moves through the canal to the San Francisco Bay.
*NOTE: Pollution mitigation project at Orange Memorial Park
There might be some ‘old timers’ who remember the dump out at Oyster Point Marina that was in operation from 1956 through 1970. (current site of Kilroy development) Environmental laws continue to change, as does land use and zoning. Today our County depends on one active landfill, Ox Mountain in Half Moon Bay. The South San Francisco Scavenger Company consists of forward thinking leaders who have established the County’s only Anaerobic Digestion Facility. That is in addition to their transfer/material recovery operations, one of four in all of San Mateo County, located at the Blue Line Transfer Station. A few years ago, we were further tasked with dealing with our own refuse when Foreign import policies closed much of our recycling market.
Your participation in the Organics Program helps us to preserve landfill space, reduce production/release of greenhouse gasses at the landfill, produce clean-burning fuel for our collection vehicles, and create nutrient-rich soil.
Today we must work harder to reduce our waste and be more mindful of our recycling efforts. This earth belongs to all of us and future generations depend on our efforts now.
The first step is to examine our shopping habits. Most stores are allowing us to bring our own reusable bags, once again. Purchasing items that have less packaging is a huge step in reducing our pollution footprint, with other ideas;
Locally, our water quality is excellent, we do best when we refill our own containers instead of buying bottled waters.
What products can we buy in bulk that we can then bring home to repack according to our own personal needs?
Take a good look next time you empty your trash; what items are you buying that end up filling your trash bin? Are there items that could have been repaired or donated?
Our Scavenger Company continues to promote San Mateo County Sustainability FIXIT CLINICS, we strongly encourage our neighbors to check this program out HERE.
The sad reality is much of what we toss will end up in the landfill.
Our garbage buried, waiting for another generation to have to deal with it. How is that responsible or sustainable? Is that really what we want to leave our grandchildren and great-grandchildren? There is a wisdom in generational thinking; what has been left to us by the past generations and what is it we are leaving the future?
We cannot continue to live in a disposable world, we’ve run of places to dispose of our junk. Take a few minutes to read through some of the outreach supplied by our Scavenger Company. Take a few tips and incorporate them into your habits. Today. Now.
And come back to this page, or go bookmark the Scavenger website, follow them on FB, and make a point of checking updates regularly.
What items here could you donate? What items might you be able to do without in the future? What items could you substitute for something more sustainable? ALL OF THIS WILL END UP IN THE LANDFILL – for the next generations to deal with.
Items like these DO NOT belong in your recycling cart. They get tangled in sorting equipment, cause breakdowns, and can injure workers. Electrical cords and light strings are e-waste and require special handling. Bike tires, tie-downs, hoses, and plastic/medical tubing are garbage.
Not sure where it goes?
Follow this QR code!
South San Francisco Scavenger Company offers excellent tips
– let’s commit to using them!
