WDCS applauds the city of San Francisco's new law mandating everyone recycle food waste. The city is even providing additional recycling bins in which food scraps are picked up by the city.

It's the first program of its kind in the nation, and so far, it's a mandate San Franciscans seem to relish. In fact, many residents and landlords began implementing the law before it took effect, using their city-provided food recycling bins to separate waste. That's because the program trims apartment building's garbage costs while keeping the garbage room from reeking of wet garbage and the food waste.

According to Tristram Stuart in his new book, Waste: Uncovering the Global Food Scandal under 3 percent of US municipal food waste gets recycled. The rest goes into landfills where without exposure to Oxygen it turns into Methane, a potent green house gas.

Ways you can help:
Call on your city to begin a food waste recycling program

Reduce your waste:
Americans waste an astounding amount of food, the Department of Agriculture estimated that more than one-fourth of the edible food in the United States (96.4 billion pounds of the 356 billion pounds) was never eaten.

Composting Your own food:
Bin: Keep food waste in a bin with a ventilated lid in your kitchen; then mix it with yard waste and soil in a compost bin outside. After several months, the broken-down concoction can be returned to the garden or the ground.

Foods: All scraps and uneaten organic matter, such as: coffee grounds, tea bags, vegetable and fruit scraps and corn husks.

Non-foods: Incorporate yard waste into the pile; grass clippings, leaves, shrub waste and woodchips work well. A mixture of wet and dry items will help the pile break down faster.

Maintenance: To thrive and decompose, a compost pile requires oxygen and a good carbon-to-nitrogen ratio. Periodically mixing up the compost with a shovel, adding shredded cardboard to the pile and making sure the bin gets adequate ventilation can help in these two areas.

Temperature: Compost decomposes best when it's between 90 and 135 degrees Fahrenheit. Retain heat by keeping your pile in the sun. Purchase a black compost bin or buy an insulation jacket for your bin.

Tossing food scraps in your garbage can is a crime — at least in San Francisco.