Recycle Utah

Nonprofit Summit County, Utah Recycling Center

#recycle utah

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

From Summit County’s Solid Waste Superintendent, “Please recycle your cardboard!”

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The increase in mail order and consumer packaging has dramatically increased the amount of old corrugated cardboard (OCC) being dumped at the Summit County Three Mile Canyon Landfill in Coalville. Tim Loveday, the County’s Waste Management Superintendent, states that this is a “real problem and it’s frustrating.”

The problem? Like any other landfill garbage, breaking down OCC produces greenhouse gas. Also, compacted OCC takes up about two and a half times more space when compared to other compacted waste– 700 pounds of OCC compared to 1600 pounds of other waste per cubic yard. Dumping OCC is shortening the projected thirty-five-year lifespan of the landfill by one year for every ten. There’s room for four more double-lined pits or “cells” on the property. One is needed now, and Loveday has requested 3.3 million dollars in the County’s 2024 budget to create it.

Especially frustrating is the fact that when OCC is recycled it earns municipalities and recyclers money. Loveday says Summit County has made money on it in past years; this year they are breaking even. Curbside recycling is capturing 39% of residential OCC, which means we are still dumping about 60% of it. Households that don’t have or use curbside recycling must take their OCC to Recycle Utah or to the landfill where if separated out, it is easily placed into on-site OCC-only dumpsters for recycling. Still, landfill staff see users throwing OCC into the mixed trash dumpsters. Throw away enough OCC, and you’re throwing away money. The message to recycle OCC is an old oft repeated one. Loveday is still asking us, perhaps with more urgency, to sort and recycle your old corrugated cardboard!

By Bev Harrison

Fast Fashion

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Are you tired of your clothes and in need of a shopping spree? Maybe a wedding is on the horizon and a new zippy dress or suit sounds divine. Yet, you’ve heard of the negative impact of the fashion industry on our planet. So, what can you do? It’s true, 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; synthetics like polyester, nylon, and rayon are made from fossil fuels, accounting for more than 60% of clothing today.

Clothing may travel thousands of miles before arriving on our doorstep due to the complicated supply chain structure. The microplastics and dyes from clothing can seep into our water system in the wash. After a while of owning it, you tire of it and want to do away with it. So, where can you take it? 85% of U.S. textile waste ends up in landfills or incinerators and polyester can take decades to break down.

How can you sustainably shop and do away with clothes?

  1. Stop buying so much.
  2. Donate to thrift stores and buy from thrift stores or online secondhand clothing sites.
  3. Rent clothing. More and more online platforms do this!
  4. Donate to Big Brothers Big Sisters bins around town. Big Brothers Big Sisters accept any textile, including old towels, sheets, or accessories and will either resell, donate, or repurpose those items. Find a bin here.
  5. Know your manufacturer (some are more pro-active than others with sustainability). Learn more here.

Clothing is fun! It’s how we express ourselves. Though times are changing and so must our creativity in moving towards simplistic, long-lasting styles with clothing, shoes, accessories, housewares, and more. Everything we own has a footprint.

By Mary Closser

Beetle Kill Pine Wood

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Are you building a house? Perhaps remodeling your kitchen? If so, consider the most sustainable options for building materials before you begin to help the environment. Lumber made from wood serves as a great option during a construction project, however, much of the time the wood that is being used came from alive trees, that were helping to provide fresh air and trap harmful carbon. A great alternative type of wood to consider is beetle killed pine wood. 

Beetle killed pine trees span across North America, where they host a combination of mountain pine beetles and blue stain fungus. According to Sustainable Lumber Co., the mountains pine bark beetles “inhabit lodgepole, Scotch, ponderosa and limber pine trees.” The beetles and the blue stain fungus have a symbiotic relationship, which combats the harsh defense mechanisms of the pine trees and causes these trees to die prematurely. The USDA shares that the beetles have affected more than 6.3 million acres of land across the dense, forestry regions of the western states, and Sustainable Lumber Co. estimates it’s “killed over 100 million acres of trees across the U.S. and Canada.”

Why is this relevant to sustainability? Beetle attacks on trees cause massive deforestation and kill many trees that are no longer capable of photosynthesis, which draws carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Although these trees are no longer useful as carbon sinks, they may still serve an even greater purpose of being reused as lumber for everyday building projects. Beetle killed pine wood can be used as any other type of wood: in cabinets, doors, walls, floors, and so much more. In choosing to purchase beetle killed pine wood, you are saving the environment by reusing wood that is no longer useful, and potentially even harmful to the environment considering that these dead trees are great grounds for wildfires to spread. Even better, Sustainable Lumber Co. states, “If harvested within five years these trees can still be used for wood products and sequester their carbon storage.”

Overall, beetle kill pine wood is an excellent source of building material for any purpose you need, especially when you are looking for the most sustainable option. If you are looking to purchase this product, you can order it online at Sustainable Lumber Co. and have it shipped. You are also likely to find Beetle Killed Pine wood at a nearby Home Depot, varying on what’s in stock.

Grayson Rae, Sophomore at Park City High School

The Dangers of “Forever Chemicals” and the Water We Drink

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How safe is the water we drink? Many people are unaware about the chemical PFAS. PFAS has been linked to health problems such as cancer, metabolism disorders, and reproductive problems, to name a few. Monica Amarelo with The Environmental Working Group (EWG) states “PFAS are known as forever chemicals because they do not break down in the environment and build up in our blood and organs. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has detected PFAS in the blood of 99 percent of Americans, including newborn babies.”

Recent studies on drinking water have shown that PFAS (polyfluorinated alkyl substances), are in at least 45% of U.S tap water, and that the water we drink contains at least one of the 12,000 discovered PFAS in a U.S. geology survey. “EWG estimates there could be nearly 30,000 industrial polluters releasing PFAS into the environment, including into sources of drinking water.” The EWG stated. Consumers can also take action to protect themselves: The existence of PFAS in drinking water is essentially inevitable, however there are ways that we can filter out these chemicals; The EWG recommends four water filters based off quality, price, and effectiveness: travel Berkey, zero water, clearly filtered, and Epic water filter. It is also critical to look out for PFAS in wax products, and any product that resists grease, water, and oil, according to the CDC. 

Grayson Rae, Sophomore at Park City High School