Recycle Utah

Nonprofit Summit County, Utah Recycling Center

director@recycleutah.org

Sustainable Coffee: Simple Steps for a Greener Morning

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Coffee – that special liquid that coaxes us from slumber through its aroma and taste every
morning. Have you ever thought about the associated waste with this daily ritual? While our
consumption differs, my general calculation reveals one 10-ounce bag of java per week for two coffee drinkers in a home.

Imagine 52 of these bags in the landfill, just from your household! Sadly, the packaging requires an aluminum barrier to protect the coffee properly, and that thin layer of aluminum is adhered to polyester film, making the packaging unrecyclable as a mixed material.

What can we do about this? Stop drinking coffee and switch to compostable tea bags, packaged in paper? Perhaps. The good news is that there are sustainable options, though they require some work, creativity, and new habits.

  1. Buy coffee beans in bulk and refill them in your own glass, tin, or plastic container. I use
    two tin cans and alternate refilling them with bulk coffee from The Market. Not all stores
    offer this, so you’ll need to call around. Check out Hello Bulk in SLC for many other bulk
    products. Or, you can directly purchase from a shop or manufacturer that roasts on-site.
    If they currently bag coffee, request a more environmental alternative.
  2. Find alternatives to using pods for single-use coffee machines, at home or work.
    Reusable coffee filters are available to wash and reuse instead of sending them to the
    landfill.
  3. Speak up to your favorite coffee manufacturer or local café. Consider changing to a
    different manufacturer that is more sustainable (and let the old one know why you
    changed). Make positive suggestions.

    Coffee is an industry riddled with single-use satisfaction, with the numerous to-go cups, lids, K-cups, and coffee bags landing in landfills. Don’t forget your reusable mug. Ditch the K-cups. Buy beans in bulk. Compost beans and compostable filters. Finally, buy light or medium roast to save energy and enhance caffeine intake!

By Mary Closser

Retailers Recycle Your Plastic Bags—IF You Do It Right

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Ever wonder what happens to those plastic bags you stuff into the recycling containers at retailers? The ones you sometimes have to hunt for near the store’s entryway? These bins aren’t just for shopping bags—they’re for all sorts of stretchy plastic film, like shopping and home shipping bags, bread bags, frozen food bags, zip-lock bags, sandwich bags, produce bags, kitchen wrap, dry cleaning bags, and bubble wrap. But not everything belongs here—leave out cellophane (it tears and isn’t stretchy) and snack wrappers (they’re often too small or made of mixed materials).

This “plastic film packaging”, made from stretchy polyethylene, is recyclable at many retailers and drop-off centers, including Recycle Utah in Park City. A local retailer explained that collected material is gathered into huge shipping bags, combined with the store’s own plastic packaging waste, and transported to facilities. There, it’s sorted, baled, and processed into plastic pellets. These pellets are used to make new products, including plastic bags and synthetic lumber for fencing, decking, and outdoor furniture.

To ensure your plastic film can be recycled, it must be clean, dry, and meet the location’s guidelines. Contaminants like food, liquids, or non-recyclable items can ruin a load, making it unusable and destined for the landfill. If you’re ever unsure, it’s better to throw it out than risk contamination.

One of the biggest players in recycling this material is Trex, a manufacturer of durable composite lumber. According to Trex, a 500-square-foot deck contains approximately 140,000 recycled plastic bags! Since its founding in 1996, the company has diverted more than 5 billion pounds of plastic bags and film from landfills.

Trex has partnered with retailers and businesses to make plastic film recycling more accessible. To find a nearby drop-off location, visit nextrex.com. Smith’s stores, for example, are Trex recycling partners, making it easy for you to recycle responsibly.

By Bev Harrison

Eco-Friendly Hot Tubbing

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Hot tubs can be a great way to rest and relax outside during the winter, especially in Summit County’s colder climate. Like with all recreational activities, there are ways to make your home hot tub less environmentally impactful and less expensive. If you are thinking of purchasing a standalone hot tub for your home or have one in place already, these are some of the most important things you can do to reduce the environmental impact of your hot tub!

First, if purchasing a new hot tub, look for one with an Energy Star rating. Energy Star ratings denote appliances with high energy-efficiency levels. They can be a great way to reduce energy use and prolong the life of your appliance. Furthermore, look for a location in your backyard shielded from high levels of direct wind. This will aid your hot tub in heat insulation and require less overall heating.

If you already have a hot tub in your backyard, there are other things you can do to ensure it is as energy-efficient as possible. Off-peak hours are the times of day when energy from the grid is the least expensive. In Summit County, those times are typically 6 AM-10 AM and 5 PM-9 PM. Reduce the time your heating and cleaning cycles are running on your hot tub by changing them to off-peak hours. Scheduling your hours of hot tub use around off-peak hours means you can reduce the energy consumption of your hot tub and save money on the energy you use.

 Additionally, you can turn down or off your hot tub’s heating and pumping cycles if you are planning on being away from home for a few days. Don’t forget to drain your hot tub if there is a chance it might freeze. Lastly, purchasing a hot tub floating blanket or insulated cover can make a huge difference in how your hot tub insulates when it is not in use, look for ones on the used market to reduce consumption and save money!

