Saturday morning was warm enough to draw more than 38 people to Martin Luther King Junior Community Garden for seminars and discussions on composting, cover crops, vermicomposting and the benefits of ladybug larvae. More than a dozen people attended the first of two composting seminars, led by Bill Maynard, master gardener and director of community gardens for the city. Sacramento waste reduction coordinator Doug Houston opened the 8 a.m. event by speaking about waste reduction and the cost of green waste. Houston told the group that Sacramento pays for green waste disposal. Bins cost residents less money each month, and they are environmentally friendly because green waste is kept out

Loose-in-the-street green waste pickup may become more expensive for residents, according to comments made by City Council members Tuesday night. During a discussion of green waste at Tuesday’s council meeting, the council asked city staff to prepare detailed plans for raising the rates on loose-in-the-street pickup and reducing the level of pickup service from weekly to biweekly. Council members did not make any final decisions on the issue. Gerald Celestine, a founding member of Friends of Fremont Park, said Wednesday that he thinks loose-in-the-street pickup works better than container pickup for Central City residents. “We have more trees,” he said. “We have much more green waste.”

About 65 Pocket and Greenhaven residents gathered Thursday night to learn about current city issues. City staffers briefed the citizens on the city budget, green waste pick-up services and other topics during the community meeting, which was organized by City Councilman Darrell Fong. Attendees were fully engaged throughout the meeting, asking plenty of questions. It began at 6:30 p.m. and by 8:30 p.m. few had left John F. Kennedy High School on Gloria Drive. City Finance Director Leyne Milstein presented information to the group about the city’s $35-$40 million budget gap for the 2011/2012 fiscal year. She noted that the $35-$40 million represents about 20 percent of the net general fun

Another year and Christmas has come and gone. Relatives are heading home, the piles of leftovers get smaller with each meal and in just a matter of days it will be time to vacuum up those little green needles and say goodbye to this year’s Christmas tree. Each year, tens of thousands of trees are purchased in the Sacramento area. While they can be thrown out in garbage cans or taken to landfills, the city of Sacramento and a few other local programs are offering easy and convenient ways for people to recycle their once bright and beautiful living room centerpieces. Recycling your Christmas tree will not only keep landfills from overflowing, but will also allow what’s remaining to be reuse

Choosing bins for green waste instead of on-the-street pickup saves each eligible resident $3 per month. But if residents want to put their green waste into bins instead of on the street for pickup, it’s not guaranteed they’ll receive bins from the city. That’s because the city is using two separate green-waste pickup systems and bins are not currently available to all residents. However, residents can use the following information to encourage the city to bring bins to their neighborhood. How do I tell the city I want to use bins? Call 311 to inform the city that you want to put your green waste in containers, Utilities Department spokeswoman Jessica Hess said. You can also make a requ

When the Utilities Department recently explored changes to Sacramento’s green waste pickup system, some residents expressed intense opposition to scrapping on-the-street pickup. They said they prefer that method to the use of bins. The city's current methods of green waste pickup are on-the-street pickup and a voluntary bin system. Councilman Steve Cohn and a staffer for Councilman Rob Fong said recently that they support giving all residents the choice of bins over on-the-street pickup. Residents can continue on-the-street pickup and the following information will help. How to opt-out A city employee may leave a green waste bin at your house if your neighborhood has been selected for

The fiery public debate over possible changes to the city of Sacramento’s green waste pickup system has changed course. The City Council was expected to decide in January whether to ask voters to use bins for their green waste. But it will not make a decision on the issue in the immediate future, according to Marty Hanneman, Utilities Department director. The issue of scrapping the on-the-street pickup system has been “pushed back on the table, on the back burner,” he said. For weeks, residents have been debating whether bins should be used instead of on-the-street green waste pickup. Recent reports from city staffers said a bin system would be cheaper and more environmentally responsib

Several residents recently used the city website’s new “eComment” tool to weigh in on the issue of green waste pickup. The City Council is expected to consider in January whether to ask voters to use bins for green waste. Sacramento voters decided in 1977 that the city could not establish the use of bins for green waste. If the city wants to enact bin use rules, it must ask voters to overturn the 1977 law, according to a Nov. 24 report from the Utilities Department. More bin opponents are using the eComment tool than proponents. Only one of six recent comments is from a bin supporter. Here are three eComments on the green waste issue. Bakken and Goldberg's comments have been shortened fo

The debate over the Sacramento Utilities Department's desire to use bins for green waste pickup has a familiar ring. This isn’t the first time green waste has been a hot topic in Sacramento. Green waste disposal was controversial as far back as 1977, when a fierce fight took place between those who wanted bins and those who sought to maintain on-the-street pickup. Utilities Department Director Marty Hanneman said that staff plan to bring the issue to the City Council on Jan. 21 or Jan. 28. Supporters of the bins argue that their method is cost-effective, while bin opponents say on-the-street pickup is the most convenient system.  The department's position is that bins would be a cheaper

The Sacramento Utilities Department has delayed for one week its presentation to the City Council on potential changes to green-waste pickup. At its Nov. 17 meeting, the council will decide whether to put a measure before voters to establish the use of bins for green waste.  Bin use would mark a change from the city’s current system of removing piles of green waste from the street with the ‘claw’ and a second vehicle. The City Council was scheduled to consider the department’s proposal Tuesday but staffers are adding more information to their report, said Support Services Manager David Levine. He said changes to the report will include new information on the cost to the city of placing t

The practice of dumping green waste on the street may become a thing of the past. The City Council will discuss a proposal Tuesday to ask voters if they want to place their piles of leaves in bins instead of in the street. The people of Sacramento banned bins in 1977. “On September 27, 1977, city of Sacramento voters passed Measure A, an initiative ordinance that prohibited the city from requiring containerized collection of yard and garden refuse (green waste),” according to a Utilities Department report that will be presented to the City Council Nov. 10. The department is asking the City Council if it wants to sponsor an initiative to overturn the ban on the bins. A city ordinance est