Closing a park is hard; closing a beach is even harder. But that’s just what Gov. Jerry Brown has proposed for four local state beaches. The beaches—Twin Lakes and Seabright in Santa Cruz County and Zmudowski and Moss Landing in Monterey County’s northern reaches—are among nine beaches up and down the state set for closure by next July. Due to the unique public access issues posed by beaches, the question of how exactly that will look—or if it will even work—remains entirely unanswered.
Articles by Nate Seltenrich
Santa Cruz County Wastes Not
What’s in a name? When it comes to Santa Cruz County’s Zero Waste program, everything. Through recycling, reuse, composting, and other waste reduction efforts, the county diverts at least 70 percent of its waste from the landfill. That’s already one of the highest figures in the state. But by as soon as 2021, when the Buena Vista landfill, one of two in the county, is scheduled for closure, Recycling and Solid Waste Services resource planner Tim Goncharoff says Santa Cruz County may well have achieved its zero-waste goal. That means no more trash headed to an ignoble end at the dump. Nada. Zilch. Zero.
