Recycle Utah

Nonprofit Summit County, Utah Recycling Center

#zerowaste

Join Park City’s New Reuse Pilot!

by

Did you know that the US generates over 10,000 tons of plastic packaging waste every year? That’s a lot of plastic going to landfills! To fix this linear system of ‘take, make, waste’, Park City is spearheading circular economy solutions that ‘reduce, reuse, recycle, and regenerate’. One solution is an exciting, new pilot for Reusable To-Go Containers that launches October 1st!

Park City’s Reuse Pilot by Bold Reuse provides a way for customers to reduce their container waste with a sustainable packaging system that replaces single-use takeout containers. The City has partnered with Bold Reuse, an innovative packaging reuse company, Recycle Utah, and several local restaurants for this new pilot. Participating restaurants include Savoury Kitchen, Deer Valley Grocery-Café, GuestHaus, Shabu, Salt Box, and Este Pizza.

The program process is simple. Customers can sign up through the website or mobile app and purchase a $10 monthly subscription to use 2 boxes an unlimited number of times. Once you’ve signed up, order at a participating restaurant, and let staff know that you have a Bold Reuse subscription. The restaurant will package your order in the reusable container, and when you’re done, you can rinse the container and take it to a designated drop box! Collection boxes will be located at participating restaurants and Recycle Utah’s Center. If at least 1 container has been returned, you can order with a reusable container again – a truly circular solution! Join the reuse revolution by signing up for the program at boldreuse.com/parkcity!

By Haylee Neel

Natural Cleaning Supplies

by

It’s something we all have in common: Cleaning. What’s not common knowledge, though, is the power of natural, non-toxic and inexpensive cleaning materials. Consider Going Green and nixing the stinky cleaning cabinet all together! Check out a few of the basics:

1. House Cleaner: The most magical of all begins with a V -Yes, Vinegar. Fill an empty spray bottle with 1/3 Vinegar ½ H20 and 1 T. dish soap. This magical liquid can beautify most surfaces in your house – it’s especially good for mildew, floors, mirrors, windows and countertops. Any V smell dissipates once it dries. Rubbing alcohol also works well on windows and Baking soda does wonders for the toilet, tub, countertops and oven interior (mixed with salt). Sodium Percarbonate is a superb Bleach alternative.

2. Furniture and More: Polish your furniture and shoes with mere Olive Oil and lemon juice and freshen the air or de-clog your drains with vinegar and baking soda. Hydrogen Peroxide does the trick for red wine stains and more and lastly, Peanut Butter can remove the tough residues like paint or sticker residue.

3. Everyday: How many ingredients do your everyday body soap and shampoo have in them? Castile soap, hard or liquid, is simple olive oil based soap, amongst others. Check the net for recipes to make your own soaps, toothpaste, laundry detergent, house cleaners and much more.

By Mary Closser

Paper Towel Alternatives

by

Paper towels are a staple in many homes and seem to have infinite uses, but they are also a single-use product filling up landfills and contributing to overall waste. Aside from the waste problem, paper towel production impacts the environment through deforestation, chemical and water use, and carbon dioxide emissions. So how do we kick the paper towel habit and make the switch to better alternatives?


Americans are responsible for about half of the world’s paper towel usage – 13 billion pounds of paper towels annually or the equivalent of 270 million trees each year. To move away from overuse of paper towels, consider the many viable alternatives that exist on the market. Instead of decorative dish towels, white cotton towels and sponges can be used and reused for spills and household cleaning. Consider investing in cloth napkins to avoid unnecessary waste at mealtimes. The best part about switching to these reusable alternatives is that you’re likely to save money in the long run by purchasing less single-use items.


If you feel like a mess just needs a paper towel, try to purchase post-consumer recycled fiber, unbleached, or bamboo paper towels. Bamboo requires no pesticides or chemicals for growth and is self-regenerating with little water. Additionally, most paper towels are biodegradable and can be composted (if used to clean up food or drink messes), so if you want to go above and beyond, be sure to check if the paper towels you are purchasing fit these requirements.

By Olivia Beckstead

The Power of Composting

by

Every year, United States landfills receive over 150 million tons of garbage. Each bag of tossed garbage contributes to the pollution of surrounding waterways, air, and soil, inflicting health hazards upon humans and animals. It’s puzzling that over 50% of standard garbage set out on the curb can be composted. This simple action – composting – not only replenishes soil, sustains future food production, sequesters carbon, and replaces chemical fertilizers, but it also reduces heaps of methane being emitted from landfills.

So how can one start composting in Park City? There are three options: 1. Start a compost pile at home. Recycle Utah can assist you with doing it yourself through their monthly workshops (next one is 7/9, 10am) and they even sell discounted composting bins. 2. Join Spoil to Soil – a composting pickup service that costs $19/month, supplies all the materials, and picks up weekly. Or 3. Try Vermicomposting or worm composting. This is another great composting option, especially for smaller spaces, like apartments. Worm composting uses worms to recycle food scraps and other organic material into a valuable soil amendment called Vermicompost. It’s a fun way to compost but the worms need at least 40F degrees to survive. 

While most people assume waste, such as food scraps, will biodegrade in landfills, the lack of oxygen prevents this and instead creates methane. The more of us who get on board with environmental steps, the more these actions will start to add up. Composting is a significant step.

By Pearson Ehrich

Proper Disposal of Pharmaceutical Waste

by

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

by

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