A California law ordering that half of the material currently goinginto landfills be recycled by the year 2000 is a great opportunity for urban residents to recycle their grass clippings, tree trimmings and even clean vegetable scraps, says Bill Liebhardt, director of the UC created by urban people. The recycled material could be used in city gardens and parks, and in the country to help farmers enrich their soil with clean organic material." Organic means living (or once living) materials that can improve soil productivity, water infiltration and water-holding capacity. Liebhardt notes that in New Jersey, farmers are paid to take the leaves that fall from city trees, a practice municipalities find cheaper than adding leaves to landfills. The leaves decompose into rich organic material for the farmers' soil.