But with big changes about to kick in, the future of composting here is uncertain.

Alan Siegle, co-owner of Sonoma Compost, recalls how they had to persuade county supervisors to launch the operation more than 20 years ago.
Without a local composting facility, Sonoma County’s yard waste—some 100,000 tons of it per year—will now be trucked away and parceled out to five other facilities, in five surrounding counties. Henry Mikus, Executive Director of the Sonoma County Waste Management Agency, ticks them off.