Recycle Utah

Nonprofit Summit County, Utah Recycling Center

director@recycleutah.org

Turn the Key: Break the Habit of Idling!

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Habits. Many are ingrained in our daily lives, from brushing our teeth to drinking coffee.
Breaking habits is challenging, but sometimes the break can benefit our health, environment,
and others around us. A habit we all need to break is idling. People idle in ATM lines, drive-
thrus, school zones, post offices, and even the Recycle Utah line.


Park City and Summit County have one-minute idling ordinances. Listed exceptions include
waiting in traffic, authorized emergency vehicles, auxiliary power for law enforcement or fire and water equipment, refrigeration, drilling, lifts, farming, and battery charging. Other exclusions are inspection or repair of a vehicle, health or safety of a person or service animal, safe driving conditions, and efficient operations of a turbo-charged heavy-duty vehicle. There are no exceptions for hot and cold days.

Decades ago, cars with carburetors needed a warm-up in cold weather. However, today’s
engines with electronic fuel injectors don’t need to reach operating temperature before they can be driven. In fact, warming up your car by idling can damage it long-term. The faster a car
reaches operating temperature, the better it is for keeping the engine’s moving parts in good
condition with lubricated oil.

On freezing mornings, scrape then slowly drive away. Idling also equates to driving miles and
carbon dioxide release. Please check out our community’s idling ordinances and don’t be shy
about educating others when they’re idling! Start with a wave, smile, eye contact, and a gesture of turning the key. Be polite, with a “Would you mind turning off your engine?” Justify your ask with a reason. It could be that you’re trying to educate others about our local ordinances or that you or a family member has bad asthma. Always say thank you and give a thumbs up if they flip the key.


It’s time to break this unnecessary and harmful habit. Can we go idle-free while we wait, talk,
text, or eat? Let’s model by example and respectfully educate the new families in our community on how we do it here.

By Mary Closser

Change Your Driving Habits as the Seasons Change

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As the seasons are about to change, Utah’s mountains become a popular destination for
residents eager to witness the vibrant autumn colors. The diverse landscape here in Utah offers some of the most breathtaking fall colors and foliage, making it an ideal time and place for many outdoor activities such as hiking, camping, photography, and scenic drives. Some of the best places to visit are the Big and Little Cottonwood Canyons and Guardsman Pass, which all offer amazing views.

But how are you getting to these destinations? Every Utah resident is familiar with the frustration of dealing with traffic driving in and out of the canyons. Sitting in your car for hours is not something anyone wants to do especially when heading to and from events such as Snowbird’s Oktoberfest.

So what are simple, environmentally-friendly alternatives to driving? Carpooling and public
transportation are a great start! According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA),
driving/transportation is one of the biggest contributors to greenhouse gas emissions. Other
modes of transportation that result in direct emissions are trucks, ships, trains, and planes. A
study shows, “in 2022, direct and indirect greenhouse gas emissions from transportation
accounted for 29% of total U.S. greenhouse gas emissions” (EPA).

So instead of driving up the canyons by yourself, carpool with your friends and family! It’s an
easy way to reduce your carbon footprint while also saving money on gas and parking. If driving does not work for you, you can always check out public transportation through the Utah Transit Authority (UTA). They provide a few apps you can download on your mobile device to track the public transit and the locations they stop at to reach your destination.
The next time you venture into Utah’s stunning mountains, consider switching to eco-friendly
transportation options. Not only will you lower your carbon footprint, but you’ll make the
journey more enjoyable. So, let’s embrace the changing seasons and create a cleaner
environment!

What to Do With Hard-to-Recycle Items

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Have you noticed a line-up of yellow buckets on a bench outside Recycle Utah’s office? They are there for us to recycle all sorts of hard-to-recycle items. There is one bucket for dropping off oral care products—dental floss containers, floss sticks, toothbrushes, and empty toothpaste tubes. In other buckets, you can drop off contact lenses, PFAS ski wax and Brita water filters. Another is for cell phones, iPods, tablets, and remote controllers. There is one for products that contain mercury—thermometers, smoke detectors, and blood pressure gauges. There’s a bucket for CDs and DVDs, and a few for different types of batteries. There’s even a bucket for tennis balls for our dogs! Ask staff if you have any questions about recycling hard-to-recycle items.

Recycle Utah sends their collected oral care recyclables to TerraCycle, a company headquartered in New Jersey, that coordinates their reprocessing into different materials and products. By doing this with an ever-growing number of recyclables, TerraCycle and their global partners keep trash out of landfills or from incineration. 

Park City Mountain started a snack wrapper recycling program with TerraCycle in FY2021. With funding support from Frito Lay/PepsiCo they collect wrappers during the winter season in their on-mountain restaurants. These are shipped to TerraCycle and a third party uses the material to manufacture outdoor furniture. Check out the deck furniture at Park City Mountain’s Summit House and Canyons’ Sun Lodge, made out of recycled snack wrappers! All wrappers are recycled in kitchen areas by trained staff as contamination from food waste and non-recyclables is too high when guests sort in public-facing bins. During the busy winter months, Park City has shipped out 2-3 mega-bags each month. According to Erin Fulmore, Sustainability Coordinator for PCMR, in FY2024, they recycled 1.51 tons of wrappers. Erin guessed this is the equivalent of 3 full-grown walruses! Given the average weight of a wrapper is 1 gram, that’s about 1,369,848 individual wrappers.

