When Nina Bhattacharryya and Amanda Waddle first formed Zero Waste Gainesville, they hoped to expand recycling and composting efforts citywide.

Five years later, that vision is becoming a reality.

The Gainesville City Commission last week approved three ordinances that will take effect throughout the next couple of years and further the city's goal of becoming a "zero waste" city by reducing waste so that products can be re-used or recycled instead of ending up in landfills or elsewhere in the environment.

The city, with Commissioner Adrian Hayes-Santos leading the charge, has adopted nearly all policies pushed forward by the group, spending tens of hours deliberating at meetings, as well as developing strategies with business owners, patrons and nonprofits. C

“Sometimes it can feel kind of helpless about enacting change, especially at the national level,” said Bhattacharyya, co-chair of Zero Waste Gainesville. “To have something that you've worked so hard on (to) pass, it gives you that hope that things can move forward in a really positive way for your community.”

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Gainesville had previously attempted to ban single-use plastic bags and Styrofoam containers citywide, as well as plastic straws. The push was met with strong resistance, including a legal challenge that reversed the city policy. Gainesville, however, won its argument on straws, which took effect in 2020.

The new changes adopted last week require businesses and grocery stores to offer food scraps to pantries or composting services by June 2023 and would only be allowed supply plastic utensils when requested by customers in September 2022.

The changes aren't only for restaurants. Apartment complexes will have to establish a “lease-transition plan,” which diverts discarded household items like furniture from dumpsters. Depending on the size of the complex, some will have more time to implement the changes.

Those who don't comply risk being fined $125 for each offense, though Commissioner Reina Saco said some will be provided leeway due to unique situations that may arise.

Tom Strickland, the city’s recycling coordinator, says the city would much prefer to work with business owners instead of fining them.

“Our goal is to get compliance and to provide the education and support the businesses need," he said.

The change could be tough for some.

Emily McClure, the owner of Muñecas Downtown Taco Garden, fears the changes will result in already rising costs.

Alternatives to single-use plastics are costly, she wrote in an email.

“During times of massive inflation, I don't believe now is a good time to add extra burden to small businesses,” she wrote.

With composting, however, Strickland says businesses will spend the same amount — or possibly less — disposing of waste and lessening bags of trash.

For businesses like Loosey’s that have welcomed changes and incrementally adjusted over the years, the impact will be minimal.

Owner Danny Hughes said the downtown dive bar has composted for years, longer than he can remember. Workers throw paper towels, lettuce bases, tomato heels and uneaten bread in bins outside the restaurant. 

Compost being a “gurgling biogenetic disaster of rotting food waste” is a misconception, he said.

“We don't have this festering dumpster full of food,” Hughes said. “Once you learn the system, there’s nothing to worry about.”

Loosey's is also one of the many businesses that have switched to paper bags and compostable to-go containers, plant-based utensils and sugarcane straws, which have a similar texture and feel to plastic.

Joy Hughes, Danny’s wife and owner of Life Unplastic, also sells eco-friendly care products. The store is lined with stacks of soaps, silverware and bulk items like shea butter, not wrapped in plastic. 

“Rescuing edible food and composting food scraps is a responsibility we as residents and business owners share, the benefits are numerous,” she said.

The couple composts kitchen scraps with Beaten Path Compost, which collects compost from about 360 residents and 16 businesses, its owner Stephan Barron said.

The organization also picks up food weekly from 200 homes under the city’s food waste pilot program.

The composting service Two Farms One Dream is also open to expansion. Owner Harry Sanchez said he and his partner Amber Sanchez relocated to a Trenton 12-acre property and have been preparing to expand over the last year.

Two Farms One Dream services between 50 to 70 households, 100 Haile Farmers Market clients and three businesses. 

Sanchez said he hopes to work with the city more as the ordinances are implemented.

“I think that it will awaken people a little bit more to the importance of what we're doing and the waste we create and how that impacts our environment around us,” he said. “I think we'll find understanding, the most willingness and definitely a sense of pride about it.”

Bhattacharyya said she thought of her toddler daughter when she started Zero Waste Gainesville, too. Her daughter delicately caresses sunflowers and gazes at the vermicompost in her backyard, worms crawling through, she said.

“I want it to be a beautiful world for her,” she said.