If there’s one thing that we’ll never, ever run out of in San Francisco, it’s opinions. Whether we’re debating which restaurant is best, if we really are the vainest city in the United States, or how much the Giants rule, everyone’s got an opinion.

We’ve even got opinions about things that might be a tad more serious than meals, metrosexuals, and World Series winners, like redevelopment (we’ve written about that, too), housing vs. wetlands, and congestion pricing for San Francisco. If you’re interested in learning more about any of these topics, read on: I heard today about a brand-new debate series, sponsored by The Bay Citizen and SPUR (San Francisco Planning + Urban Research Association), called Debates Worth Having, which will cover these three topics to start.

Kicking off the series on Thursday, March 3, is a discussion about “The Future of Redevelopment” in the state of California. The short back story: newly re-inaugurated Governor Jerry Brown has proposed eliminating redevelopment agencies statewide in order to free up money for schools and services. The redevelopment agencies themselves oppose this plan (paging Captain Obvious, paging Captain Obvious…), while others say that the agencies are redundant and wasteful. Don’t have a clue? Plan to attend the debate to get the scoop from both sides. The debaters will be Fred Blackwell (Executive Director of the SF Redevelopment Agency) and Karen Chapple (Associate Professor of City and Regional Planning at UC Berkeley).

Where: SPUR, 654 Mission St.

When: March 3, 5:30 (reception), 6-7 (debate)

Cost: $5

RSVP if you’d like to attend.

On March 29, debate #2 will focus on the wetlands. Specifically, should the decommissioned salt ponds at the edge of the San Francisco Bay (near Redwood City) be developed into 12,000 housing units or should it be maintained as wetlands? Facing off will be Peter Calthorpe, chief designer of the proposed Saltworks development, and David Lewis, executive director of Save the Bay. Be there on March 29 if you’d like to learn more (same time and place as the March 3 debate).

Debate #3 will take place at SPUR on Tuesday, April 19, with a reception at 5:30 and the debate from 6-7 PM. The topic will be congestion pricing, otherwise known as “charging cars to enter the downtown area during peak traffic times.” London and Stockholm have instituted congestion pricing — but is it the right answer for SF? Jose Moscovich of the SF County Transportation Authority will debate Rob Black of the SF Chamber of Commerce on this idea.

We’ve written in the past about some questions that most first-time buyers have, and this will be the second in an occasional series that will answer many common questions from new buyers. If you’ve got a question — from the perspective of a first-time buyer, a first-time seller, or anywhere on the buying and selling spectrum — leave it for us in the comments and we’ll be sure to post an answer.

To today’s topic: inspections. Most buyers want to know which type of inspections they should conduct, and there are a few different versions of the answer, depending on the type of property being purchased.

If you’ve found the single-family home of your dreams, the answer is pretty standard: you should conduct, at a minimum, a general contractor’s inspection and a wood-destroying pest inspection.

The general inspection covers all the systems of the home. The short list of systems inspected includes the foundation, plumbing, gas, electrical, windows, walls, and the roof. A couple of things to note: this inspector is not a licensed structural engineer, so his or her evaluation of the foundation will not be exhaustive. The report will give a general opinion about the condition of the systems and if the inspector thinks there’s a condition that warrants a closer look by a specialist, he or she will recommend further inspections.

The pest inspection looks for any wood-destroying organisms: dry rot, beetles, fungus, and termites (oh my!), for example. The report will call out specific areas of damage as well as the cost to fix them.

Now, if your dream home is a condo in a small building — up to, say, six units — you will likely conduct these same two inspections. Once you get into larger condo buildings, it can still make sense to conduct a general property inspection, but the pest inspection might not even be possible (the homeowner’s association must give consent for this inspection).

If you’ve got any questions about inspections, we’ll answer them for you!

We San Franciscans are a pretty smug bunch when it comes to our trash. Back in 2009 our fearless Board of Supervisors passed the toughest recycling law in the country, mandating composting of food scraps and yard waste as well as recycling of all paper, cans, and glass, and most plastic (no bags!). Of course, some people griped about it (and two Supervisors voted against it), but in August 2010 there was a big media splash when former mayor Gavin Newsom announced that we had reached a goal of diverting 77 percent of our trash from the landfill to the compost heap or the recycling plant. And that was two years early, by the way.

By now most of us are in the habit of dragging three cans to the curb for pickup — blue for recycling, green for compost, and black for almost everything else. The “almost” is because stuff like batteries and paint can’t be thrown in the trash at all. Put your batteries in a plastic bag and place it on top of your garbage can, and your friendly Recology trash-picker-upper person will dispose of them properly.

So, what goes in which can?

The green can is for yard waste (think grass clippings, tree branches, weeds, but no dog poop!) and kitchen scraps. As the Recology website says, this includes “anything that used to be alive;” all other food scraps like vegetables, bread, grains, and coffee grounds; food-soiled paper, cardboard, and paper towels; and compostable cutlery and paper plates.

The blue can is for recyclables: all glass, paper, metals, plastic (except bags), and cardboard. That’s a lot of what goes through my house each week.

What’s left? The rest goes in the black can. The list of what goes here is pretty specific: plastic bags, wine corks, pens and pencils, rubber bands, styrofoam, sponges. Get the idea that after producing the lists for the blue can and the green can that there wasn’t much left to head to the landfill?

If you’re brushing up your green cred and you want to be extra sure that you’re putting everything in the correct can, check out the Department of the Environment’s Ecofinder tool, which — because this is San Francisco — is also available as an iPhone app.