Description

A walk through San Francisco's audacious plan to end trash as we know it.

Starting Location

Walgreen's at 3801 3rd St, Bayview

Duration

1 hour 15 minutes

Map Image

Description

San Francisco is at war with its garbage cans.

The city has come up with one of the most audacious plans in the history of cities: to stop putting any of what we throw away into landfills – to reuse or recycle every single thing San Franciscans are done with. No more waste by the year 2020.

So, what would it take to end trash as we know it?

On this Detour, you’ll browse shelves of trash-to-be along the aisles of a drug store. You'll visit a thrift store and a park where the things that could be laid to rest in a landfill find a second life, instead. You'll climb a hill with a gorgeous industrial view of the Bay and hear how that view has changed with the tides of trash.

Then, you'll travel into trash's future by peering inside a compost bin and checking out the inner-workings of a brewery. You’ll walk the serene marshlands of Heron’s Head Park and pay a surprise visit to the home of the city's top-100, cutest, most cutting-edge composters.

Is San Francisco’s goal of ‘zero waste’ preposterous or precocious? Decide for yourself on this walk through the bleak and beautiful neighborhood of India Basin.

Tips & Hours

• This Detour is best between 10am - 4pm. Be sure to begin before 4pm to see the last stop before it closes.
• One of the stops, Speakeasy, is closed on Mondays but you can still see most of it from the outside.
• The Bayview is a beautiful neighborhood but not often visited by tourists so the streets are often quiet.
• This is not a strenuous walk. There is one hill to climb and a beautiful park at the end.
• Remember to bring your ID if you’d like a post-Detour beer at Speakeasy.
• To get back to the starting point, walk back to the Speakeasy Brewery and continue west on Evans, away from the Bay. Walgreen's will be on your left just before 3rd Street.

Credits

Narrator and Producer

Marianne McCune

Editor

Alex Blumberg

Sound Design

Andrew Roth

Music

All the music in this Detour is from MOBRO, a jazz composition chronicling the journey of a garbage barge from New York to Belize and back. The creators call it “an epic quest told through the eyes of the garbage – a story of yearning, of escalating rejections, of self-knowledge, and ultimately of redemption.” The music is composed by Jon Ellis, the libretto written by Andy Bragen. It's here on iTunes.

Featured voices

Kevin Drew, Residential Zero Waste Coordinator, San Francisco's Department of Environment; Leonard Stefanelli, Consolidated Environmental Industries Inc (former Sunset Scavenger); Ellen and Javier, local residents; Jose Camacho, bottle and can scavenger; Eric and Mary, local residents; Nick Chew, Speakeasy Ales & Lager; Geoff Coffey, Bay Natives; Mike Crosetti, General Manager, Recology San Francisco; Beth Terry, author Plastic-Free: How I Kicked the Plastic Habit and How You Can Too, blogger at myplasticfreelife.com; Genevieve Church and Treverton Rose, City Grazing; David Gavrich, San Francisco Bay Railroad

Podcast Episode Contributing Volunteers

Kris L.

Starting Locations of All Detours

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