Keep Carlsbad Beautiful

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Environmental sustainability is a key priority for City Council. As a result, the city developed an ambitious plan that complies with new statewide environmental regulations and incorporates additional city laws, or ordinances, to increase sustainable habits across the city.

New city laws

As part of the plan, the new ordinances:

Require restaurants to offer reusable items whenever possible and provide only single-use products that can break down in the ocean, such as compostable products certified by the Biodegradable Products Institute (BPI) or ASTM.
Ban the use of plastic bags for retailers and restaurants.
Ban the intentional release of mylar and latex balloons.
Ban plastic water bottles and other single-use plastic beverage bottles on all city properties and at city events.

CoCSustainability-Timeline-Horizontal These ordinances were established in addition to new state mandates that require the collection and composting of organic materials like food and yard waste.

Why it’s important

Carlsbad is a great place to live, work and play. This is in strong part because of the pride our community takes in the city. We’re proud of the quality of life we enjoy from our beaches, lagoons, trails, parks and open spaces. The city serves to reinforce our community efforts to:

Reduce litter: A clean city is a welcoming city. Keeping litter off our beaches and public areas, especially single-use plastics and Styrofoam, is important for our residents, visitors, and local economy.
Protect our natural resources: Reducing the plastic waste that makes it to our ocean, lagoons and wildlife helps to protect what makes our community special.
Improve air quality: Excess waste sits in landfills and releases harmful greenhouse gases into the air we breathe.
Serve as good stewards of our community and environment: We have a responsibility to preserve quality of life for the next generation.

The city's commitment

In 2019, City Council adopted the city’s Sustainable Materials Management Plan, which works to ensure the city’s compliance with new state regulations and establishes systems to manage materials more sustainably throughout Carlsbad.
In September 2020, City Council declared a climate emergency, which is part of a worldwide effort to raise awareness of the impacts of climate change and instill a greater sense of urgency to address it. The declaration affirms the city’s current sustainability efforts and ongoing commitment to protecting the environment.
In December 2021, City Council adopted the Sustainable Materials Management Implementation Plan, which outlines the city’s approach to eliminating hard-to-recycle waste from the landfill, reducing plastic pollution and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

How you can help

There are simple actions you can take to keep Carlsbad beautiful and create a more sustainable community.

Get familiar with the changes: Explore the single-use plastic ban and restrictions on their uses.
Commit to little steps: It’s been said it takes 66 days to create a new habit. Commit to making a small change for three months – such as carrying a reusable straw with you to use at restaurants.

Stay up to date: Subscribe to our Environmental Sustainability email list.

Laws and regulations

In September 2016, SB 1383 set methane emissions reduction targets for California, including a target to reduce 75% of organic waste disposal by 2025. Starting in 2022, all jurisdictions are required to provide organic waste collection services to all residents and businesses.

The City of Carlsbad is going above and beyond with new ordinances to reduce single-use plastics and improve our local economy and environment: