Ithaca is not alone in its quest to divert dog waste from landfills.
Connecticut and Vermont will also enact laws to divert food waste from landfills in 2014.
The program has saved nearly a million pouches from landfills, Honest Tea says.
Methane from landfills creates enough energy to power or heat nearly 1.8 million homes.
The loans are repaid with the profits from diverting waste from landfills and selling the materials.
These incentives have enabled San Francisco to divert 70percentt of the city's trash from landfills.
By 2020 the city intends to divert 80% of its waste away from landfills.
The company focuses on several sources of renewable energy, including wind power, hydroelectric power and gas from landfills.
According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, approximately one-fifth of human-caused emissions of methane come from landfills.
As a result, groundwater is being polluted by agricultural chemicals and by waste from landfills and the burning of refuse.
Then the initiative will identify public policies that could expand the diversion of food from landfills to food banks.
