Californians Against Waste is an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 environmental advocacy organization that takes action on local, state and national levels to conserve natural resources and prevent pollution through the expansion of a recycling economy. The organization is headquartered in Sacramento

Sacramento

Sacramento is the capital of the state of California, in the United States of America.Sacramento may also refer to:- United States :*Sacramento County, California*Sacramento, Kentucky*Sacramento – San Joaquin River Delta...

, CA

California

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

.

History

Californians Against Waste was founded in the 1970s to advocate for the establishment of a Bottle Bill

Container deposit legislation

Container-deposit legislation is any law that requires collection of a monetary deposit on soft-drink, juice, milk, water, alcoholic-beverage, and/or other containers at the point of sale...

 in California. After California's Bottle Bill

California Redemption Value

California Refund Value is a fee paid on purchases of certain recyclable beverage containers in California. The consumer pays CRV on the purchase of beverages with aluminum, plastic, glass, and bimetal containers and can be reimbursed if the containers are brought to a recycling center...

 passed in 1986, Californians Against Waste has continued to lobby for recycling and other legislation in the California Legislature and elsewhere. In 2006, Californians Against Waste sponsored legislation by California State Assembly

California State Assembly

The California State Assembly is the lower house of the California State Legislature. There are 80 members in the Assembly, representing an approximately equal number of constituents, with each district having a population of at least 420,000...

 member Lloyd Levine (D

Democratic Party (United States)

The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...

-Van Nuys) that created the nation's first, mandatory, in-store recycling program for plastic bags

Plastic shopping bag

Plastic shopping bags, carrier bags or plastic grocery bags are a type of shopping bag made from various kinds of plastic, and are common worldwide. These bags are sometimes called single-use bags, referring to carrying items from a store to a home...

 and required California

California

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

 supermarket

Supermarket

A supermarket, a form of grocery store, is a self-service store offering a wide variety of food and household merchandise, organized into departments...

s to offer reusable bags for sale. In 2007, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger

Arnold Schwarzenegger

Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger is an Austrian-American former professional bodybuilder, actor, businessman, investor, and politician. Schwarzenegger served as the 38th Governor of California from 2003 until 2011....

 signed Assembly Bill 1109 by California State Assembly

California State Assembly

The California State Assembly is the lower house of the California State Legislature. There are 80 members in the Assembly, representing an approximately equal number of constituents, with each district having a population of at least 420,000...

 member Jared Huffman

Jared Huffman

Jared Huffman is the assemblyman for California's 6th State Assembly district, which includes all of Marin and southern Sonoma counties...

 (D

Democratic Party (United States)

The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...

-Santa Rosa

Santa Rosa, California

Santa Rosa is the county seat of Sonoma County, California, United States. The 2010 census reported a population of 167,815. Santa Rosa is the largest city in California's Wine Country and fifth largest city in the San Francisco Bay Area, after San Jose, San Francisco, Oakland, and Fremont and 26th...

). This CAW sponsored legislation establishes mandatory reduction in electricity

Electricity

Electricity is a general term encompassing a variety of phenomena resulting from the presence and flow of electric charge. These include many easily recognizable phenomena, such as lightning, static electricity, and the flow of electrical current in an electrical wire...

 usage for lighting

Lighting

Lighting or illumination is the deliberate application of light to achieve some practical or aesthetic effect. Lighting includes the use of both artificial light sources such as lamps and light fixtures, as well as natural illumination by capturing daylight...

, effectively establishing a phased ban of incandescent bulbs

Incandescent light bulb

The incandescent light bulb, incandescent lamp or incandescent light globe makes light by heating a metal filament wire to a high temperature until it glows. The hot filament is protected from air by a glass bulb that is filled with inert gas or evacuated. In a halogen lamp, a chemical process...

 in California

California

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

, along with reducing hazardous materials in today's lighting. In 2008 CAW sponsored, but failed to pass, legislation that would have expanded California's Bottle Bill

California Redemption Value

California Refund Value is a fee paid on purchases of certain recyclable beverage containers in California. The consumer pays CRV on the purchase of beverages with aluminum, plastic, glass, and bimetal containers and can be reimbursed if the containers are brought to a recycling center...

 to include all plastic bottles and an attempt to require stores to charge a green fee on all single-use carryout bags.

Issue Areas

Californians Against Waste has lobbied mostly on solid waste and recycling issues. It focuses on updating California's Bottle Bill

California Redemption Value

California Refund Value is a fee paid on purchases of certain recyclable beverage containers in California. The consumer pays CRV on the purchase of beverages with aluminum, plastic, glass, and bimetal containers and can be reimbursed if the containers are brought to a recycling center...

, E-waste recycling and toxicity issues, landfill

Landfill

A landfill site , is a site for the disposal of waste materials by burial and is the oldest form of waste treatment...

s and waste issues and their role in implementation of California's Greenhouse Gas Law

Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006

The Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006, or Assembly Bill 32, is a California State Law that fights climate change by establishing a comprehensive program to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from all sources throughout the state...

, general environmental issues and banning foamed polystyrene

Polystyrene

Polystyrene ) also known as Thermocole, abbreviated following ISO Standard PS, is an aromatic polymer made from the monomer styrene, a liquid hydrocarbon that is manufactured from petroleum by the chemical industry...

 takeout food packaging. Californians Against Waste also campaign to reduce the source of marine debris

Marine debris

Marine debris, also known as marine litter, is human created waste that has deliberately or accidentally become afloat in a lake, sea, ocean or waterway. Oceanic debris tends to accumulate at the centre of gyres and on coastlines, frequently washing aground, when it is known as beach litter or...

.

Notable Legislative Campaigns

• California Assembly Bill 2020 (1986) - California Beverage Container Recycling and Litter Reduction Act.
• California Assembly Bill 939 (1989) - California Integrated Waste Management Act
• California Assembly Bill 1305 (1989) - California Recycled Newsprint Act
• California Senate Bill 20 (2004) - California Electronic Waste Recycling Act
• California Assembly Bill 2901 (2004) - California Cell Phone Recycling Act
• California Assembly Bill 1125 (2005) - California Rechargeable Battery Recycling Act
• California Assembly Bill 2449 (2006) - California Plastic Bag Supermarket Recycling Act
• California Assembly Bill 1109 (2007) - California Lighting Efficiency and Toxics Reduction Act