In 2016 the state of California passed a bill with the goal of reducing greenhouse gasses within the state. Part of that bill was to implement composting statewide by 2020. Due to unprecedented delays, including a global pandemic, the initial goal was not met, and the goal date was set to 2022. Twenty-two months later, the City of Los Angeles is still struggling to meet the statewide goals.

Every Saturday, Paull Young and his three year old daughter Lennon walk down to the Playa Vista Farmers Market. The Farmers Market is a staple for the father daughter duo. “We love coming to a farmers market” Paull says, “We get fresh food for the family, support local bands and vendors and we love that we can drop off our compost as well.”

For at least two years now, Paull, who is originally from Australia, and his family have been coming to the farmers market to help fulfill their composting goals. Within the City of Los Angeles, Farmers Markets are one of the only reliable places to compost.

Paull recalls how his composting journey began “I've been getting more and more climate educated for some time, and composting was part of that.” His route to compost was through his own individual path, rather than through the statewide mandate “I kind of self educated, and I quickly realized I didn't feel capable of composting myself at home.” Paull gives a lot of credit to the farmers markets for their accessibility, friendliness, and ease of contributing to composting rather than sending organic waste to landfills saying, “the fact I could drop off at a local compost and know that it would do good stuff with our food waste for us.”

The Young’s are not alone in this composting journey though. Joan Gallager, another LA transplant, has also been on the composting grind for a few years now.

Joan moved to Los Angeles from Connecticut 10 years ago. As she reflects on her childhood, she says “I grew up in a country town, I just lived in the woods but I can't recall the word compost ever being used.” Even though she did not grow up with the habit, she is dedicated to making changes both in her own life and across Los Angeles.

When Joan recalls her path to composting, she also says it all started with trying to become more environmentally aware on her own accord. “I got into it just a few years ago because I was also going through a lot of just learning about reducing my plastic intake,” she adds that “composting always came up” through her research on reducing waste.

As her composting journey progressed, Joan knew that she wanted to further contribute to the composting community across Los Angeles. This past spring, Joan began working for Farm Habit, a private company combating climate issues through having composting booths at farmers markets across the Los Angeles area.

Joan enjoys her work with Farm Habit, especially being at the farmers market. “We definitely have regulars” Joan says as she hosts the Farm Habit booth at the Westwood Farmers Market which takes place on Thursday’s from 12:00 pm - 5:00 pm. People from all over the Westwood neighborhood come to the market to drop off their weekly compost.

As for how much compost the individual people of Westwood are dropping off, Joan says “it varies from like 10 pounds all the way down to like half a pound.” She emphasizes that “It doesn't matter, as long as you bring in the scraps that's all that matters” as she continues to aid in combating greenhouse gas emissions.

Los Angeles is lagging behind in their composting initiative. Many other cities in California, including San Diego, San Francsico, and even Santa Monica have successfully implemented the change required by SB 1383. So what is SB 1383 and why is Los Angeles still behind?

California's SB 1383, signed into law in September 2016, is a bold step towards a sustainable future. At its core, the legislation aims to:

Reduce Organic Waste: SB 1383 establishes targets to achieve a 50% reduction in the level of statewide disposal of organic waste from the 2014 level by 2020 and a 75% reduction by 2025.

Rescue Edible Food: Beyond organic waste, there's an imperative to rescue at least 20% of currently disposed surplus food by 2025, redirecting it to Californians in need.

Combat Climate Change: By reducing organic waste, the legislation aims to decrease methane emissions—a greenhouse gas far more potent than carbon dioxide. Organic waste in landfills decomposes anaerobically, producing methane. By diverting this waste to composting processes, methane production is significantly reduced.

The legislation underscores the importance of composting, which not only recycles organic materials but also enriches the soil, conserves moisture, and reduces the need for chemical fertilizers.

As for why LA is behind, this is a question that I have been trying to figure out, so I went to City Hall. Over the past few weeks, I have attended a handful of City Council meetings, and have even spoken during public comment. My remarks to city council members have been quite simple.

I have inquired if they know about SB1383 and what it entails. I have then followed up by asking how many members of city council actively compost in their households. The answer seems to be only one. One member out of the 15 elected to represent their districts has wearily raised her hand. In order to further exhaust this avenue, I have event sent a survey on composting to Los AngelescCity Council memebrs, no one has replied.

Monica Rodriguez of District Seven is seemingly the only member of Los Angeles City Council to compost. Although this may come as a surprise, what I have found to be more startling in my visits to City Hall is that in the local government building there are no composting bins, only “trash” and “recycling”

I have reached out to Monica and her team for comment on the topic and to gain insight on what she believes Los Angeles can do in order to meet the goals of SB 1383. At this time I have yet to hear back from her camp.

Back in Playa Vista, Paull and Lennon will continue weekly their farmers market ritual. His own journey to environmental enlightenment began through these very concerns as he says, “I care a lot about climate and sustainability.” Paull believes that composting with his daughter is essential, saying “climate change the impacts are gonna really hit the next generation.”

Through his own journey of self education, Paull recalls leaning about individual contributing factors. He says, “food waste is a huge part of greenhouse gas pollution, so composting is a very simple way to produce less greenhouse gasses.”

Although the future and climate can by a difficult topic to address, Paull has made being environmentally conscious a cornerstone of the bond he shares with his young daughter. He emphasizes how composting grows their relationship, “[I’m] trying to help her be conscious of the world as she grows up is fun because we get to do it together,” As for Lennon’s take on composting, she says, “ I like doing composting everyday!”