Ideal Bite

Pretty soon, tossing compostable or recyclable garbage in the wrong trash bin could cost you $100 in San Francisco.

Last week the SF Board of Supervisors approved a measure that would give SF the toughest recycling and composting laws in the nation. Essentially, getting and using your green and blue bins will be mandatory come fall. There'll be a moratorium on fines until 2011, but the city plans on working aggressively to educate the public and get everybody in the habit of composting and recycling by that time.

It's gonna be a nightmare to enforce; that much is for sure. (Reps for the local trash collection agency have already stated their job is to pick up garbage – not enforce laws.) But without serious enforcement, will this law really work? People don't generally like to be told what to do, and some folks are already getting defensive about their household habits. Others are wondering whether legislation will just polarize people in the opposite direction since there won't be too many tangible punishments doled out. 

I'm all for composting and recycling, but I already do it voluntarily. Anyone have any guesses as to how folks who don't yet do it will respond to the new law? If you've got a Ph.D in psych, consider your opinions in demand.

-Senior Editor Mike...off to double-check his trash can…