chelsea@recycleutah.org

Summit County curbside recycling is transported to WM, a large Materials Recovery Facility (MRF) in Salt Lake City. Recycle Utah staff and volunteers were able to take a tour of Waste Management, and ask a few of our burning recycling questions. Here are some answers to our FAQ’s for curbside recycling to help put you on the right path. 

As always, curbside recycling guidelines vary from county to county and are subject to change. Please check local recycling guidelines for the most up to date information. 

Can I put my recycling in a trash bag? 

No. The best way to ensure your materials are recycled is to place loose in the bin. If recyclables are bagged, they are assumed to be trash when they reach the MRF. If you line your indoor recycling bin with a trash bag, please dump recyclables straight into curbside bin without the plastic liner. 

Do my materials have to be washed prior to recycling? 

Plastics in your curbside recycling need to be free of any major food or liquid residue prior to going in your recycling bin. However, they do not need to be dishwashed or 100% clean prior to recycling. Sorted materials are cleaned as part of the recycling process. Just make sure that your materials are empty; most materials are sorted at the MRF using optical (AI) sorters, so as long as the material has a similar weight to what it would weigh completely empty, it will be identified as the correct material. For example, just scoop out all the peanut butter or yogurt out of the container, or pour out liquids from bottles before putting them in the bin.

Does curbside recycling actually get recycled? 

Yes! WM is able to recycle over 90% of material which arrives at their facility. Recycling is about saying yes, not no. As technologies advance and sorting becomes increasingly automated, more and more materials are able to be recycled curbside. Materials sorted at the MRF are connected to their end source recycler, primarily domestically, where they are processed back into packaging and other recycled products.

For more information about curbside recycling, please visit wm.com/recycle-right for more information. For a full tour of Waste Management, filmed by Recycle Utah, check out @RecycleUtah on YouTube. 

By Mia Moore

At last year’s Green Drinks gathering at fulFILLed Lifestyle Co., the room went quiet when a guest doctor shared a startling statistic: the average person now carries about a plastic spoon’s worth of microplastic in their brain. Not in our oceans or landfills—in our brains. Naturally, everyone wanted to know: where is all this plastic coming from? While microplastics are everywhere in modern life, in this article we’ll be focused on those common culprits found in our kitchens.

First, a quick refresher. Microplastics are plastic particles smaller than 5 millimeters. They form when larger plastics break down through abrasion, heat, and chemical processes. Here are a few common kitchen items that may be unintentionally adding microplastics to your meals.

1. Plastic Cutting Boards

If that makes you cringe, you’re not alone. As a former environmental journalist, and now someone who runs a local business focused on helping people reduce toxins and plastic, I only removed plastic cutting boards from my home a few years ago.

Plastic boards have long been marketed as the most hygienic option, but every knife stroke scrapes off tiny fragments of plastic. A 2023 study published in Environmental Science & Technology estimated that typical use of polyethylene or polypropylene cutting boards could release 14–79 million microplastic particles per year.

Instead, consider cutting boards made of wood, bamboo, marble, or tempered glass. I personally use wood or bamboo for produce and glass for meat and poultry because it’s easy to sanitize.

2. Sponges and Scrubbers

Many common kitchen sponges are made of plastic-based materials that shed microscopic fibers as they wear down. Those fibers can end up on your dishes, in your food, or washed down the drain into wastewater. Natural alternatives like plant-based sponges, wooden scrub brushes, loofahs, or cotton dishcloths can help reduce that plastic shedding.

3. Plastic Containers and Microwaving

Heating food in plastic containers—even ones labeled “microwave-safe”—can increase the release of micro- and nanoplastics. Research shows that just a few minutes of microwaving can release millions of particles into food. 

“Microwave-safe” simply means the container won’t melt or warp. It does not guarantee that chemicals or plastic particles won’t leach into your food. Glass or ceramic containers are a safer option for storing and reheating meals.

4. Tea Bags and Plastic Wrap

Many conventional tea bags contain polypropylene, which can release billions of microplastic particles when steeped in hot water. Plastic wrap, resealable bags, and takeout packaging can also shed microscopic fragments when stretched or heated.  Switching to loose-leaf tea, beeswax wraps, silicone bags, or glass storage can help reduce these exposures.

The long-term health impacts of microplastics are still being studied. But one thing is clear: our kitchens play a bigger role than we might think. The good news is that a few simple swaps can significantly reduce the plastic particles entering both our meals and our bodies.

By Kimberly Flores, co-founder fulFILLed Lifestyle Co.

“Paper or plastic?” You’ve probably heard this question at the grocery store. Or—if you’re like me—you haven’t, because you brought your own bag.

I used to never bring reusable bags to Trader Joe’s. I’d walk out with four giant paper bags and no plan for what to do with them. They’d get stuffed under the sink until there was literally no room left. I told myself I was saving them to reuse someday… but that day never came.

Once I started bringing my own bags, I realized I’d been doing it the hard way for years.

The average American goes to the grocery store at least once a week. If someone leaves each time with just two plastic bags, that adds up to hundreds of plastic bags a year—for one person. Multiply that by an entire community, and it’s a staggering amount of waste. The good news? It’s completely avoidable. A $3 reusable bag can replace thousands of single-use bags over its lifetime. It reduces plastic waste and frees up space in your trash can—and under your sink.

My trick is simple: I leave my reusable bags in the car after every grocery trip so I never forget them.

