Zero Waste Sonoma worked with Cascadia Consulting Group to offer businesses and multifamily properties outreach and technical support to comply with California Senate Bill 1383 (SB 1383) and the local Disposable Food Service Ware and Polystyrene Foam Ordinance.
We used an adaptable, inclusive, and multilingual approach across this multi-faceted project: we provided edible food donation compliance education and technical assistance to Tier I and Tier II generators, supported food and beverage facilities transitioning to reusable foodware, and worked with high-waste generators in Santa Rosa to implement collection services, access free resources, and adopt sustainable waste diversion practices. Across all tasks, Cascadia and ZWS worked to make sure that at least 10 percent of the accounts represented areas or businesses that have historically been underserved.
We contacted the highest generating Commercial Edible Food Generators to raise awareness of SB 1383 requirements. We helped them start new food recovery programs or formalize existing ones, connect and contract with local food recovery organization options, keep compliant records, and address concerns such as added workload. By working through these barriers with empathy, we achieved significant progress, contacted 126% of our goal, and verified 111 food contracts at the close of the project.
At the same time, we worked closely with priority food facilities that use disposable food ware—contacting over 200 to assist with compliance on the disposable food ware ordinances. The outreach team provided information, vendor lists, and customized support to adopt compliant products—and observed low awareness of the ordinance, difficulty with confusing compostable product details, accessing compliant products, and concerns about high costs. We engaged with suppliers, provided clear information about alternatives, and promoted the reuse grant and a switch to reusables for dine-in. We exceeded both goals to contact and assist food facilities, achieving 91% compliance with the ordinance, and 100% with reusables for dine-in.
Finally, we focused on a set of high-waste generators in Santa Rosa, contacting them to assist with SB 1383 compliance. We identified opportunities for waste prevention, right-sizing waste collection services, and implementing organics and recycling programs. We provided on-site training, informational resources, and free bins. Varying awareness of SB 1383, lack of resources for proper organics collection, and concerns about odors, pests, and illegal dumping all posed barriers, though the team distributed a significant number of resources and assisted more than double our original goal number of waste-generators.
The project demonstrated the importance and effectiveness of on-the-ground outreach by a team that knows the community and is empathetic, multilingual and culturally fluent. Together with clear and accessible information and great partners, this combination successfully achieved waste reduction goals. This work culminated in a set of recommendations to ensure ongoing compliance and foster sustainable practices in food ware, organics collection, and the local edible food donation system —including continuing outreach in clear and accessible language, utilizing inspections and enforcement as needed, engaging with food recovery organizations and food ware suppliers, and building community momentum and inspiration through testimonials, tailored support, and recognizing and celebrating successes.
Read the full report on pages 57-113 of Zero Waste Sonoma’s recent board presentation.
