Recycle Utah

Nonprofit Summit County, Utah Recycling Center

zerowaste@recycleutah.org

Hang on to Your Fleece!

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Tis the season for wearing and covering up with (polyester) fleece— pullovers, jackets, vests, coats, hats, blankets. It’s warm, soft and plush, lightweight, durable, water resistant, and fast drying. When it’s cold, we love our fleece! Unfortunately, fleece is a bad guy when it comes to microplastic water pollution. Every time it’s tumbled and tossed in the washing machine, its soft plastic microfibers sluff off into particles no bigger than 3/16 of an inch—too small to be trapped by machine filters and downstream, through the water reclamation process. It’s resting spot? Rivers, lakes and oceans where the microplastic particles are easily ingested by aquatic organisms. All fabrics shed microfibers in the washing machine, but plastic polyesters shed non-biodegradable ones, and when it comes to the numbers, fleece is the champion. It sheds about 100 times more than the same amount of other polyester fabric. And it’s because polyester is the dominant fiber now, that all this microplastic water pollution is the huge and dangerous problem it is.

Are consumers, especially we Americans, washing our fleece when it isn’t dirty? Do we over-wash because it’s easy and we think “it” must be dirty? Here are some earth-friendly fleece care tips. Fleece is made to be durable; hang on to the fleece you have! Take care of each item. Before washing, consider: Does it smell? Fabric that doesn’t hug your skin, doesn’t collect odor like fabrics that do. Hang fleece items loosely so air circulates through and around the fibers. Brush off surface dirt and smudges. If there’s a stain, try spot cleaning it. The less you launder your fleece, the longer its fibers will stay intact. Donate, consign and buy secondhand fleece items. Also, remember by caring for and keeping fleece in use, we are keeping plastic waste out of the landfill.

By Bev Harrison

What To Do with Halloween Jack-O-Lanterns

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With Halloween coming around the corner, you’re probably getting excited about decorating, making plans with friends, and stocking up on candy… I know I am!  However, as we go into another holiday of mass consumerism, it’s crucial to consider how we can make our actions more sustainable. 

One of the most favored Halloween activities is pumpkin carving. Pumpkin carving is fun and overall, not harmful to the environment. However, when pumpkins are simply disposed of in the garbage, they wind up in a landfill, where, like other organic waste, release harmful methane gas into the atmosphere; methane captures 25 times more heat than carbon dioxide, contributing heavily to global warming.

Composting offers a solution! Composting pumpkins allows for beneficial reuse of organic material being recycled back to the earth, without releasing harmful gases. In Park City, we have great resources for compost disposal, including dropping off your pumpkins at Recycle Utah after Halloween to be composted at Spoil to Soil.

Out of the millions of pumpkins purchased in the U.S. every October, how many will end up in landfills? Composting your pumpkins helps significantly with this problem, and here in Park City, it’s easy and accessible. Additionally, pumpkins are in fact edible! Try saving more of your pumpkin by harvesting the seeds, making pumpkin puree, pumpkin pie, and so much more.

By Grayson Rae, Sophomore at Park City High School

Winterizing Your Home the Green Way

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It’s October, which means winter is around the corner! Winterizing your home the green way not only safeguards the environment but also significantly reduces your energy bills. Embrace these tips and make sustainability a cozy affair!

  • Wrap your Pipes: Insulating pipes prevent freezing and energy wastage. Materials like newspaper and rags make for great options. 
  • Inspect the Roof and Gutters: Clean and clear gutters prevent ice dams, reducing energy costs. Checking your roof for damage and repairing them timely ensures better insulation and reduced heating needs.
  • Weatherproof Doors and Windows: Sealing gaps and installing weather stripping around doors and windows prevents cold drafts, making your heating system work more efficiently.
  • Thermostats: Consider installing a programmable thermostat. It helps in maintaining the desired temperature and cuts down on unnecessary heating, saving both energy and money.
  • Water Heaters: Insulate your water heater or opt for energy-efficient models to conserve energy.
  • Switch to LED Lights: Longer nights mean more artificial lighting. LEDs use significantly less energy compared to traditional bulbs. Opt for LED holiday lights too!
  • Natural Heating: Harness the sun’s power! Open curtains on south-facing windows during the day to allow sunlight in, warming up your space naturally.
  • Insulated Curtains: They trap heat and prevent cold drafts, proving to be both an eco-friendly and aesthetic addition to your interiors.

Tori Sowul, The Drawdown Fund

The Carbon Footprint of Streaming

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Many of our everyday activities have environmental consequences: how we dispose of waste, what we eat, how we move around. Most of us are familiar with the impacts that these activities have on our planet. Each one uses energy, produces emissions, and therefore contributes to a carbon footprint. But what about the activities that aren’t so straightforward? Have you ever wondered how streaming—something billions of people do every day—impacts the environment?

