The Santa Barbara County Public Works Department supports alternatives to throwing food scraps and yard waste into the landfill, one of the largest generators of methane gas.

Sam Dickinson, a program specialist with the department, explains, “leftover food scraps and plant materials can be naturally recycled in your own backyard into a nutrient-rich soil amendment. Compost is great for your garden and diverts organics from landfills.”

You can take part in the county’s Backyard Composting Program to save money and reduce your environmental impacts at the same time.

The county offers composting bins at wholesale prices at the South Coast Recycling and Transfer Station at 4430 Calle Real in Santa Barbara. It also will offer free workshops to learn how to compost in your own backyard:

» Isla Vista Workshop: Friday, April 1, from 4-5 p.m. at the Isla Vista Food Co-op, 6575 Seville Road

» Santa Barbara Workshop: Saturday, April 9, from 10 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. at Santa Barbara City College’s Lifescape Garden, East Campus entrance, past the stadium

» Santa Ynez Valley Workshop: Saturday, April 30, from 10 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. at the Santa Ynez Valley Botanic Garden, 151 Sycamore Drive in Solvang
 
» Santa Maria Workshop: Saturday, May 14, from 10 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. at the Santa Maria Valley Sustainable Garden, 624 W. Foster Road in Orcutt

Santa Barbara County Public Works Department partners with the cities of Solvang, Santa Barbara and Goleta to provide these fun workshops free of charge.

Using your green waste recycling bin is another great way to help complete the organics loop. Yard waste materials like grass, leaves, flowers and other plants that are discarded into this bin are collected and chipped into a mulch product distributed locally to residents and farmers.

Returning this mulch to the soil completes the loop, with many positive impacts for any garden.

As Joey Costa, the county’s mulch program coordinator, describes, “the main benefit of mulching is water conservation and nutrient input.” 

Get free “load your own” mulch at the South Coast Recycling and Transfer Station in Santa Barbara. 

For details about free mulch, visit www.LessIsMore.org/Mulch, and for more information about either the Backyard Composting or Mulch Program, call 805.882.3618 or visit the county’s recycling website.

— Sam Dickinson is a program specialist with the Santa Barbara County Public Works Department.