Don’t get stuck thinking you don’t need to recycle your small hard-to-recycle things because they’ll never amount to any significant diversion from the landfill. Think about PCMR’s snack wrapper outdoor furniture before you decide your little trash items will never be put to good re-use. 

By Bev Harrison

Summer Produce Preservation

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Summer produce is magic: Corn, tomatoes, peaches! Greens, turnips, sugar snap peas! Summer squash, beans – and more tomatoes! 

Whether you’re growing it, eating it, or both, the season’s bounty is glorious. What do you do when there’s too much of one thing – or items start to turn? Here are a few of Summit Community Gardens and EATS’s favorite tips to minimize food waste and use all the harvest:

  • Greens wilting? Bring a pot of water to a boil, blanch for 2 minutes, and drain. Chop and freeze to put in winter soups & stews or saute with onions & garlic.
  • Are your cherry tomatoes getting soft or split? Roast them on a pan of parchment paper with a little salt and oil at 400. Their sweet tang is perfect on a sandwich, folded into eggs, or as part of a vegetable saute.
  • Peaches or any stone fruit soft or bruised? Roast on a pan with parchment and eat with yogurt or ice cream.
  • These things should be stored in the fridge: apples, beans, beets, broccoli, cabbage, chard, citrus fruits, collards, cucumbers, kale, lettuce, okra, peppers, radishes, turnips, zucchini, and all kinds of greens.
  • Melons, pears, and tomatoes can ripen on the counter, then be stored in the fridge.
  • Store greens in the fridge with a damp towel so they can last longer!
  • Make sure to store onions away from potatoes.
  • Store root vegetables in a sealed container with a dry towel.
  • And of course, pickle just about anything!

    By Helen Nadel

Stay Cool In The Summer Heat

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When it heats up outside, Americans spend big bucks to cool off. Our love of the air conditioner costs us about $29 billion a year, using 183 billion kilowatt-hours. And, while those air conditioners are cooling off our house, they are helping to heat up our earth by releasing over 117 million metric tons of carbon dioxide into the air annually. Save money and keep cool with a few simple steps:

  • Use window coverings to your advantage. If you’re not home during the day, close all window curtains and blinds to keep your house cool for as long as possible.
  • Use the ceiling fan even if the air conditioner is on! The average ceiling fan costs less than a penny an hour to run and can make you feel 3-8 degrees cooler, so you can turn your AC a few degrees higher. Set your ceiling fan to rotate counter-clockwise, to increase the airflow.
  • Pay attention to your appliance usage. Appliances such as irons, washers, and dryers can add significant heat to the inside of your home. Use these appliances at night or early in the morning to avoid adding big sources of heat to your home during the hottest hours of the day. Consider eliminating the dryer and using a clothesline.
  • Consider changing your light bulbs. Incandescent light bulbs waste about 90% of their energy in heat. Switching to compact fluorescent or LED bulbs will keep your home cooler and your energy bills lower.

Laundry

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Laundry is something we all do habitually. Our washers and dryers are two of our household’s highest energy-consuming appliances, consistently running in our homes. A dose of creativity and change can not only save electricity, but also gas, waste and money. Read on for tips!

  1. Wash on cold. Heating water is responsible for more than 70% of a washer’s energy consumption. Ironically, some stains like sweat or blood can actually ingrain further into fabric in hot water vs cold water. Cold water washing also reduces wrinkles, fading and shrinkage.
  2. Upgrade to Energy Star. You can also look into heat pump dual washer/dryer options or a heat pump dryer. Efficiency is affected by design, age, and settings used. Run machines during ‘off-peak’ hours if possible, after 10 pm or mid-day.
  3. Ditch fabric softeners. They are an extra expense and can leave residue in the wash. Try old, faithful, and inexpensive white vinegar instead. Similarly, ditch dryer sheets and replace them with natural wool dryer balls to reduce static and drying time. Don’t forget to regularly clean the lint filter to maximize dryer efficiency!
  4. Reduce plastic waste by transitioning from large plastic jugs (often laden with chemicals) to washing sheets, tablets, pods, or eggs. After experimentation, my family settled on an egg in combination with homemade powder detergent.
  5. Re-wear clothes if possible before filling the washer load and use drying racks or clotheslines! Utah air dries clothes in no time and preserves quality.

Finally, how do we reduce microplastics (often from nylon, polyester, and acrylic clothing) from entering our laundry? The best options are to wash less, use full loads and cold water, use less detergent in front-loading washers, hang dry, use a microplastic filter bag or attachment filter, and buy more clothing made from natural materials.

Change is challenging. But like seasons, relationships, technology, or weather, change surrounds us. The time has come to step out of our habitual boxes and shake things up to grow with the times, for our planet, pocketbook, and health. Good luck and have fun!

By Mary Closser