Recycle Utah

Nonprofit Summit County, Utah Recycling Center

Thriving Community & Equity

The Footprint of Online Returns

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Oh, the joy and convenience of typing a few keys in search of that perfect jacket, punching purchase, and having it arrive on your doorstep three days later. There are environmental pros and cons to both online and in-store purchases depending on one’s consumerism knowledge and awareness. The clencher is timing; our societal ‘now’ mindset wants items the next day after purchasing, which means the product could be transported by airplane or in a partially full truck. Can it wait? Also, can multiple items be purchased from the same supplier to minimize packaging and trips? Choosing slower shipping options not only saves money but also allows for retailers to have more time to plan and consolidate deliveries.

Then, there are the returns. Customers return at least 30% of clothing purchased online resulting in millions of tons of carbon emissions per year. Finally, the waste. About one in four returned goods is landfilled, possibly due to out of season styles. So, what is the best way to reduce returns from online shopping? So, how can you best reduce your returns when shopping online?

  1. Does the item have complete product information including customer reviews?
  2. Could retailers offer a discount on items that aren’t returned?
  3. Do retailers resell, donate, repurpose, or recycle returned clothes? Learn before you buy and find out how returns are handled.
  4. Are there local options for your desired online product?
  5. Do not purchase multiple sizes online knowing that a return is inevitable.
  6. Double check your ‘cart’ for size, color, etc. before purchasing.

In conclusion, knowing that we’re all drawn to online convenience, I’m still a fan of buying locally to support our businesses and save on packaging. Returns are less likely with in-store purchases. Research reveals only 9% of items are returned from in-store purchases versus 30% online. Let’s be mindful about how we buy things by consolidating errands and shopping to reduce car trips. The pandemic may have exacerbated online purchases, but there’s no reason we can’t tweak our buying behavior and reverse the trend.

By Mary Closser

Learning from Our Green Businesses

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In 2016, Recycle Utah initiated the Green Business Program providing free support to companies that are committed to undertaking specific sustainable operations actions. In 2022, they partnered with Park City Municipal, Summit County, and the Park City Chamber of Commerce enabling the program to become more rigorous with additional requirements, resources, and recognition for members. Currently 51 businesses participate and each has selected actions to undertake from 5 categories: energy efficiency, water conservation, materials management, transportation, and social equity. Depending on the number of actions businesses commit to, they move within the program from entry level green circle, to intermediate blue square, to the most aggressive black diamond level.

At January’s Green Drinks annual awards event, winning green businesses were recognized for their commitment to and success operating more sustainably. We can learn from their actions.

Park City Mountain Resort, performing at the highest black diamond level, is the 2023 Green Business of the Year. Perhaps the most noticeable of their sustainability initiatives is their waste diversion operation. Restaurant guests take their food trays to sorting stations and staff sort it into compostables, recyclables, soft plastic wraps and snack wrappers. This system keeps contamination from improper sorting to a minimum. There are trash, recycling, and snack wrapper cans for guests to use outside. Last year, Park City Mountain diverted a whopping 546 tons of waste from the landfill with 185 tons of it being food waste! To work, it takes our cooperation.

Abode Luxury Rentals won the Zest for Zero award which recognizes a company that has made fast progress entering the program. As they have done in their properties, their eco-friendly suggestions include reducing their heat to 55 degrees in unoccupied home; eliminating bottled water and liquid soap pump bottles; using timed aerated faucets; using dissolvable laundry detergent sheets; following local no-idling regulations; providing guests recycling bins and recycling guidelines; utilizing transit schedules and maps.

fulFILLed Lifestyle Co., another highest-level performer, won the People’s Choice Award. It is a zero waste and refill store located at the Outlets Park City. Their suggestions? Eliminate packaging by buying eco-friendly personal care and house cleaning products in containers you reuse and refill, and skip taking bags for your purchases!

By Bev Harrison

Eating Locally and Seasonally

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Nowadays, food items and goods are all easily accessible. Vast improvements in food preservation, transportation, and food production have helped the world in many ways. However, many people don’t consider the environmental impact of the modern food industry. Because you can now buy food imported from foreign countries, carbon emissions from vehicles which use non-renewable energy are emitted in massive quantities. In fact, the Journal of Industrial Ecology states, “Globally, food consumption accounts for 48% of household impacts on land resources and 70% of impacts on water resources.”  

