Sort it, San Francisco

San Franciscans have the summertime to get a handle on how to sort garbage from recyclable food waste as the city prepares to enact a mandatory composting ordinance.

Authored by environmental champion and hair-gel aficionado Gavin Newsom, the city’s esteemed mayor, the new mandate recently was approved by the Board of Supervisors (9-2) and goes into effect in the fall.

San Francisco currently recycles garbage at a rate of 72 percent. The goal is to boost that figure to 75 percent. Under the new ordinance, residents and businesses within the city will be legally obligated to sort and separate trash into recyclables, compost and refuse, reported Bay City News Service.

More than a third of what the city currently sends to landfills is compostable, according to a study by San Francisco’s Department of the Environment. Those who ignore the mandate will be subject to fines.