San Francisco already has more recycling trucks (174) than garbage trucks (147), so the news this week that Mayor Gavin Newsom would like to make it a crime in his city not to recycle isn't so surprising. But that doesn't make it any less encouraging.

Many of the most progressive environmental policy initiatives seem to origininate in the Bay Area these days, and this one fits the mold. To help San Francisco reach its self-imposed goal of a 75 percent recycling rate by 2010, Newsom announced on Earth Day that city officials are drafting an ordinance that would require all residents and businesses to recycle paper, plastics and aluminum, and to compost all food scraps and yard waste.

San Francisco wouldn't be the first city to institute a mandatory recycling program, but it would definitely be the largest. The city already has an astounding 70 percent recycling rate, so the ordinance would essentially be aimed at the stragglers.

And it's not as if the city plans to levy large fines against the non-compliers, though the penalty that San Francisco has in mind could be just as bad (and smelly). If you don't recycle, they just might not pick up your trash. As Newsom told the San Francisco Chronicle, "When the garbage stays, the impact is rather profound and people change their behavior."