Todos Santos Fire Department Commander Cardena has declared, “The only solution to preventing fires at the landfill is to keep our community’s organic waste out of it.”

In 2024 Alianza Cero Basura created critical, sustainable alternatives to the landfill for the community’s waste:

• Community Organic Waste Farm: In partnership with INIFAP, the National Institute of Forestry, Agriculture and Livestock Research, we created the first Community Organic Waste Farm in Baja California Sur and proved out our business model for kitchen waste collection and compost. The farm now accepts kitchen and garden waste from the broader community and is open for public drop-offs.
• Schools. In partnership with Colorado State University Todos Santos Center we created organic waste diversion programs at two local public schools in which the students create compost on school grounds with their food waste. This program is being expanded to other schools and is creating a community in which composting is the norm.
• Businesses. ACB trained roughly 100 people at local businesses on improving their waste management and these businesses are now diverting 56% to 78% of their waste away from the landfill. ACB is currently working with SETUES, the Secretary of Tourism and Economy in Baja California Sur, to greatly expand waste management training to local businesses. Community Resource Hub. We took all of our knowledge about diverting waste from the landfill and created the ACB Community Resource Hub, a bilingual network of resources available to all, free of charge, that provides options to community members for diverting their waste from the landfill.

With the robust foundation that we created in 2024 we are ready. We are ready with some of the long-term solutions the town needs to divert waste from the landfill and prevent the fires, and we are ready with the sustainable programs the community needs to transform behaviors across generations. Thank you to our incredible sponsors, partners and volunteers for working with us to create this lasting legacy of impact, and for providing the continued support that is crucial in creating a zero waste future in which we can all breathe easy. We are excited to share with you more information about our 2024 achievements in these pages, and even more excited to continue expanding our capabilities and impact in 2025.