Groups aim to get H.B. to adopt ‘zero waste’ policy

Environmental groups gathered at Huntington Beach Pier to tout a new national study arguing that the fastest way to stop climate change is to cut down on trash.

Officials with the local Earth Resource Foundation and the Orange County Interfaith Coalition for the Environment spoke at a June 5 news conference to promote the study. They chose Huntington Beach because the city has signed the U.S. Mayors Climate Protection Agreement to cut down on emissions, representatives said.

“Our goal is to get Huntington Beach and the surrounding areas to adopt zero waste,” said Stephanie Barger, executive director of the Earth Resource Foundation. “Things like food scrap composting are nonexistent in Orange County. We have tons of food scraps going into landfills and giving off methane and other gases.”

The event was timed to fall on the United Nations’ World Climate Day.

— Michael Alexander