Santa Cruz county supports composting done privately. The county provides a number of
composting resources on the website http://www.compostsantacruzcounty.org/. Among these
resources are instructions on how to compost, how to use compost, and where to get supplies for
compost. While the county formerly offered composting workshops and classes, due to budget
deficits these have been suspended. The county also has a program that picks up compostable
waste from certain facilities and transports it to a compost facility that produces compost suitable
for growing flowers and food.
The Green Schools Program is the county's program to further education on many
environmental topics including composting. The program makes presentations both in class and
school wide. The goal is to helps schools use resources wisely, minimize waste, and reduce
pollution, while educating students.
More information can be found at:
http://www.dpw.co.santa-cruz.ca.us/www.santacruzcountyrecycles/Green_Schools/index.html.
The Santa Cruz Community Compost Co is a business that arranges the removal of
compost. They provide bins and other supplies to people. They also pick up the waste using
cargo bikes and deliver it to a local farm. They have service areas in Midtown/Seabright, Live
Oak, Downtown, and Westside.
The University of Santa Cruz composts as part of its sustainability program. The University has a
partnership with Monterey Regional Waste Management. This allows the school to divert tons of
food waste a year from the landfill. Since the program started in the Fall of 2010 it has
successfully diverted more than triple the amount of waste that was diverted before the program
was started. As part of the program, compostable paper products are used throughout the dining
hall. Another part of the program are the Zero Waste days that are organized to bring awareness
to students about food waste, how it is created, and how much of it is created.