ENCINITAS — Solana Center for Environmental Innovation, a nonprofit organization that pioneered the first comprehensive curbside recycling program in Southern California, celebrated volunteers at its annual Toast to Compost volunteer appreciation event on June 30.
As one of the first community-based recycling programs in the nation, the Encinitas-based Solana Center is the go-to organization for food rescue education, community composting and water conservation initiatives throughout the county. All of these programs are made possible through volunteer involvement and support.
“Volunteers are crucial to helping our community preserve and conserve precious natural resources in order to secure a livable future for the next generation,” said Jessi Goralski, Solana Center volunteer coordinator and community liaison. “The annual Toast to Compost event is our chance to show them how much we appreciate the generous donation of their time.”
During the event, volunteers were recognized for their excellence in outreach and education, support of the community food cycle composting program, e-waste and u-waste recycling program facilitation and more. With a volunteer base of over 500 people, these donated hours have helped the organization strengthen environmental progress and community building in the region by introducing new concepts and connecting people with common interests to neighborhood resources as well as each other.
Volunteers gathered in Solana Center’s water-wise garden to enjoy hors d’oeuvres donated by local businesses like Jimbo’s Naturally and Frazier Farms on dishware from the center’s Green Convene dishware rental program. Green Convene was designed to prevent single-use plastic use at dinner parties and events.
In the past five years, volunteers have given over 9,800 hours to support Solana Center’s environmental programs, workshops and webinars and to enable the education of more than 70,000 San Diegans. According to the center, these efforts have helped keep 3.4 million pounds of organic waste from the landfill by creating healthy compost to nourish soils and saved more than 372,000 gallons of rainwater through rain barrel distribution, protecting local watersheds and waterways from harmful runoff throughout the San Diego region.
For more information on volunteering, please visit solanacenter.org/volunteer.
