Recycle Utah

Nonprofit Summit County, Utah Recycling Center

#recycling

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

Why Does Recycling Matter?

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Rumor has it that it’s not worth recycling any plastics as they end up in the landfill. Are what Republic picks up at the curb every other week actually being made into a new product? While I can’t proclaim what occurs in other communities, I can say what occurs in Summit County. What is happening to our plastics… and more? Is it worth the effort to recycle?

Most recyclables, at this time, are not profitable except metals (a crime to see in the trash!). Glass is very recyclable and like metal, never degrades in quality, while paper and plastic weaken a bit each time. Glass, after transport, rarely pays back. Cardboard and paper are critical to recycle with fluctuating markets (often related to online orders) but they’re important to recycle due to released methane when landfilled.

Plastic is complicated. While there is seldom a payback, it’s the right thing to do. Most #1 and #2 plastics have a market; they are chipped and recycled into fleece, decking, carpet, etc. Everything else (#3 – #7) is now often used as ‘waste to energy’ to make cement at a local plant in Morgan, Utah. At least 30% of fossil fuels are avoided in the process, replaced by petroleum-based products like used plastics and tires. 

We’ve learned that at least 80% of what is going into our curbside recycling bins is being recycled (it used to be 65%) – that’s great! Plastic bags, glass, Styrofoam, and food are the biggest contamination culprits. One bad egg doesn’t make a difference, but many making bad do. As Margaret Mead said, “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed individuals can change the world. In fact, it’s the only thing that ever has.”

By Mary Closser

Sustainable Travel and Lodging

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There is a saying that experience is the best teacher, and the best experience is travel. There are so many reasons we love to travel; to see new sites, experience new cultures, and embed ourselves in new communities. While travel can be one of the most meaningful ways to connect with the greater world around us, it can often come with less than friendly environmental impacts.

At Park City Lodging, we have developed several initiatives to help our guests to travel sustainably. One of the most impactful changes a hotel or vacation rental provider can make is to switch to bulk amenities. Park City Lodging offers 17oz. amenities, replacing 55,000 single use plastic bottles from production each year. Another impactful endeavor that businesses in every industry can explore is the 1% model for donations to local nonprofits. This can mean something different for each business: for PCL, our guests opt-in to donating $1/night to the Summit Land Conservancy, but it can be as simple as $0.10 per sale or even offering a donation bucket at the place of business for travelers to connect with the local community in a meaningful way. We also provide reusable grocery bags to guests upon check in, helping to keep plastic bag usage down within our community and shifting behavior for travelers upon returning to their own communities.

When searching for lodging accommodations during your next vacation, don’t be afraid to ask about sustainability practices, the industry is driven by consumers so the louder we are, the more impact we can have.

Heleena Sideris, Park City Lodging

Wishcycling

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You just finished a cup of soda in a disposable container with a plastic lid and straw. You are late to work, didn’t eat breakfast, your kid is calling you about who knows what, and now you are faced with a choice: throwing your waste into the trash can or the recycling bin.

In our increasingly busy lives, figuring out what is recyclable or not on a time crunch is difficult. Plus, there is seemingly no harm in throwing something in the recycling bin. Someone at the recycling facility can surely figure out how to turn it into a new item on the shelf, right?

Turns out, there is a name for this phenomenon: wishcycling, or recycling something only in hopes that it’s recyclable. While throwing an unrecyclable plastic straw or a plastic lid into the blue bin seems innocuous, it can cause serious problems. About 25% of recycling in the United States is contaminated by unrecyclable materials, mainly because of wish cycling. Non-recyclable materials clog and damage recycling machines, require more labor and money to sort out, and ultimately deteriorate the ability to turn materials into new products.

These issues can make contaminated loads unacceptable by recycling sorting facilities. So, what can we do?

1. Abide by the mantra “When in doubt, throw it out.” If you are unsure if something is recyclable, throw it away.

2. Learn more about recycling. Visit recycleutah.org for information on what is accepted in curbside bins and at Recycle Utah.

3. Educate others! If someone throws an unrecyclable item into the trash, let them know.

Montana Burack, Junior at Park City High School

Soft Plastics

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In 1960, the average American generated about 1,000 pounds of trash per year.  Today, we create about 1,800 pounds each.  Sixty years ago, no one was dumb enough to pay for a plastic bottle of water.  If you went out for a cup of coffee, it was served in a ceramic mug that would be used 1,000’s of times.  The apples, lettuce and grapes at the grocery store were in a bin, not in plastic bags or rigid plastic containers.

If you are serious about reducing your impact on the planet, you must look at the amount of trash you produce.  Start out by doing a little audit and examine what is in your weekly trash.  Separate your trash into piles.  What could be recycled?  What could be composted?  There are certain things you can’t put in your curbside recycling.  But Recycle Utah will take a wide range of items like glass, Styrofoam, soft plastics, batteries, corks, metal lids, printer cartridges.

After doing my trash audit, I realized soft plastics, by volume, were my biggest source of waste.  I was surprised how much of our groceries came pre-packed in plastic bags. There were wrappers from bread, frozen vegetables, baby carrots, shredded cheese, walnuts, grapes, apples, box liners from cereal, crackers, frozen waffles and from the Mother’s Day flowers.   Then there were bigger plastic bags from dog food, lawn fertilizers and water softener salt, all of which can be put in the soft plastics bin at Recycle Utah.

Even though we are recycling soft plastics, it would be better if we could reduce the amount brought home from the store.  Next week our goal is to only purchase fruits and vegetables that are unpackaged.

Please join us, together we will make a healthier planet.

By Peter Murray, Stardust Sustainables

Hair

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Sometimes it would be easier to be bald. Think of all the money saved, time and bad hair days. Then, there’s the carbon footprint from the salon – the waste from hair, plastic containers, packaging, foils, and paper towels. Then, the energy and water waste from blow dryers, hair washing and laundry. The chemical waste from dyes, bleach, peroxides, disinfectants, and associated air pollution from the odors are important, too. One study found that 20% of hairdressers in the United States leave the business due to allergies or dermatitis.

So, what to do about this carbon intensive commonality for many humans: hair? The first step is to ask questions as the business won’t survive without us. Is your salon a member of the Green Circle Salons, a certified sustainable salon organization? If not, why not? My research revealed there are a few Green Circle salons in Salt Lake City. Yes, salons need to pay to join but I know I’d be willing to add a few bucks to my cut to support the entry.

Green Circle Salons certify saving energy and water in various ways, but they also focus on the recovery, recycling and repurposing of beauty waste including hair clippings, color, metals, plastics, safety materials and more. Hair clippings, for example, can get made into hair mats for oil spills or storm water filtration. Foils, tubes, and aerosol cans get recycled into new metal materials. And, as the demand for eco-friendly products in our shampoos, conditioners and lotions has increased, prices are becoming more competitive. So, think twice before your next appointment. Do some research and if you’re ‘married’ to your stylist, start asking questions.

By Mary Closser