With all of us spending more time at home amidst the Coronavirus epidemic, there’s no better time than now to think of ways to make your Park City home more green. Of course solar panels, energy efficient appliances and home automation devices help make a home more green, but they require significant investment. This list provides ideas for easy ways to “green up” your home with minimal investment. Imagine the collective change that would happen if each Park City household chose to implement just a few items on this list?
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Curbside Glass Recycling - You all know that the Summit County recycling bin does not accept glass, so many of you make a regular run to Recycle Utah with your glass. To make life easier, Salt Lake based Momentum Recycling offers curbside glass pickup in Park City for just $12 per month. I’ve been using this service for almost a year, and it’s been fantastic.
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Curbside Composting - Did you know 40% of the landfill is filled with food waste? Spoil to Soil is a local company that offers an easy way to compost for less than $17 per month. Weekly curbside pickups of your food waste are composted on a farm in Peoa and are used as chemical-free fertilizer. Composting for one year offsets the carbon emissions of driving 5,000 miles. I signed up for this service about four months ago and cannot believe how much waste is diverted to my compost bin. Super easy to do and so good for the Earth!
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Compostable Pet Waste Bags - If you use one pet plastic waste bag per day, that equates to 365 bags in our landfill that won’t decompose. Multiply that by the number of dogs in Park City, and that’s too many! On your next Amazon order, choose compostable pet waste bags for $10 for a two month supply.
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Plastic Bag Disposal - Recycle Utah accepts plastic bags at their facility on Kearns Boulevard free of charge, although donations are most appreciated. I began collecting my plastic bags about five months ago, (for example bags that sandwich bread comes in) and you would not believe how quickly they add up! Plastic bags are not allowed in the curbside bin, so just make a separate container in your garage for these items and bring them to Recycle Utah on your next visit. This is an easy and free way to keep plastic bags out of the landfill.
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Ride Your Bike - With the weather getting warmer it’s an easy choice to ride your bike to do errands, and with Summit County’s electric bikes coming back online in May. You can hop on a bike at one of 20 stations around town and get to work, run errands, or tour the sites for $30 per month or a low per-ride charge.
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Washing Hands - With Coronavirus, we are all washing our hands more frequently for 20 seconds or longer. We can reduce the amount of warm water running down the drain by turning off the faucet while we lather and scrub. Hand washing while running the water an average of 6 times daily, uses 3.3 gallons per person per day.
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Use Ol Miner Car Wash - Ol Miner Car Wash on Bonanza Drive has been around for years, but its new owners have made the business more environmentally friendly. They’ve transitioned to energy saving equipment, biodegradable soaps, water recapture techniques and have a solar grid on the roof that powers the business 100% on blue bird days.
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Support Restaurants with Compostable Takeaway Packaging - Coronavirus has most restaurants in a takeout only business model, which is why it’s more important than ever to visit restaurants that use compostable containers - no styrofoam or plastic containers! Vessel Kitchen at Kimball Junction uses only compostable packaging and thoughtfully asks you if you really do need silverware added to your takeout order.
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Wash Only Full Laundry Loads and Use Cold Water - It’s a no brainer to only run the clothes washer when it’s full, but washing clothes in cold water will not only save on energy costs, but also will preserve the life and color of your clothes and will yield the same cleaning result as using warm water.
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Reusable Produce Bags - Imagine how many plastic produce bags you’ve used in your lifetime of grocery shopping? With all of us shopping and cooking at home more, now is the time to add reusable produce bags to your next Amazon order for less than $10. Store them with your reusable grocery bags, and wash them in your washing machine when they get dirty. Such an easy way to reduce your plastic use!