By signing this petition (below), you can help Corvallis take one of the most significant actions to address climate change through stewardship of its garbage and recycling system. Signing this petition will tell the Corvallis City Council that you want Corvallis to help establishments recycle and compost their waste.  This will help us take an important step toward reducing greenhouse gases.

Dear Mayor Traber and Corvallis City Council:

We support the Business Resource Recovery Ordinance to help Corvallis take a significant step in addressing climate change. An effective way to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) is to steward Corvallis’ garbage and recycling system. Organic matter is the largest single recoverable material sent to landfills, which generates methane, a potent greenhouse gas. This initiative will help establishments recycle and compost organic and other recoverable waste, helping Corvallis reduce its carbon footprint.

If Corvallis takes this step, they will not be alone. Oregon’s neighbor states, Washington and California, have passed a food waste ordinance, which was added to their existing recycling requirements. Oregon is also moving in that direction given that Oregon Metro’s 24 cities and 3 counties passed a “Business Food Waste Requirement” in 2019. Other states that passed similar laws are: Connecticut, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Vermont, as well as the following cities: Austin, TX; New York, San Francisco, CA, Portland, OR.

The following are additional reasons to support this initiative:

----Corvallis is near a Pacific Regional Compost Facility approved for organics composting;
----43 Corvallis businesses (and OSU) are already part of a voluntary commercial food waste collection program;
----In 2017, Benton County generated 96,381 tons of waste, and recovered 33,217 tons of waste
---EPA estimates that more food reaches landfills and incinerators than any other single material in our everyday trash, constituting 21.6 percent of discarded municipal solid waste.
----Requiring the collection of food waste, supports food waste prevention and edible food donation.

Corvallis supports GHG reduction and has signed onto the United States Conference of Mayors, and adopted a Climate Action Plan. Given that the national administration’s decision to forgo the Paris Climate Accord, cities and counties need to step up along with businesses and schools. It is important that we fight against climate change and work to avoid its most dangerous and costly effects. And if we are to avoid significant climate disruption, a dramatic decrease in greenhouse gas emissions needs to occur within ten years, according to the Intergovernmental Panel of Climate Scientists. Therefore, local and state governments, along with businesses, must do their part to decrease greenhouse gas emissions.

In passing this initiative, Corvallis will remain actively engaged as part of the global effort to hold warming to well below 2℃ and to accelerate the transition to an economy that turns waste into carbon resources, which will benefit our security, prosperity, and health.