chelsea@recycleutah.org

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

Throughout the day, I catch myself constantly ripping paper towels off the holder in my kitchen. It wasn’t until recently that I realized why my roommates and I were buying them so often—we were using them when we didn’t need to.

Paper towels can be convenient to clean up spills and messes, but do you really need them to dry your hands? Probably not. If your hands are clean, it makes more sense to dry them off with a hand towel or rag. Adding a hand towel rotation into your kitchen isn’t only more sustainable for the planet, it also makes your life easier. Another alternative or substitute to paper towels are flour sack towels. These are a cheap option that will last you forever. All you need to do is wash them, and they are good to go again. I recommend keeping 2 flour sack towels in rotation in the kitchen; one for hand and dish drying, and one for cleaning up spills and messes. 

Still skeptical? Here are some reasons why a hand towel in the kitchen will benefit your life and our planet: 

• Fewer trips to the store for paper towels
• Cheaper
• Your kitchen trash won’t fill up as fast
• Less emissions connected to paper towel manufacturing
• Less extraction of natural resources
• Reduces landfill waste

Using only paper towels may seem like the more convenient option, but it’s not; it only seems more convenient because you rip it off and throw it away immediately without having to wash anything. Imagine only using plastic forks, knives, and spoons instead of using real silverware. While this is a more extreme example of using single-use materials, it’s not so different from using only single-use paper towels. Both are more expensive than their reusable counterparts and produce unnecessary non-recyclable waste. When you start to consider the impact these products have on the environment, it’s clear that switching to reusable towels and rags in the kitchen is the environmentally – and economically – friendlier option.

By Sean McCarthy

Did you know it takes 25 years for a single head of lettuce to decompose in a landfill? While that same lettuce would break down in just 2-3 weeks in a backyard compost bin, landfills compact waste so tightly that oxygen cannot reach it, preventing the microbes needed for breakdown from doing their job. As food waste rots in the landfill, it decomposes and emits methane gas, a greenhouse gas roughly 80 times more potent than carbon dioxide. In Utah alone, approximately 600,000 tons of food goes to waste every single year, emitting harmful greenhouse gases, but also wasting the land, water, labor, and resources it takes to produce food. Reducing food waste is one of the most impactful ways you can take climate action today.

Check what you already have in your pantry, fridge, and freezer before heading to the store. Decide on your meals for the week based on what you already own. Then stick to the list you make! WasteLess has a Meal Planning Template to help you organize your kitchen and your shopping list. 

The average family of four wastes $1,500 worth of food every year, which is the equivalent of throwing away $125 every month. WasteLess offers a self-paced online course for individuals and businesses to master strategies for a waste-free home. Individuals can learn creative cooking, food preservation, proper food storage, composting, and more! Your investment in this course will empower you with the tools, habits, and knowledge to prevent that loss. With ongoing education and simple, practical strategies, most households can save $1,500 or more each year simply by learning how to store, cook, plan, and use food more efficiently. When you complete this course, you will receive a certificate of completion and lifetime access. Your payment is a tax-deductible donation that supports WasteLess’ programs to divert food from reaching the landfill, instead getting it to individuals facing food insecurity. 

By Laila Hakkarinen, Community Engagement Manager at WasteLess Solutions

I remember years ago wanting to replace windows in my home, and the sustainably-minded builder laughed. He told me that replacing windows only in my inefficient home would be like placing windows in an open field. 

Maximizing energy efficiency in our homes can be expensive, but not always. And how do we know which actions should be prioritized over others? Fortunately, we have free and low-cost assessment services available in our community, unknown to many. Rocky Mountain Power’s Wattsmart program is free, and Enbridge Gas has a similar assessment for $25, refundable if rebate actions are pursued.

The auditors (local contractors approved by the energy companies) check crawl spaces and attics, appliances, thermostats, vents, windows, and more. The 30-60 minute audit will often suggest upgrading to smart thermostats, plugs, sensors, and heat tape controls, updating appliances to Energy Star and/or electric, installing heat-pumps, sealing ducts, and maximizing insulation in various ways. The best part is the numerous rebates available through both energy companies–all which the auditors will explain in detail. 

Other low-cost efficient measures to be aware of are nixing the dryer for drying racks (especially in our dry climate), reducing the water temperature on your water heater (at least when on extended vacations), purchasing high R-value window coverings, using only LED lightbulbs, lowering indoor temperatures (or raising in the summer), change filters regularly, and maintaining your furnace.  

Learn more about efficiency rebates in Utah at the Utah Clean Energy website: https://hub.utahcleanenergy.org/energy-efficiency/energy-efficiency-incentives/. Also contact Wattsmarthomes.com and/or thermwise.com for a free or low-cost assessment today!

By Mary Closser

As many Park City residents are aware, the level of snowfall so far in 2026 is bleak. What is going on with the weather in Utah, and how will it affect our economy and environment? My hope is to try to answer some of these questions. 

As of this January, Utah has received only around 63% of its average precipitation. Utah is currently in a ‘high-pressure system,’ which is characterized by warmer-than-usual temperatures and dryness, as well as winter inversions trapping cold air into Utah’s valleys. This has a lot to do with the polar jet stream, which is currently positioned north. If it were to move south, as it is predicted to in late February/March, Park City is forecast to get more snowfall. 

So what does the current snow drought mean for Park City? So far, ski industries in Park City have lost $1.32 billion, and the state of Utah has lost $2.51 billion dollars in revenue. The decrease in ski tourism will negatively impact the local economy in numerous ways. Roughly 75%-85% of local tax dollars come from tourism. Looking past the 2026 season, Utah’s environment is under direct threat from climate change. The evaporation of the Great Salt Lake not only means the impending danger of a toxic dust bowl in the Salt Lake Valley, but also the reduction of precipitation that comes from the ‘lake effect.’ Additionally, rising global temperatures will strengthen high-pressure systems and worsen inversion in Utah valleys. 

While the outlook is quite negative for Utah, we can all do our part to fix this narrative by pressuring state and local leaders to implement sustainable policies and by exercising sustainable daily habits in our own lives. 

By Grayson Rae