The county's Tajiguas Resource Recovery Project proposed for Santa Barbara's landfill is a solid waste management project whose time has passed. Its flaws have been mounting over time, but recent developments spotlight the opportunity to pursue an environmentally superior alternative that will serve our community needs for a longer time at less cost.
One of the most controversial aspects of the project is its location — 26 miles away from Santa Barbara on the Gaviota Coast. Not only is it unreasonable to transport all South Coast trash and recycling out to Tajiguas then ship all the recycling materials back on its way to Los Angeles, but the Gaviota Coast is simply unsuited to be a dump site. Instead, its natural and cultural resources make the landfill’s scar a blight on a nationally significant landscape. Large regional landfills do not belong in highly scenic coastal areas, and it is up to our local leaders, guided by the community, to reject the proposed expansion of the Tajiguas Landfill and find better alternatives.
Many communities are finding better ways to manage their solid waste and meet new state requirements by collecting and processing kitchen scraps and other pure organic waste generated at restaurants, grocery stores, hotels, schools, and our homes. The most innovative are turning food scraps and yard waste into high quality compost and providing this material to local farmers and ranchers to increase the nutrient value and water-holding capacity of their soil.