WHEREAS, Materials, such as yard trimmings, vegetable cuttings, biosolids, food scraps, manures, and hay shavings, have all been composted and converted into a beneficial product known as compost; and

WHEREAS, Compost is an important soil amendment and is critical to the state’s valuable agricultural industry; and

WHEREAS, Returning organic resources to the soil decreases dependence on chemical fertilizers and pesticides, decreases erosion, reduces greenhouse gas emissions and nonpoint source pollution, conserves water, and creates drought-resistant crops; and

WHEREAS, Composting is an effective form of waste reduction, reuse, and recycling; and since compostable organic materials make up approximately 42 percent of the material going to landfills, composting is becoming one of the primary methods used by communities to reach waste diversion goals; and

WHEREAS, Anaerobic digestion is a form of organics management that prepares materials for composting, while capturing methane, a potent greenhouse gas, and uses it to generate electricity and heat or processes it into a ultra-low carbon transportation fuel; and

WHEREAS, Composting California’s food waste could cut landfill methane emissions by up to 3 million tons of carbon dioxide per year, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by an additional 3.3 million tons, through the use of finished compost in agriculture; and

WHEREAS, Communities, through their local governments, highway departments, soil conservation services and extension offices, and public works professionals, can have significant impact on clean water, soil, climate change, and landfill diversion by using compost for public works projects; and

WHEREAS, Composting creates green jobs and infrastructure for cities and states that implement composting programs; and

WHEREAS, The Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery has estimated that recovering a significant portion of our organic waste stream could create 14,000 new jobs in the state by 2020; and

WHEREAS, the composting councils of the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom have all declared the first full week of May as the annual International Compost Awareness Week; now, therefore, be it