Recycle Utah

Nonprofit Summit County, Utah Recycling Center

#sustainability

Proper Disposal of Pharmaceutical Waste

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Unused prescription drugs can lead to possible substance abuse at home. It’s important to get rid of medication you no longer need but where and how do you properly dispose it? Improper disposal of pharmaceutical waste can create an environmental disaster – contaminating groundwater, drinking water, aquatic environments, and more.

The two ways the typical person disposes of their pharmaceuticals are to either flush them down the drain or landfill them. Both options, however, are detrimental to the environment. Medicine flushed down the drain makes its way to sewage facilities not equipped to degrade medicinal substances. These pharmaceuticals can pass through sewage and water treatment plants, leading to contaminated water that will go back into our watershed.

When one throws out their pharmaceutical waste, it will ultimately end up at a landfill and seep into groundwater. From here, these medicines can contaminate lakes and streams, hurting surrounding fish and other aquatic wildlife. These environmental terrors demonstrate the importance of properly disposing of prescription and over-the-counter drugs.

Old, out-of-date, or unused prescription medicines and vitamins can be dropped off at the following Summit County locations: Redstone Center Health Pharmacy, Summit County Sheriff’s Office, Kamas Police Department, or Park City Police Department. For Wasatch County, you can drop off medications at the Heber City Police Department or Wasatch County Sheriff’s Office. To prevent possible abuse of prescription drugs, it’s important to dispose of medication that you no longer need. But be sure to dispose of them responsibly!

By Pearson Ehrich

Go For Glass Containers

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Ugh. Sometimes the food you keep in the plastic bag you bought it in or store in plastic containers begins to taste and smell “weird.” That is the taste and smell of plastic made entirely from artificial materials and chemicals. The smell and taste of plastic worsens over time as the permeable and porous plastic degrades. The culprits—light, oxygen and heat. For this and other reasons, storing food in glass is a much better choice.

Unlike plastic, glass is impermeable. The glass molecules in a container do not interact with those of the food stored in it. For this reason, strong odorous foods like tomato sauce, pickles, and garlic are sold in glass containers. Glass is made from superheated sand and whenever possible, the crushed glass we recycle. It can be re-heated and melted endlessly. Using recycled glass keeps containers out of the environment and manufacturing costs down. Because glass requires more heat to manufacture than plastic does, it is more energy-consuming. It is also costly to transport. For these reasons, it is very important we recycle and reuse our glass containers.

Plastic containers have a much larger environmental and health impact than those made of glass. Plastic is one of the leading causes of pollution. It is the number one cause of death for marine animals. All plastic breaks down into toxic micro plastic particles that do not decompose, whereas glass breaks down into naturally-occurring particles.

Enjoy your food stored in glass containers!

By Bev Harrison

Water Conservation in Gardening

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Gardens provide benefits pertaining to soil and air quality, but they can aid the earth even further when deliberately planned. Through simple actions, a great deal of water can be conserved. This is increasingly important since over two-thirds of Utah’s land is currently classified as being in an “extreme drought.” 

There are many ways to orient your garden to conserve water. One technique is to fill your garden with native plants. Native plants are accustomed to the soil and weather conditions of your area, therefore requiring less manual watering. Buckwheat, Globemallows, and Serviceberries are a few plants local to Utah. Aside from the aesthetic factor, planting your garden in 2-3 inches of natural mulch will prevent evaporation and weed growth. This mulch can be found in various nurseries and landscaping stores around town. 

Once these initial actions have been taken, there are additional conservation measures that can be carried out. One simple action is reusing your household water in lieu of a hose. This excess water can be collected from water bottles, pasta water, or shower buckets. Rain gauges are also a great tool that display the average rainfall in your area. By installing a 5-inch rain gauge into an open area of your garden, you will gain a better understanding of how much manual watering is necessary as the weather fluctuates. 

As the snow begins to melt, start thinking about how you can better orient and maintain your garden to save water! 

