Recycle Utah

Nonprofit Summit County, Utah Recycling Center

#zerowaste

Sustainable Chocolate

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All food has an impact on the environment – some more than others. Have you ever thought
about our cherished chocolate? Sadly, it’s up there with meat and cheese in regards to carbon
impact. The more we educate ourselves about how to buy sustainably, the smaller the
environmental and ethical footprint we will leave.


Cocoa, or cacao, is the key ingredient in chocolate with 70% of it grown in West Africa, as well
as to Central and South America. Five million tons of cacao annually results in $100 billion in
global retail sales for this adored and sacred human treat. Other critical ingredients in chocolate are milk, sugar, and soy or sunflower lecithin.

What makes chocolate sustainable? It depends on how it was farmed. Particularly in West
Africa, cacao trees are grown on small farms run by individual families who cultivate, harvest,
ferment and dry the cacao beans. The equality of farmers considering child labor, fair pay,
discrimination, gender equality, and general assistance for better livelihoods is critical.
Greenhouse gas emissions primarily come from producing cocoa, milk, and sugar, all requiring land, resulting in deforestation. Milk requires water-intensive plants to feed land-intensive cows. Newer sustainable farming methods including shade trees, groundcover plants, hill or terrace planting to avoid soil erosion, rainwater storage, little or no pesticide use, agroforestry, and biodiversity. Such farming methods can also be more resilient to extreme drought and floods, enhanced by climate change. Transparent and reliable supply chains are also important.

While sometimes more expensive, look for “Fair Trade” and “Rainforest Alliance” certified
chocolate. Organic assures a chemical-free treat and buying local helps the footprint. Support
brands, manufacturers and retailers committed to the issues. Read labels and learn about the
company. Try different flavors! Then, stay tuned next for what to look for with sustainable
coffee options.

The 500-Year Problem We Can’t Ignore: The Lifespan of Plastics

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Plastic is everywhere, revolutionizing our lives with its convenience and durability. Yet, its
environmental cost is steep. Most people don’t fully grasp its long-term impact on the planet.
Plastics take between 20 and 500 years to break down, depending on the type of material and
its exposure to sunlight. Plastics never biodegrade; instead, they photodegrade when exposed
to UV radiation, breaking down into smaller and smaller plastics. Therefore, plastics buried in
landfills or deep in the ocean can last for centuries, or even millennia.


Plastic bags, made from HDPE, LDPE, or LLDPE, take about 20 years to decompose. Despite
this relatively short time, the massive volume of plastic bags used globally creates significant
pollution. Plastic bottles, primarily made from PET, take around 450 years to decompose. While recyclable, many bottles end up in landfills and oceans, breaking down into microplastics. These microplastics infiltrate ecosystems and human bodies, posing unknown health risks.


Because of plastic’s durability, almost every piece of plastic ever made still exists. Scientists
have found microplastics in every ecosystem on the planet. Plastic waste harms wildlife,
ecosystems, and human health. Much of the plastic problem is hidden, with microplastics
shedding from synthetic clothing and car tires, complicating pollution control.
Addressing the plastic crisis requires actions from governments, corporations, and individuals.


You may have heard of the 3 R’s: reduce, reuse, recycle. Responding to the plastic crisis begins
before you buy. Start by refusing single-use plastics. Reduce your consumption of products in
plastic packaging. Reuse containers and bags when you can. Repair your items to extend their
lifespan. Recycle all plastics! Hard plastics can be recycled in your curbside bin, and soft
plastics can be recycled at Smith’s, Walmart, or Recycle Utah.


Recycling alone isn’t enough; most plastic can only be recycled once or twice. We need to
reduce plastic use and find sustainable alternatives. Plastic has changed our world but
demands action to address its long-term impacts. By making small changes, we can help create a future with less plastic waste and a healthier planet.

By Chelsea Hafer

Republic/Waste Management Curbside Recycling Clarifications

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In July, we reviewed curbside recycling guidelines in a Green Tip. Everything in our curbside
recycling bin gets trucked to a huge Waste Management Materials Reprocessing Center in Salt
Lake, where it is dumped onto the tipping floor with tons of other recyclables and non-recyclable. contaminants. So begins its journey through a sophisticated network of conveyor belts and increasingly precise sorting machines until the different recyclable streams are pure, and can be compacted and baled to be shipped to factories and paper mills to make new products.

To make sure your curbside recycling stream is clean, follow these clarifications from Waste
Management and Republic Services. No waxy-coated paper take-out cups. No wax paper,
butcher or freezer paper. The waxy waterproofing is extremely difficult to extract from the paper pulping process and can ruin batches of paper at the mills. Recycle clean take-out plastic cups with their lids on. Coated cardboard milk or juice cartons are accepted.
Do not put anything smaller than a credit card in your bin. These items tend to fall through
screens and be improperly sorted. This is why lids need to be put on clean, dry containers. This also means no shredded paper. If you shred paper, it must be secured in a paper bag before it can go into the bin. Alternatively, use the paper shredder at Recycle Utah. All loose shredded paper needs to be put in their shredded paper dumpster there.


Hard plastics like plastic toys, household items, shelves, flower pots are not recyclable. Clean
balled-up (larger than credit card) aluminum foil is okay. No metal strapping or other metal
items. Tear off greasy parts of pizza boxes. No wet paper or cardboard. If a recycling bin
becomes uncovered during inclement weather and collects water or snow in it, it must
be emptied and dried.

Obviously, we play a crucial role in this planet-saving process. Successful recycling to
you!

By Bev Harrison

The Spookiest Part of Halloween – How to be More Sustainable with Halloween Costumes

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Halloween is such a fun and exciting time of the year for many! Halloween offers the chance to dress up as your favorite characters, indulge in (too much) candy, enjoy seasonal activities, and decorate the house. But have you ever wondered where all the halloween costumes,
decorations, and candy wrappers end up? Some people may reuse their costumes, share them with friends, or donate them, but many people don’t. Most people just throw away their single- use costume where it ends up sitting in the landfill, adding to a concerning amount of waste.

In the United States, over 35 million costumes are discarded each year. That is roughly 2,000
tons of plastic waste, equivalent to 83 million plastic bottles. The majority of Halloween
costumes are made of plastic polymer or non-recyclable oil-based plastics, which means they
are destined to end up in landfills. Polyester can take anywhere between 20-200 years to
decompose. On top of all that, 4 out of 10 costumes are worn only once.
Despite all of these spooky statistics, there are many creative alternatives to help reduce
Halloween waste and still enjoy all the festivities! First, instead of buying a brand-new costume, check out any local thrift stores that sell costumes such as the Christian Center, Savers, and Deseret Industries. You may be able to find used costumes for a much cheaper price. You may also find unique pieces and materials to create your own DIY (do it yourself) costume! A costume I have made in the past was a jellyfish using an umbrella I already had at home, LED lights, and some ribbon I bought at a thrift store. This costume does not take long to create and I only used materials I already had at home or small items that I will use again in the future.

This idea was not only eco-friendly, but very creative and unique. Another idea of how to be more eco-friendly is by swapping costumes with friends and family. This way, you are reusing costumes instead of throwing them away. Or you can swap certain parts of a costume to create your own one-of-a-kind costume! Maybe you are done with a costume and don’t know where else to put it, you can donate it to a nearby school for them to
use in school plays, or at a local thrift store.

By Elly Swartz

Turn the Key: Break the Habit of Idling!

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Habits. Many are ingrained in our daily lives, from brushing our teeth to drinking coffee.
Breaking habits is challenging, but sometimes the break can benefit our health, environment,
and others around us. A habit we all need to break is idling. People idle in ATM lines, drive-
thrus, school zones, post offices, and even the Recycle Utah line.


Park City and Summit County have one-minute idling ordinances. Listed exceptions include
waiting in traffic, authorized emergency vehicles, auxiliary power for law enforcement or fire and water equipment, refrigeration, drilling, lifts, farming, and battery charging. Other exclusions are inspection or repair of a vehicle, health or safety of a person or service animal, safe driving conditions, and efficient operations of a turbo-charged heavy-duty vehicle. There are no exceptions for hot and cold days.

Decades ago, cars with carburetors needed a warm-up in cold weather. However, today’s
engines with electronic fuel injectors don’t need to reach operating temperature before they can be driven. In fact, warming up your car by idling can damage it long-term. The faster a car
reaches operating temperature, the better it is for keeping the engine’s moving parts in good
condition with lubricated oil.

On freezing mornings, scrape then slowly drive away. Idling also equates to driving miles and
carbon dioxide release. Please check out our community’s idling ordinances and don’t be shy
about educating others when they’re idling! Start with a wave, smile, eye contact, and a gesture of turning the key. Be polite, with a “Would you mind turning off your engine?” Justify your ask with a reason. It could be that you’re trying to educate others about our local ordinances or that you or a family member has bad asthma. Always say thank you and give a thumbs up if they flip the key.


It’s time to break this unnecessary and harmful habit. Can we go idle-free while we wait, talk,
text, or eat? Let’s model by example and respectfully educate the new families in our community on how we do it here.

By Mary Closser

Change Your Driving Habits as the Seasons Change

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As the seasons are about to change, Utah’s mountains become a popular destination for
residents eager to witness the vibrant autumn colors. The diverse landscape here in Utah offers some of the most breathtaking fall colors and foliage, making it an ideal time and place for many outdoor activities such as hiking, camping, photography, and scenic drives. Some of the best places to visit are the Big and Little Cottonwood Canyons and Guardsman Pass, which all offer amazing views.

But how are you getting to these destinations? Every Utah resident is familiar with the frustration of dealing with traffic driving in and out of the canyons. Sitting in your car for hours is not something anyone wants to do especially when heading to and from events such as Snowbird’s Oktoberfest.

So what are simple, environmentally-friendly alternatives to driving? Carpooling and public
transportation are a great start! According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA),
driving/transportation is one of the biggest contributors to greenhouse gas emissions. Other
modes of transportation that result in direct emissions are trucks, ships, trains, and planes. A
study shows, “in 2022, direct and indirect greenhouse gas emissions from transportation
accounted for 29% of total U.S. greenhouse gas emissions” (EPA).

So instead of driving up the canyons by yourself, carpool with your friends and family! It’s an
easy way to reduce your carbon footprint while also saving money on gas and parking. If driving does not work for you, you can always check out public transportation through the Utah Transit Authority (UTA). They provide a few apps you can download on your mobile device to track the public transit and the locations they stop at to reach your destination.
The next time you venture into Utah’s stunning mountains, consider switching to eco-friendly
transportation options. Not only will you lower your carbon footprint, but you’ll make the
journey more enjoyable. So, let’s embrace the changing seasons and create a cleaner
environment!