Twenty Free Bins Are on Offer at Saturday’s Backyard Composting Workshop

The first 20 people who register and attend a backyard composting workshop Saturday, July 25 at the Lamanda Park Branch Library will leave with a free compost bin, according to the City of Pasadena.

The introductory session begins at 1 p.m. and covers the basics of setting up a compost bin, identifying which materials to include and maintaining the proper balance that supports natural decomposition. Greg de Vinck, director of public works, said the department is running the workshop in partnership with Pasadena Public Library. Bins are limited to one per household and to Pasadena residents, and they measure 33 by 33 inches assembled, 33 by 18 inches collapsed for transport. Registration is required by calling the branch at (626) 744-7266.

Behind the giveaway is a state mandate. Senate Bill 1383, which took effect Jan. 1, 2022, requires California to reduce organic waste sent to landfills by 75% below 2014 levels and to redirect 20% of surplus edible food to people who need it. Local governments have been required to carry out enforcement against generators since Jan. 1, 2024. Organic material breaks down in landfills without oxygen and releases methane, a greenhouse gas far more potent than carbon dioxide over a 20-year span.

The state has struggled against those numbers. California missed the law’s interim goal of a 50% reduction by 2020, and then-CalRecycle Director Rachel Machi Wagoner wrote in a January 2023 letter to jurisdictions that the state was “disposing at a rate nearly 1 million tons above the baseline.”

Pasadena launched its curbside organics recycling program in 2022 to meet the mandate. Residential refuse customers are required to put bagged food waste in their yard waste containers, and businesses and multifamily properties must subscribe to organics collection through a franchise hauler. A backyard bin does not replace that service: small-scale composting cannot process bones, meat, dairy or fat, which still belong in the curbside stream.

Saturday’s workshop is one of several the department holds during the year, and the free-bin offer applies to each. Residents who miss it can also drop food scraps at community compost hubs located in gardens and parks around the city. Information on the bin program is at https://www.cityofpasadena.net/public-works/recycling-resources/organics-recycling/ordering-compost-bins/, and details on organics recycling generally are at https://www.cityofpasadena.net/public-works/recycling-resources/organics-recycling/organics-recycling-composting/ or by calling (626) 744-7311.

Lamanda Park Branch Library, 140 S. Altadena Dr., Pasadena. For more call (626) 744-7266 or visit https://www.cityofpasadena.net/public-works/recycling-resources/organics-recycling/ordering-compost-bins/. Free.