I can imagine a future with “bagless” grocery stores—and I think it would be a good one. Or at least a future where stores charge a hefty fee for bags. States like California and Delaware already do this, and it works. I grew up in California and saw first-hand how it influences people to bring their own bag. If Utah adopted a similar policy, we’d likely see the same shift.

So next time you head to the store, bring your own bag. It’s a small habit that makes a big difference.

By Sean McCarthy

Living in Utah, the 2nd driest state in the U.S., means that we think a lot about water conservation. Responsibly managing our water use is essential to the longevity of the Wasatch Back, which nearly 90,000 people call home. Common water uses include agriculture, lawns, and industrial and commercial users–but what are some of the hidden water uses we see in our daily lives? 

Almost every product we purchase requires water in its production, some far more than others. For example, the average pair of jeans requires between 3,000 and 4,000 liters of water to make, as reported by the UN Environmental Programme. For the example of jeans, this water is typically consumed during the growing of the cotton for the jeans. We do not see or inherently think about water being a requirement for our jeans–or our burgers–but any time we grow a product (or raise an animal), we see significant water consumption going into the earliest stages of production. Some plants or animals require significantly less water than others, which is why we see products emerging made of less water-intensive crops, such as bamboo. 

We also see significant hidden water use in many of our electronics and other products, which require specialized metals. The average smartphone in 2025 requires roughly 12,000 to 13,000 liters of water throughout its production. This water is primarily consumed through the mining of raw materials, where ore is rinsed extensively throughout the production process. This produces wastewater, which can be highly toxic and dangerous to the natural environment, and must be diluted or cleaned before being returned to the water stream. Sometimes the water used for mining is greywater to begin with, being diverted from local residential wastewater streams, which allows for a less energy-intensive process. 

These are just some of the examples of ways our waterfootprint can grow significantly behind closed doors. In general, whenever you are purchasing something made of a virgin material (especially a rare metal), you can be certain it came with a high water tax. Purchasing second-hand is one of the best ways to lower your water tax, as well as your general carbon and environmental footprint! The website watercalculator.org provides a great tool to calculate your personal water footprint, as well as some recommendations on how to cut down on superficial and hidden water use.

By Mia Moore

We’re all starting to wonder about water this summer–are regular snowstorms a thing of the past? 94% of Utah is in a drought and currently, the Great Salt Lake is at 35% of its capacity and healthy level. Is this year a genuine wake-up call to get prepared? 

Imagine this. You wake up to a glorious two-minute shower since you only take them twice/week. Your shower greywater fills buckets needed for cleaning and to fill the toilet, unless you’ve converted to a self-composting toilet. After eating a low-water breakfast, you travel to a natural spring to get in queue for your restricted quota to fill jugs for drinking water – hoping that another fight doesn’t break out today. Your car is filthy, and all pools and fountains are dry, as there are bans for such luxuries. 

You return home to your brown landscape and authorities checking your neighborhood for leaks and to remind families of water quotas – ⅓ of the usual before the drought. They reveal water map posters revealing which of your neighbors are overusing water. You look forward to flushing your toilet that night for your family of four as you try to keep it to two flushes a day. 

True story. In 2014, Cape Town, South Africa had six full reservoirs of water for their 4 million residents. Drought evolved, and four years later, they were at 26% capacity. Once 14% was reached, city officials would cut all taps to reach ‘Day Zero.’ Fortunately, rain arrived, and dam levels slowly recovered. Water restrictions were eased, but the water-scarcity threat still looms today–people and government have changed their ways. During the crisis, the city implemented ways to capture water, including desalination of seawater, in addition to aggressive water management with agriculture, leaks, and more. While they were able to avert Day Zero in 2018, they are now better prepared for Mother Nature in the future. 

In Utah, over 70% of water is used for agriculture, 15% for municipal and industrial and 5-10% for miscellaneous. So what can we do as individuals if so much is used for agriculture? Check out growtheflowutah.org to learn of ways to get involved. In the meantime, plan wisely for this summer by reducing your turf and conserving around the home–in the kitchen, laundry room and bathroom (including peeing in the shower). We all have personal bank accounts – that money is ours. But, as citizens, we share our air, water, and land. We need to do our part to prevent a water crisis before it gets worse–this could be the summer to start.  

By Mary Closser

So you think your individual sustainable choices won’t really have an impact on climate change? Actually, research shows they do. According to Robert Frank, author of “Putting Peer Pressure to Work” (2020), our voluntary environmental actions are significant for two reasons. First, they have the power to shift how the people around us behave. People who see you using reusable shopping bags may consider doing the same. Park visitors who are using throw-away plastic drink bottles may see you filling your water bottle and decide to purchase one and do the same. 

Second, and perhaps more importantly, our sustainable choices change who we are, making us much more likely to vote greener and to support large-scale programs and policies needed to slow climate change. 

Here are some more highly visible green choices you can make, model, and have conversations about. 

• Make sure you recycle well and help others do the same at the curb and the recycling center. Keep in mind that recycling errors can contaminate large amounts of otherwise recyclable material.  
• Walk and cycle to travel around your community; doing so on popular trails, especially those along roads, may inspire drivers to ditch their cars and do the same.  
• Participate in community clean-ups in a group or by yourself. Removing litter helps keep stormwater clean. Others may notice how nice trash-free roadsides look and participate.  And, never again chuck their stuff out the window.  
• Participate in activities, attend events, and join organizations that advocate for climate change practices and policies. Go public by wearing their clothing and using their swag.
• Keep up with information about our climate crisis. Make some sustainable choices and get passionate!

By Bev Harrison