chelsea@recycleutah.org

By Emily Quinton, Sustainability Director for Summit County

If you are a Rocky Mountain Power customer in one of 16 participating communities – including unincorporated Summit County, Oakley, Francis, and Park City – you will soon have a new choice for supporting clean energy directly on your power bill: the Community Clean Energy Program.

Rocky Mountain Power customers in participating communities will soon be automatically enrolled in the Community Clean Energy Program, with the option to opt out.

How the program will work

Nearly all Rocky Mountain Power customers in the 16 participating communities – including unincorporated Summit County, Oakley, Francis, and Park City – will be automatically enrolled with the option to opt out any time by mail, phone, or online. Customers will receive notices from Rocky Mountain Power starting in November and the participation rate will take effect starting in January 2027 (labeled “Schedule 100” on a customer’s bill). The notice will explain the cost to participate, how to opt out, the fee-free cancellation period (until May 1, 2027) and termination fee after that point.

• Residential customers will pay an additional $4 per month to participate in the Program.
• Income-qualified households enrolled in Rocky Mountain Power’s Home Electric Lifeline Program (HELP) will participate for free.
• Businesses and other non-residential customers will pay a monthly rate based on usage: $0.00609 per kWh plus a low-income surcharge of $0.12 per month.

Residential customers on Rate Schedule 135, Net Metering Service, are, by law, not allowed to be a part of the Program.

Thinking about participating? Some considerations

Investing in clean energy – like wind, solar, and other sources – can produce multiple benefits for Utah: a cleaner, healthier environment and more reliable, affordable energy. That’s why 16 communities helped form the Utah Renewable Communities to collaborate with Rocky Mountain Power to pioneer renewable energy solutions for our state. The result is the new Community Clean Energy Program.

The impact from your participation? The Community Clean Energy Program could add up to 500 megawatts over time of new clean energy to the grid in the coming years, which would reduce carbon dioxide emissions by nearly 750,000 tons annually. (Source: EPA AVERT model)

Learn more

The Community Clean Energy Program was approved by the Utah Public Service Commission in March and was subsequently adopted by the 16 participating communities. These 2026 milestones followed years of collaboration and various requirements for communities to meet to consider adopting the program. Details on the Program can be found on the Rocky Mountain Power and URC websites, including a history of URC under “About URC”.

This year marked my first official Plastic Free July as Executive Director of the Utah Recycling Alliance. As an organization, URA partnered with Salt Lake City sustainability partners to collect stretch plastics and PVC throughout the month, with single-item collection bins at the Sorenson Community Center, NeighborWorks, and Rosewood Park. The SLC Sustainability team also hosted tabling events throughout July, collecting stretch and PVC plastics while educating the public, keeping hard-to-recycle materials out of the landfill and moving them into proper recycling and circular economy channels.

On a personal level, I decided to take the challenge one step further: where possible, I would try to live a plastic-free July myself. My initial thought was honest. I knew this would be hard, given my work in recycling, but I have lived in some unique corners of the world, places with limited water, spotty electricity, and few of the conveniences we take for granted. Surely giving up single-use plastic for a month would be manageable. And to be clear, I wasn’t surprised by how much plastic is out there. Where I went wrong was in estimating how easily I could substitute eco-friendly alternatives. What proved eye-opening was the sheer challenge of avoiding plastic even with the best of intentions.

The real test came with a July road trip, starting at Flaming Gorge, winding through Lander, Wyoming with a few stops in between, and ending in the Tetons. I packed like someone determined to succeed: takeaway containers, my own silverware, a trusty coffee mug, and the reusable shopping bags that always live in my car. I expected gas stations to be a challenge, with their walls of Gatorade, bottled water, and sugary snacks, all the necessary items for a solid road trip.