Transportation of goods is only one factor that goes into the total amount of waste and carbon emissions that come from the food industry. Mass production of beef and poultry causes significant damage to the environment in the form of methane emissions and deforestation, to name a couple.  

So, what’s the solution? Eat locally and seasonally! Eating locally is within our control and has positive impacts on the environment. Buying food from local sources means that food doesn’t have to be transported over long distances. Buying local products also helps support small businesses and boosts the local economy. Local food is typically fresher, coming from nature to your plate in reduced time, and doesn’t require preservatives, which are potentially harmful for the body.   The same thing goes for seasonal food; eating the fruits and vegetables that are in season takes away some of the strain on farms to grow food out of season which may lead to problems with water, land-usage, and strain on resources. Buying food that’s out of season also means that it’s likely being shipped in from someplace else, which creates a high carbon footprint. Lastly, buying food that is in season will be less expensive because of supply and demand. We are lucky to live in Park City where we have numerous local suppliers, from which to buy locally grown, fresh food. Try researching local suppliers in Park City and you will most definitely find what you’re looking for. 

By Grayson Rae, Sophomore at Park City High School

Have an Earth-Giving Holiday

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The season of “Peace on Earth Good Will to All” is upon us. This season is followed by the official date for us to make next year’s resolutions, making this a good sequence of events as far as we on an ever-warming planet are concerned. There are so many things we can resolve to do to not only to live more sustainably, but to help assure that others, including those in business and government, do too.

If your elementary-age child attends school in Park City, or in some North and South Summit locations, know that Recycle Utah educators are teaching them about our impact on the environment and how-to live-in ways that protect it. Enlist their help in choosing what things your family can do—joyfully.

Peace fosters the positive economic, political, and social factors that create sustainable development. It’s important that we work to elect people who have made public their actions to create and implement peace-building policies.

Wish for others a life of sustainable prosperity—one in which they prosper in ways that withstand shocks, ensure a good and healthy quality of life, and do not require polluting and overusing earth’s decreasing natural resources.

Let the spirit of the holiday season guide you to make earth-friendly 2024 resolutions. Vow to buy less, launder less, donate, consign, and recycle; send gifts of experiences, shop locally, avoid single use plastic, conserve water at the faucet, turn off lights, turn off your car, turn down the heat; compost, use your disposal, take a bus. Learn more about how you can help slow down climate change.

By Bev Harrison

Reduce Waste in Your Everyday Life

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Since opening in 2009, Savoury Kitchen has endeavored to implement eco-friendly practices in all aspects of our business. These efforts are not only beneficial for our community and planet but also contribute to cost savings, a healthier lifestyle and record snowfall last season. (You’re welcome.)

Here are some practical tips we compiled for reducing waste in your own lives:

  • Embrace the Three Rs: Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle: Reduce unnecessary purchases, reuse items whenever possible, and properly recycle materials. Example: Our office is furnished almost exclusively with items reclaimed at Recycle Utah’s warehouse. Thanks guys!
  • Go Paperless: Minimize paper usage by transitioning to digital docs and comms. Utilize cloud-based storage and collaborative platforms for file sharing and opt for electronic invoices and receipts whenever possible. This not only reduces paper waste but also promotes a more organized and efficient work environment. It’s easy. You should just do it.
  • Cultivate Sustainable Habits: Incorporate sustainable practices into your daily routine, like stocking real (not paper) coffee cups in the office, composting food waste, bundling errands and turning off the lights. And for Pete’s sake, please stop buying single use bottled water!
  • Support Your Local Green Businesses: Show some love and appreciation to these Green Businesses by promoting their initiatives on social media, sharing positive reviews and emphasizing the importance of their eco-friendly practices.

By implementing these tips, individuals play an active role in creating a more sustainable and waste-conscious living and working environment, thereby contributing to a healthier and greener Park City for future generations.

By Jon Green, Savoury Kitchen

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