Change can be a daunting prospect for many of us, as it often requires us to leave behind what is familiar and step into the unknown. When it comes to the upcoming changes to your trash service, the city of Santa Clarita is doing its best to make sure the process is not unknown, and that our residents enjoy a smooth transition.

As of July 1 all residents and businesses within the city will transition to waste hauling services with Burrtec Waste Industries that has served our businesses for many years. That same date also marks the beginning of the implementation of new statewide legislation regarding the recycling of organics.

The first change you will notice is the brand-new trash carts replacing your old ones. Santa Clarita single-family homes will automatically have their current Waste Management carts and bins replaced with the new Burrtec carts, which will feature a new color scheme required under new state law. To provide consistency across the city and industry, these new cart colors will include black for garbage, blue for recycling and green for organics.

A question that has been coming up quite frequently has been, “what is considered to be organics?” “Organics” can be separated into two categories and they both belong in the new green organics cart. The first type is food waste, which includes items such as fruits, vegetables, meats, seafood, dairy, eggshells, bread, food scraps, peels or food-soiled paper. The second type of organics consists of green waste, including grass clippings, tree trimmings, leaves, flower petals and those amazing weeds! Your new carts will be clearly labeled with a list of what goes in each cart.

This new mandated organic recycling is due to new statewide legislation. Senate Bill 1383 is a mandatory climate pollutant strategy that is designed to reduce the amount of harmful methane emissions from organic waste in landfills. Here is how you can help by recycling your organics. Along with your new trash carts, you will also receive a small, kitchen food waste pail. Once you get it, place any plastic bag inside that you have laying around. This could be an old plastic shopping bag, bread bag or the bags you use for your fruits and veggies when shopping. Anytime you have food scraps or waste, simply scrape them into the bag which is in the pail then close the lid. Once that bag is full, tie a knot at the top and toss the bag into your green organics cart.

You may be thinking, I live alone, I don’t need a huge new trash cart. Or maybe you have a huge yard and need more than one green cart for all your yard waste. Make sure to check your mailbox for a postcard from Burrtec with your unique ID number and QR code. This will allow you to select different cart sizes to fit your daily needs. For those who do not request a different size, Burrtec will provide standard, 96-gallon carts.

While these are big changes for the city of Santa Clarita, Burrtec, as well as Green Santa Clarita, have made it their goal to make this transition as smooth, efficient and easy for you as possible. The city has created Trash Talks, a cute little video series that informs residents of the upcoming changes, as well as critical information regarding residential waste programs.

Visit GreenSantaClarita.com for up-to-date information, as well as new Trash Talks episodes, and be sure to stay up-to-date on social media @GreenSantaClarita and @BurrtecSCV so that we are all ready for this new transition on July 1 and together we can make a difference!

Councilmember Laurene Weste is a member of the Santa Clarita City Council and can be reached at lweste@santa-clarita.com.