What I didn’t expect was how hard the grocery stores would be, too. Hunting down powdered drink mixes in smaller packages, finding snacks not sealed in film, picking up takeout across Wyoming and realizing a bit too late that I hadn’t immediately (and awkwardly) asked the counter to use my Tupperware and glass containers. Over the course of the trip, I asked three different people where they recycled, and no one could point me to a depot or central location. I did find a glass collection center, but by day three of our eight-day trip, we were packing up all our recyclables and carrying them with us. The time and distance required to find a proper recycling location made the back of the car the easier option.

That was the surprise of the whole experience. For all the beauty of the West, keeping it pristine is not easy. In rural communities, the distances are long, the volumes are small, and access to facilities is legitimately cost-prohibitive. These communities are incredibly resourceful, but the complexity of what can and cannot be collected is far from straightforward, and the burden is real. I absolutely get it. So we did the only thing we could: we packed out our own trash, sorting what was clearly marked for glass or aluminum and carrying the rest home for proper waste management.

I came away with a more honest view of single-use plastic. I don’t expect we will ever get rid of it, but far more can be done to recycle and repurpose it. It provides a real service; hygiene, contamination control, and shelf-stable convenience matter, especially on a three-hundred-mile stretch of highway. But given the immense volume of these products moving through consumer markets every single day, the ability to reuse and recover them should be far easier than it is.

Right now, the system is built for disposal, and it is incredibly hard to opt out.

That is exactly what URA’s work is about: our collection events, our stretch plastic and PVC partnership with the Vinyl Institute, and our work with Salt Lake City Sustainability and other municipalities to divert materials from landfills and build awareness of where our everyday goods actually end up. The solutions are not imminent, but through paying attention and making active choices, we keep moving the needle toward a healthier environment, one decision at a time.

By James Flock, Executive Director of Utah Recycling Alliance

Is your business already taking steps to reduce waste, save energy or water, or make other changes that are better for the environment? Those efforts could help you earn certification — and recognition — through the Park City | Summit County Green Business Program.

The Green Business Program helps local businesses build on the sustainability efforts they already have in place — or helps them get started. Businesses earn points for completing actions that make sense for their operations and can achieve Bronze, Silver or Gold certification along the way.

What’s an example of a business sustainability action? Pair recycling bins with trash bins.

Placing recycling and trash bins together throughout your business makes it easier for employees, customers and guests to put materials in the right place. Keeping bins together can increase recycling, reduce confusion and help keep recyclable materials out of the landfill. If your business generates food waste, adding food waste collection can make an even bigger difference.

Already doing this? You may be earning points toward Green Business certification.

Not doing it yet? The Green Business Program can connect you with information and local resources to help you get started.

And that’s just one action. Businesses can earn points for reducing energy and water use, helping employees get around without a car, purchasing non-toxic cleaning products and much more.

Want to learn more? Visit parkcitygreen.org or email greenbusiness@summitcountyutah.gov.

By Emily Newcomer, Green Business Program Coordinator

Halloween is full of tricks, treats and plenty of spooky stuff—but with a little planning, your fright night can be festive without creating a monstrous mountain of waste.

Stop Cosmic Candy Curses

Don’t let candy wrappers become a terrifying trash pile. Collect eligible wrappers for recycling at Recycle Utah.

And before tossing extra treats, remember that unopened candy can be saved for stocking stuffers, used to decorate Gingerbread homes and holiday treats, or you can donate excess candy at Recycle Utah through Wasteless Solutions for distribution to community kitchens around town.

Conjure Up a Creative Costume

Before creating textile-waste terror, raid your closet, craft cupboard or recycling bin and piece together a costume from materials you already have. No need to buy something boo-new!

Hunt for secondhand scares at local thrift stores, where costumes, capes, hats, wigs, props and decorations are waiting for their second act. Or host a neighborhood costume-exchange! Buy Nothing Park City (Facebook) is a great online forum to post and look for items.

Jack-o-Lantern’s Aren’t Junk

Choose pumpkins you can eat as well as decorate, roast the seeds and compost the rest when Halloween is over. Drop off at local schools, Recycle Utah or in your curbside organics collection bucket from Momentum. 

