Waste Reduction

Building a Low-Waste Future in Monterey County

Waste management is about much more than “throwing things away.” Every product we purchase, use, repair, compost, recycle, or discard has an environmental impact, from the extraction of raw materials to manufacturing, transportation, disposal, and pollution.  We encourage individuals, businesses, schools, and local governments to move toward a circular economy.

A sustainable waste management system prioritizes:

  • Reducing consumption and unnecessary packaging
  • Reusing and repairing products whenever possible
  • Recycling materials responsibly
  • Composting organic waste
  • Designing products for durability and recyclability
  • Supporting local and regional circular economies

Why Waste Reduction Matters

Modern landfills generate significant amounts of methane, a potent greenhouse gas that contributes to climate change. Organic materials such as food scraps, yard waste, paper products, and compostable materials release methane when buried in landfills without oxygen.

Keeping organic waste out of landfills through composting and food recovery programs is one of the fastest and most effective ways communities can reduce pollution.

Waste reduction also helps:

  • Conserve water and energy
  • Reduce air and soil pollution
  • Protect oceans and wildlife from plastic pollution
  • Reduce demand for resource extraction and manufacturing
  • Lower community disposal costs
  • Create local green jobs in recycling, repair, composting, and reuse industries

The Waste Management Hierarchy

The best waste is waste that is never created.  

Tips for Reducing Waste

  • Avoid single-use plastics and disposable products
  • Purchase durable, repairable goods
  • Buy in bulk when possible
  • Choose products with minimal packaging
  • Carry reusable shopping bags, water bottles, mugs, and utensils
  • Opt out of junk mail and unnecessary subscriptions
  • Borrow, share, or rent items used infrequently

Extending the life of products conserves resources and reduces landfill waste.

Reuse Ideas

  • Donate clothing, furniture, and household items.
  • Shop secondhand.
  • Repurpose jars, containers, and materials.
  • Participate in tool libraries and community swap events.
  • Support repair cafés and repair businesses’ Right to Repair.

Recycling conserves raw materials and energy, but contamination can reduce effectiveness.

Recycling Tips

  • Learn your local recycling guidelines
  • Rinse containers before recycling
  • Avoid “wish-cycling” (placing non-recyclables in recycling bins)
  • Recycle batteries, paint, and electronics at approved facilities
  • Purchase products made from recycled materials

Composting transforms food scraps and yard waste into nutrient-rich soil amendments while reducing methane emissions from landfills.

Composting Benefits

  • Reduces landfill waste
  • Improves soil health and water retention
  • Supports healthy gardens and agriculture
  • Sequesters carbon in soil
  • Reduces the need for synthetic fertilizers

Composting Tips

  • Compost fruit and vegetable scraps, coffee grounds, leaves, and yard trimmings
  • Avoid meat, dairy, oils, and diseased plants in backyard compost systems
  • Use curbside green waste collection programs when available

A circular economy reduces waste by designing systems where materials are continuously reused, repaired, recycled, or composted rather than discarded.

Circular Economy Strategies

  • Product redesign for durability and recyclability
  • Refillable and reusable packaging systems
  • Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) programs
  • Community repair and sharing networks
  • Local composting and material recovery infrastructure
  • Markets for recycled and reclaimed materials

Plastic pollution harms wildlife, ecosystems, waterways, and human health. Many plastics break down into microplastics that persist in the environment for decades.

Ways to Reduce Plastic Waste

  • Use reusable shopping bags and produce bags
  • Carry refillable water bottles and food containers
  • Avoid plastic utensils, straws, and disposable packaging
  • Support refill stations and bulk food stores
  • Advocate for local plastic reduction ordinances

Some communities use waste-to-energy technologies to reduce landfill volume and generate electricity or fuel from waste streams.

Potential approaches include:

  • Anaerobic digestion of organic waste
  • Methane capture from landfills
  • Biogas production from agricultural and food waste

These technologies should complement — not replace — efforts to reduce, reuse, recycle, and compost materials upstream.

Additional Areas of Focus

Consider donating edible surplus food to food banks and community organizations before it becomes waste.

Proper recycling of electronics, batteries, and appliances to prevent toxic contamination and recover valuable materials.

Reusing building materials and reducing landfill disposal from construction projects.

Reducing fast fashion consumption, promoting clothing repair, swaps, and textile recycling.

Promoting local policies and infrastructure that aim to divert the vast majority of waste from landfills.

Encouraging businesses, schools, and governments to purchase reusable, recycled-content, and environmentally preferable products.

Neighborhood cleanup events help prevent litter from entering waterways and build community stewardship.

Every Action Matters

Reducing waste is one of the most practical and immediate ways individuals and communities can help address climate change, conserve natural resources, and protect public health.

Embracing reuse, repair, composting, recycling, and circular economy principles moves our region toward a cleaner, healthier, and more resilient future for generations to come.   

Local Resources