The Unite2Green Leaders recently conducted a waste audit at one of Hayward's apartment complexes. This means they sorted through a sample of the trashcans to find out what was inside.

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What did they find? Only 1.5% of the stuff in the trashcans was actually trash that should be landfilled. The remaining 98.5% of stuff were items that could be recycled, reused or composted. The Unite2Green Leaders found that 80% of the items could have been composted, including 30% that was edible food. Food waste and food scraps are green gold in Hayward because they can be turned into certified compost that we return to Hayward residents - for Free!

Unfortunately, all of the items in the trashcans will be sent to the landfill because they weren't sorted corrected. Learn about how to sort your trash in Hayward. 

One of the issues at this apartment complex was that they did not yet have organics (green cart) service. The Unite2Green Program helped them get their green carts and conducted an outreach event to train the residents on how to compost. Over 40 residents and staff attended the workshop. The Unite2Green Leaders led a sorting game to teach everyone which items go in which carts. As a thank you for participating, all residents received lunch and a free compost pail to take back to their kitchen.

The Unite2Green Leaders will be doing another waste audit at the same apartments in a month to see if their efforts have made an impact. Stay tuned!

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The second of five Unite2Green Hayward outreach activities was held during Light Up the Season on Thursday, December 3, 2015.

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The Unite2Green Leaders provided information in English and Spanish about energy efficiency, including demonstrations of LED bulbs and smart power strips, and information about home energy upgrade rebates. Leaders gave away 150 LED light bulbs and more than fifty people registered to win a “smart” power strip.

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The first of five Unite2Green Hayward workshops was held on Saturday, October 31 on the topic of water conservation and efficiency. The Unite2Green Leaders ran concurrent half hour workshops in Spanish and English. The combined workshops had approximately fifty adult attendees, forty of which attended the Spanish language workshop.

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Unite2Green is a pilot program that is training “Leaders” - three high school students, one Chabot College student, and one Tiburcio Vasquez Promotora (Health Promoter) - to educate their neighbors in the Jackson Triangle about the effect that climate change will have on their health, finances, and security. The City is partnering with ICLEI and the Hayward Promise Neighborhood to implement Unite2Green Hayward with funding from the San Francisco Foundation. The Unite2Green Leaders will run five workshops between October and April on water, energy, recycling, environmental health, and climate change.

The water efficiency workshop covered the drought, cost-effective ways to reduce water waste, and the City’s water conservation programs. The Leaders included photos of their own efforts to reduce water consumption. The majority of residents who attended the workshop rent their homes and the workshop was tailored to renters, who typically do not pay their own water bills or receive the City’s educational materials as bill inserts.

The workshops were held at the HUSD Parent Resources HUB in conjunction with the Hayward Promise Neighborhood Fall Reading Festival. In addition to books, Halloween treats, and lunch, attendees received free water-efficient showerheads.

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