Residents air composting and heat pump gripes at climate workshop

Council member Sarah Margulies co-hosted a free public workshop at the new Larkspur Library with Katherine Morell Stevenson, executive director of the nonprofit Resilient Neighborhoods, part of the city's Climate Action Forum outreach push. Stevenson laid out eight household actions the group recommends, from cutting consumption to home electrification, and made the case for urgency: "In Marin, residents are responsible for 55% of the greenhouse gas emissions that go into the atmosphere every year... that number increases to something more like 75% when we take shopping choices and air travel into account." She said the program's volunteer teams have so far cut over 15 million annual pounds of greenhouse gas emissions, putting them 75% of the way to a 2030 goal of 20 million pounds reduced in Marin.

“We must keep the conversation about our climate crisis front and center, especially in light of the federal headwinds we face.”— Council member Sarah Margulies · ▶ Watch this exchange

The friendliest crowd questions turned into real complaints. A Mill Valley condo resident said composting is legally required countywide but unavailable at their building, telling the room they've been throwing food scraps in the regular trash for lack of a bin; another attendee said the same problem affects their daughter's apartment complex and called it "an issue of enforcement and education." Stevenson pointed residents toward a county staffer to arrange rodent-safe bins and floated electric countertop composters as a stopgap, but offered no timeline for closing the gap in multi-unit buildings.

Heat pumps, one of the program's signature recommendations, also drew objections. One attendee said a neighbor's heat pump is loud enough to disturb their bedroom and living room and urged the group to push passive cooling and heating — window orientation, heavy curtains, shade trees — instead of purchased equipment. Stevenson said heat pumps are just one of more than 100 actions in the program's toolkit and confirmed fans, windows and other passive strategies are already part of the curriculum. Winter workshop teams start January 7 and 14 for residents who want to join.