Streaming relies on a vast infrastructure of data centers, networks, and devices like computers, phones, and TVs. All these elements contribute to the carbon footprint of streaming, accounting for a significant portion of global carbon emissions. The demand for high-definition streaming continues to rise, leading to the expansion of this infrastructure.

When considering the environmental impact of streaming, it’s essential to consider the production of the devices used for streaming. The manufacturing of these devices is energy-intensive and often reliant on fossil fuels, further contributing to carbon emissions. 

Video streaming has a carbon footprint comparable to activities like boiling a kettle or microwaving popcorn. While individual streaming habits do matter, the continuous operation of data centers and networks independent of the number of users streaming is a significant part of the problem. Switching to renewable energy will significantly decrease the emissions of these data centers, and therefore the emissions of streaming in general. Many of the big players in the streaming industry have committed to sourcing their energy from renewable sources, which will be a major step in making media consumption more sustainable in the future.

Although much of the impact of streaming is out of the consumer’s hands, there are several things we can do to reduce the environmental impact of streaming. When possible, stream from a less energy-intensive device. Watching on your laptop or phone uses a fraction of the energy required to stream on a TV. Download files when you can. And most importantly, use your devices for as long as you can. Dispose of old devices correctly. You can drop off old TVs, computers, and smartphones at Recycle Utah!

Streaming is a popular and convenient way to consume media, but it’s not without environmental consequences. By being mindful of our streaming habits and supporting sustainable initiatives in the industry, we can work towards a more environmentally friendly streaming future. 

By Chelsea Hafer

Have a Happy Green Halloween Season!

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Have a Happy Green Halloween Season!

There are lots of easy ways to make your Halloween green this year. The holiday is often marked by plastic-fibered cheaply produced costumes, masks and decorations that are made in highly polluting overseas factories and shipped to big box stores. Americans spend billions of dollars on this stuff. And after a year or two? Many of us throw it in the trash. Instead, donate your used costumes or use pieces to re-costume. Check out thrift shops and swap costumes with friends for “new” costumes. Create costumes from recyclables. Sew up some custom outfits or rent something “spooktacular.”

“Trick or treat!” Halloween’s #1 fun-filled activity is about collecting individual plastic-wrapped sweets in plastic bags or pails. Instead, use small recyclable or reusable bags and consider how many sweets you want your children and you to eat. Leftovers? Don’t throw them away—drop the sweets off at Recycle Utah for a staff treat!

Pumpkins galore! Often trucked to us from faraway commercial farms. We carve them into Halloween faces. Fun! Most end up in landfills where, like all food waste, they produce methane gas. Instead pick out locally grown pumpkins, gourds, and corn stalks. Use pumpkin flesh for baking; seeds for roasting a tasty snack. Leftover pieces are nutritious food for animals such as squirrels and deer. Compost pumpkins, gourds, and corn stalks. Stay tuned for more sustainable pumpkin disposal tips in a Green Tip later this month.

To make the best green Halloween check out Summit County, Park City, and Heber Valley visitor websites for a list of local fall family activities you might not otherwise think of: fall harvest festivals and hay rides, corn mazes, Halloween yards, WitchFest, Pumpkin Days, Little Haunts, Halloween train rides, Haunted Hollows, Halloween films, and even an opportunity to swim with pumpkins! Don’t miss Halloween on Historic Main Street in Park City!

By Bev Harrison

Talking About Climate Change

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How often do you talk about climate change or hear someone else talk about it? If you responded, “not much,” you are not alone. Only 24% of Americans have heard Climate Change discussed in their social circle.

To stop the goliath that is climate change, we need to talk about the issue and solutions. We also need to get as many people on board with climate initiatives as possible, including people who are otherwise unmotivated or unconvinced of the need to act. The only way to do that is, you guessed it, to talk about it. So, how should we go about this?

  1. Have non-judgmental discussions. Open-minded discussions about emotional topics lead to lasting opinion changes and increased concern about an issue. They increase the chances that participants want to act.
  2. Focus on values and personal experiences. In climate discussions, this could mean talking about family, religion, community, recreation, patriotism, and how climate change affects them all.
  3. Rather than focusing on doom and gloom facts, be optimistic. Discuss the potential for solutions that benefit not just the planet, but also our economy, health, and equality.

Here is the best part about all of this: those who we talk to about climate change then discuss it with their social circle, creating a positive feedback loop. Only 22% of those who rarely discuss climate change talk about it with their family and friends, while 76% of those who discuss climate change at least once a month talk about it to their family and friends.

So, let’s all challenge ourselves to talk to someone about climate change and see where the action takes us.

Montana Burack, Senior at Park City High School