DIY Haunted Halls

Skip the store-bought plastics and summon decorations from things already lurking around your home. Cut bats, black cats and ghosts from cardboard, transform glass jars into glowing lanterns, and use branches, leaves, pumpkins and gourds for naturally creepy décor. And maybe give those hardworking spiders a break and leave their webs up for the week!

For more pre-loved props and haunting home décor, check out the Christian Center of Park City for secondhand treasures.

Throw a Low-Waste Monster Mash

Hosting a monster ball? Keep the party waste-free by using reusable plates, cups, napkins and utensils. Serve drinks from pitchers or dispensers instead of single-use bottles and cans, and pick snacks with minimal packaging.

Make waste sorting for guests wickedly easy by clearly labeling recycling and compost bins. Ask guests to bring reusable containers so leftover treats can go home with them instead of mysteriously vanishing into the trash.

This Halloween, ghost unnecessary waste, resurrect your reusables and scare resource destruction right out of town. A few small swaps can make your celebration a little less trashy—and a whole lot more spook-tacular.

By Jill Donello

Did you know that keeping a healthy lawn and managing a healthy pasture follow a lot of the same rules?

At the Hi-Ute Ranch, just west of Kimball Junction, our lawn mowers happen to weigh about 1,200 pounds and have four legs. Through a partnership with Utah Open Lands, we use cattle and regenerative grazing as tools to help improve the health of this iconic open space.

We give our cattle access to a section of pasture for a few days and then move them on. The important part isn’t just when the cows arrive—it’s how long we wait before bringing them back.

Grass needs time to recover.

On the ranch, we generally look for our grasses to have at least three new leaves before we “mow” them again with cows. Those leaves are the plant’s solar panels. The more healthy leaf it has, the more sunlight it can capture and the more energy it can put back into growth and its roots.

As we head into fall, try applying the same idea to your lawn. Instead of mowing every Saturday because that’s the routine, pay attention to how quickly your grass is actually growing.

Waiting for three new leaves might get things a little shaggier than you—or your neighbors—would like. So start by stretching yourself. Let your lawn grow a couple inches taller than you normally would before pulling out the mower.

Remember, what you see above ground is only part of the story. More healthy growth above ground means more energy flowing below ground—supporting roots, feeding soil life and cycling nutrients.

So this fall, maybe we can celebrate a lawn that’s a little less manicured and a little more alive.

By Mitch Dumke

Mitch Dumke is a co-founder of 3 Springs Land and Livestock, a regenerative ranch operating in the Kamas Valley and Park City area focused on working with nature to raise healthy food, revitalize land and build resilient communities.

Back in August, Recycle Utah held the 11th annual 100 Mile Meal, an event that brings in local meats, produce, and beverages sourced within a 100-mile radius. Food was sourced from 28 different farms and welcomed around 40 farmers. Not only was this a celebration of Recycle Utah, but the event promotes the concept of eating locally. 

Conventional food often travels hundreds to thousands of miles just to get from the ground into your kitchen. That requires ample amounts of refrigeration, emissions, and unnecessary care just to keep it fresh by the time it gets to you. By sourcing food locally, not only do you cut emissions from this mileage, but you reap the benefits of low travel time. Locally sourced food is picked closer to peak ripeness, giving you nutrients and better flavor.

Beyond personal benefits, buying your food from local vendors and farms helps promote the local economy. When you buy from a farmer at a farmers’ market or a co-op, your money goes straight to the producer and doesn’t get lost in a long chain of supply. Oftentimes, you are able to interact with the farmers and get to know more about your food, where it came from, and how it got to you.

Choosing to eat local produce and meat is an easy way to drastically decrease your carbon footprint and benefit your health. Before the summer ends, stop by a farmers’ market or look for labels at the grocery store that say “locally grown” to make an easy impact. Try this for even one meal a week to help make a difference. 

By Alex Muir