By Mia Moore

Sustainable Ski Gear 

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Sustainable Ski Gear When we think about skiing or snowboarding, we often picture fun trips with friends or locals hitting the slopes regularly. However, many people overlook the environmental impact of ski and snowboard gear. For example, jackets and pants are often made with “forever chemicals”, also known as per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). These chemicals don’t break down easily and can persist in the environment and human bodies for decades, contaminating water, soil, air, and living organisms.

Although the ski and snowboard industry has taken steps toward eco-friendliness, navigating these options can sometimes be confusing. So, what can you do to help?

Start by supporting eco-conscious brands. Arc’teryx has made significant strides in sustainability, using more sustainable fabrics like “bluesign® certified” materials, which reduce harmful chemicals during production. Brands like K2, Salomon, and Lib Tech are also moving toward greener options.

K2 uses eco-friendly resins in many of its skis and snowboards, reducing the environmental impact compared to traditional petroleum-based resins. Salomon is minimizing waste by switching to 100% recycled paper and cardboard for packaging, reducing their footprint in shipping and retail processes.

Lib Tech is another leader in sustainability, known for using FSC-certified wood in their snowboard and ski cores. This ensures the wood is responsibly sourced without contributing to deforestation.

These brands, along with others, are actively working to reduce their environmental impact. By choosing gear from these eco-conscious companies, you can help support more sustainable practices in the winter sports industry. It’s important to do your research and support brands that prioritize sustainability!

By Uliana Moshina

Every Drop Counts: Simple Water Conservation Tips to Protect Our Future

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With a strong current emphasis on composting, recycling, and waste, it can be easy to overlook the simple habits of water conservation that are just as vital. Water is the miracle solution that makes life possible on Earth. If we fail to save our water, it won’t be long before ecosystems will collapse and humanity will face dire consequences. Many of the current environmental dilemmas are associated with the failure to conserve water, specifically freshwater. Without clean water, agriculture would struggle, therefore hurting our economy and the livelihoods of farming communities; without clean water, there would be inadequate sanitation and higher vulnerability to diseases; without clean water, lakes, rivers, and reservoirs would dry up and deplete groundwater as well as impact water-dependent ecosystems, eliminating the biodiversity that ultimately sustains humankind. 

Here in Park City, we rely on water for our economy and recreational activities. Without clean water, we could not ski, swim, golf, boat, or raft down rivers. Without clean water, everything from individual lives to economies to the environment would be in distress.

If all individuals were to adopt conservation water practices, the compounded effort would have a positive effect on our environment. Here are some tips to conserve:

  • Turn off the faucet/shower when not using it (e.g. washing in the shower or brushing your teeth).
  • Take shorter showers! A 10-minute shower uses about 25 gallons of water.
  • Never pour water down the drain; instead, find another use for it, like watering plants or refilling water bowls for pets.
  • Repair leaks and drippage. 
  • Be laundry-aware (e.g. minimize the number of loads and fill them up)
  • Take showers instead of baths. 
  • “If it’s yellow let it mellow, if it’s brown, flush it down.” 

More communities are starting to implement conservation practices: Californians after some extreme droughts and Capetown, South Africa after battling their 2017 drought. We should be no different, even when water is plentiful. It’s important to remember that our water does not belong to us; it is a resource we share with every other living thing and must be treated as such.

By Grayson Rae

The Footprint of Fashion

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Pollution from air, landfills, or water is often visible to our eye, but what about textiles? Clothing, jackets, bedding, and even shoes can carry a hefty carbon and water footprint behind the scenes. Europe and the United States are the biggest culprits for clothing waste. Cotton is water-intensive and insecticide-heavy; leather is often associated with Chromium, a carcinogen; and synthetics like polyester, nylon, and rayon are made from fossil fuels. My friend recently neglected to wash a shirt he purchased at a chain store and consequently broke out in a rash on his chest and back!

Additionally, the clothing may travel thousands of miles before arriving at our doorstep because of our complicated supply chain structure. Lastly, microplastics and dyes may seep
into our water system in the wash.

If you’re tired of a shirt or jacket after three days or three years, where should you take it? 85%
of U.S. textile waste ends up in landfills or incinerators, and petroleum-based products can take decades to break down.

So you ask, how do I best buy and do away with clothes?

  1. Stop buying so much! It’s estimated that consumers now buy 60% more garments than
    in the past, and keep them for just half the time.
  2. Shop at and donate to thrift and/or consignment stores.
  3. Reduce online purchases – buy local if possible!
  4. Rent clothing. There are plenty of options for renting clothes online!
  5. Donate to Big Brothers Bins around town. They accept any textile, including old
    towels/sheets/accessories, and will either resell, donate, or repurpose textiles.
  6. Know your manufacturer. Some are more proactive than others with sustainability.
    Check out remake.world/2022-remake-fashion-accountability-report.
    Clothing is fun! It’s how we express ourselves. Perhaps 2025 can be a year of conscious styling with your clothing, shoes, accessories, housewares, and more. Everything we own has an environmental footprint.

By Mary Closser