By Lauren Allen

Cutting Out Plastic Utensils

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It is a familiar scene: you pick up your takeout food, and the restaurant kindly tosses in a handful of plastic utensils. Although accepted as standard restaurant etiquette, these plastic utensils result in environmental disaster. This plastic pollutes waterways, endangers wildlife, causes extinction in marine species, and degrades the environment.

Considering more than half of the plastic used is thrown into the garbage, these utensils often make their way into oceans, rivers, and more, contaminating the surrounding water. This water is not only used for drinking, recreational activities, and industrial activities, but it is also the habitat of countless marine species. Marine species depend on air circulation for survival; as plastic accumulates in waterways, it covers the surface, disrupting this cycle. Additionally, spoons and forks can be ingested by wildlife–as they are mistaken for food–leading to death.

Studies have shown that, in the U.S. alone, over 40 billion plastic utensils are wasted, ending up in our environment and filling landfills. Surely there is an alternative, right? There are two main solutions to this dilemma. The first is to make the shift from plastic to bamboo cutlery. Bamboo is a great alternative; it is fast-growing, safe, hygienic, and biodegradable. However, the drawback is cost. Some restaurants can’t afford the additional costs of bamboo utensils. So, the remaining option is for consumers to make the change. Next time you are offered plastic utensils, politely opt out.

Enjoy your takeout and make sure to tip but try to leave the utensils behind.

By Pearson Ehrich

Switch to Smart Power Strips

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As peoples’ offices have moved from corporate buildings to their living rooms, power strips have become a household staple. These appliances allow you to power your multiple devices simultaneously, but they can also be responsible for excessive energy use. Phantom loads explain the idea that energy is being used when a device is plugged in, even when powered off. These phantom loads account for 5-10% of the average household’s energy consumption.

People tend to leave their devices plugged in for longer when they use power strips, but is the added convenience worth wasting energy? Though power strips use less energy than direct outlets, there is still a better option. Rather than trying to remember to unplug your devices at every work break, let smart power strips do heavy lifting. These devices sense when an appliance’s power consumption decreases and shuts of the electricity streaming from that specific outlet. Surge detectors and motion detectors are now integrated into some smart power strips to simplify your use even further. These devices typically cost around $30, just a fraction of the potential gain you will see through reduced energy bills over time.

Smart power strips should be in any outlet that powers a device that is responsible for a high degree of phantom loads or multiple devices. Some devices responsible for high energy consumption include televisions, video game consoles, desktop computers, printers, and phone chargers. Avoid lofty energy bills while simultaneously helping the environment by opting for this affordable alternative to conventional power strips.

By Lauren Allen

The Environmentally Responsible Way to Dispose of Your Clunker

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Access to a vehicle is a vital part of the daily routine for many of us residing in the US. Now, more than ever, we must consider the negative effects vehicles have on our environment. After all, we hear about greenhouse gas emissions and global warming daily. Ideally, not possessing a vehicle is the most earth-friendly option. In addition to saving on costs associated with vehicles such as car payments, auto insurance, fuel, and maintenance, our environment is spared some harm in the form of various pollutants cars produce.

Many times, however, regular use of a vehicle is necessary due to local infrastructure. Unfortunately, mobile sources such as cars, buses, and trucks are our main sources of air pollution, per the National Park Service. These types of vehicles account for more than half of all the air pollution in the US. Not surprisingly, automobiles are the top producer of the group.

The salvage yard- a vehicle disposal option fit for some.

You’ve probably heard of auto salvage yards. These businesses purchase junk vehicles from owners who no longer want them. Some salvage yards dismantle the vehicles and sell the parts directly to customers. Others invite customers to come track down components they are seeking and remove parts themselves.

This can be a decent option. You can get a small sum of money in your pocket. That eyesore-of-a-vehicle that has been sitting in your driveway, leaking oil, and causing neighborhood curmudgeons great displeasure, can be hauled away. However, there happens to be an option superior to that of part salvaging.

The little-known yet most responsible way to dispose of an old vehicle:  Recycling.

