The next community planting days for the Foothill Open Space are scheduled. Find out how to volunteer and see pictures at our Foothill Planting Day web page (on the County website).
Safely dispose of unwanted household medications through Santa Barbara County’s Operation Medicine Cabinet. Nine new drop-off sites are located throughout the county. Read More...
Kim Phelps is one of the first horse lovers in Santa Ynez to join the brand new manure/bedding recycling program.
In October of 2008 an innovative program to recycle horse manure began in the Santa Ynez Valley, due to the combined efforts of Valley Compost, Waste Management, and the County of Santa Barbara Resource Recovery and Waste Management Division (RRWMD). The first year of the program has seen more than 600 tons of horse manure turned into valuable compost. In the past all that material was buried in the landfill.
The idea for recycling horse manure in Santa Ynez is not a new one. There are lots of horses, and those horses produce plenty of manure, which often ends up in the trash and is ultimately buried in the landfill. The horses also go through a lot of bedding material which typically ends up in the landfill as well. Waste Management worked with the County’s RRWMD in order to set up a separate collection route for these materials. The program has depended on the proven ability of Valley Compost to transform the materials into valuable compost.
Lissa Landry, owner and operator of Valley Compost with her husband Don, is pleased by the load delivered by Waste Management driver Stan Bray. Program participants are keeping plastics and contaminants out of the manure/bedding containers.
The program also relies on the cooperation of customers who are willing to give the extra effort and keep their trash separate in order to see the manure & bedding find a beneficial local reuse. Waste Management provides extra containers for trash only to these customers to help keep the manure free from contamination. If you are interested in participating, please call Waste Management at 922-2121.
Valley Compost accepts the horse manure and bedding loads at their facility near Buellton. Don and Lissa Landry have operated Valley Compost since 1990. During that time their business has provided well over a hundred thousand tons of compost for local uses in farms, orchards , vineyards and in everyday backyard gardens. To find out more about their products call 688-3926 or 965-6617.
Once again, Coastal Cleanup Day was a huge success! With your help and the coordination by County of Santa Barbara Public Works Department, Resource Recovery & Waste Management Division, over 730 volunteers helped to clean our area beaches on September 19th. At this year's Coastal Cleanup Day almost 3400 pounds of trash and more than 1300 pounds of recyclables were collected. Thank you to everyone who came out. Next year's event will occur on September 25, 2010 from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. Mark your calendars and come out to help pickup trash and keep our beaches clean. To obtain more information, click on this link: coastal_cleanup.html
Follow the link above if you have been impacted by the Jesusita Fire and would like assistance with your clean up efforts. Find out about using your demolition permit, removing cars and our free household hazardous waste removal program.
The 2008-09 edition of the Recycling Resource Guide for Santa Barbara County (Guide) is now available in hard copy and on-line. To obtain a hard copy or to access the Guide on-line, click here.
The Resource Recovery and Waste Management Division, in association with Growing Solutions Restoration Education Institute, is sponsoring several Community Planting Days at the Foothill Open Space (Foothill Closed Landfill). The first Planting Day is Friday October 17, 2008 from 4:00 pm to 6:30 pm. Additional Planting Days are scheduled for Sunday November 16, 2008 2:00 pm – 5:00 pm and Saturday December 13, 2008 9:00 am – 12:00 pm. The Foothill Open Space is located in eastern Goleta across from the South Coast Recycling and Transfer Station. With grant funds from the State Department of Parks and Recreation and matching funds from the County, the Resource Recovery and Waste Management Division, with help from Growing Solutions and the community, is restoring approximately seven acres of the site with native plants. The community is invited to participate in the restoration efforts and enjoy refreshments with neighbors and friends after the planting. For more information on the Planting Day, please see the attached flyer Oct 17 2008 Foothill Planting Day flyer.pdf or contact Joddi Leipner at 882-3614.
The County of Santa Barbara, specifically the Resource Recovery and Waste Management Division, has won an award for its excellence in integrated waste managment. The award is the highest honor presented by the Solid Waste Association of North America (SWANA).
"In 1995, our diversion rate was only 30 percent and today Santa Barbara County is at 69 percent, making us one of the leaders for waste management recycling in California," Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors’ Chair Salud Carbajal said. "Our Public Works employees who have worked so hard with the community to achieve this success are to be congratulated for receiving this award."
Read more about the about the SWANA award or view the winning document to find out more.
The County of Santa Barbara has launched an outreach campaign to encourage people to recycle their green waste rather than throw it into their trash containers. The campaign is also designed to educate the public about the types of green waste that can and cannot be placed in green waste recycling containers.
To learn about the types of materials that can and cannot be placed in your green waste recycling container, please click on this link to access the Green Waste Guidelines: Green Waste Do's and Don't's
Have you heard our catchy green waste songs? Click on the links below to hear some music to put you into the mood for properly recycling your green waste (media player required):
Green Waste Blues.wma Green Waste Rag.wma
If you have any questions about recycling green waste, please call (805) 882-3624.
The County also has Earth Machine composting bins on sale for $40.00, a savings of over 50 percent off the retail price. To obtain more information, please click here: composting_bins.html
Did you know that the County offers free mulch? To learn how you can obtain free mulch, please click here: mulch&green_waste.html
Based on our most recent data for 2006, we have calculated that the County of Santa Barbara, encompassing the unincorporated areas of Santa Barbara County, has achieved a diversion rate of 69 percent. This diversion rate represents an increase of six percent from our diversion rate for 2004 and has been formally approved by the California Integrated Waste Management Board (CIWMB). This diversion rate exceeds the State mandate (AB 939) that all jurisdictions divert at least 50 percent of their waste from landfills by the end of 2000. Statewide, the diversion rate is 54 percent for calendar year 2006.
The County of Santa Barbara offers a wide variety of programs to encourage the community to reduce, reuse, and recycle its waste.Without the cooperation and participation of the community, however, the County of Santa Barbara could not have achieved such a high diversion rate. Although attaining a diversion rate of 69 percent is impressive, much more can be done. Therefore, the County of Santa Barbara Public Works Department, Resource Recovery and Waste Management Division, will continue working with the community to expand its existing programs and to add new programs wherever possible.
Send mail to: webmaster with questions or comments about this web site. Copyright © 2000 Santa Barbara County Public Works Department Resource Recovery and Waste Management Division
Last updated: February 3, 2010