I have to confess, this is quite the novel concept to me. You can actually recycle your vehicle in whole. Essentially, it can be stripped down, shredded, and reusable parts can be sorted and distributed. Cars rank number one, annually, when it comes to recycled products in the world. Interesting, huh?

Passenger vehicles are composed of a variety of recyclable materials.

Cars consist of a variety of materials that can be effectively recycled. SellMax a scrap car service in Oceanside, was kind enough to provide me with a material breakdown of the average passenger vehicle they acquire. Main materials are as follows:

  • ferrous metal- 68 percent
  • plastic- 9 percent
  • non-ferrous metals- 9 percent; glass- 3 percent
  • tires- 3 percent
  • fluids- 2 percent
  • rubber- 2 percent
  • electrical parts 1 percent

I had the pleasure of speaking to a local car recycler in Salt Lake City and they affirmed that steel and iron, the ‘ferrous metal’ category, are the prime components of a passenger vehicle. Steel mills purchase shredded ferrous materials from scrappers. Usually, about 90 percent of the steel and iron that a vehicle was composed of are recycled. The fascinating thing about steel is that it is 100 percent recyclable. Essentially, it can be recycled again and again without its quality being compromised.

Glass is another material that is 100 percent recyclable. It is one of the most sustainable materials on earth. Like steel, it can be melted down, repeatedly, without its quality being reduced.

Tires are another component that can be recycled and reused for many purposes, such as gravel substitute, playground flooring, and garden mulch, to name a few. Check out this article at nerc.org for additional uses and more details. One caveat with recycling tires is that they’re a significant source of micro plastic pollution. The good news is that we are coming out with better ways to recycle tires often. For instance, Katherine Gallagher of Treehugger states, “As recently as 2020, a team of chemists at McMaster University discovered a way to break down the rubber used in car tires to turn them into new ones. This innovative method, which consists of dissolving the polymeric oils by separating the sulfur-to-sulfur bond in the tires, is a promising step for the future of recycling.”

Recycling car materials can be beneficial in even more ways than you’d think

The environment considerably benefits from recycling of a variety of materials that make up passenger vehicles. According to the EPA, recycling metal uses about 74 percent less energy than making new steel. Recycling of rubber tires reduces dumping of worn tires in landfills, lakes, and other undesirable locations, per Recycled Rubber Facts. More than 90 percent of tires are being recycled and reused each year. As a result, large amounts of energy are saved, and greenhouse gas emissions are reduced.

The Automotive Recycler’s Association (ARA) has estimated that 24 million gallons of motor oil, 8 million gallons of gasoline and diesel fuel, 8 million gallons of engine coolant, and 5 million gallons of windshield washer fluid are collected annually, resulting in a reduction of air and water pollution.

Another favorable aspect of vehicle recycling is the positive impact it has on our economy. Additional data produced by the ARA asserts that the auto recycling industry employs more than 140,000 US workers at more than 9,000 locations around the country.

The takeaway…

It’s probably safe to say that the statistics clearly support the argument that vehicle recycling is the best way to dispose of an old car. The future of our environment looks a bit more promising if we consider the fact that nearly 12 million cars are recycled in the US each year. We can each do our part. We can continue to reduce, reuse, and recycle. And when the time comes to retire our aged vehicles, we can choose the option to recycle knowing that we have chosen the most environmentally responsible option that will, in fact, make a difference.

You can support Recycle Utah while also recycling your old car by participating in our Donate Your Car program. We partner with a local car recycler, Tear-A-Part Auto, who responsibly reuses/recycles vehicle materials and provides Recycle Utah a cash donation for your vehicle. Visit Recycle Utah’s Donate Your Car page for more information on our program.

By Gabe Vargas

Bio: Gabe is a master’s student at UCSD who is always looking for ways to better the environment. He has a knack for taking complicated subjects and breaking them down into easily understood concepts. While not advocating for the environment he enjoys going on runs and surfing the San Diego Beaches.