This article was originally published in the Teton Valley News on June 4, 2015. It is republished with permission.
Admittedly, even as a devoted recycler since childhood, when I started working for Teton Valley Community Recycling (TVCR) five months ago, I was surprised to learn about how many things can be recycled locally in Teton Valley. Though I’ve been a member of TVCR and lived in Victor for many years now, our family has been taking much of our recycling over the hill to Jackson, and we weren’t aware of the great progress that TVCR, our transfer station, county officials, and a handful of local businesses have made in regards to making recycling easier and expanding the amount of recyclable products accepted in Teton Valley. Life is busy, and convenience and accessibility is a driving force for most of us. I was also unaware of the fact that recycling at our transfer station didn’t really take off until TVCR helped the county with grant funds and donations to purchase a recycling baler in 2011 (think of “Wall-E”—the trash compactor and sorter). In those early days of county-run recycling, 13% of our community’s waste was diverted from the landfill (which was a great accomplishment since community-wide recycling was literally started from the ground up by local activists and dedicated volunteers). In just three years, our county increased the waste diversion rate to 28% —this is a fantastic success story, and kudos to Teton County Solid Waste and Recycling, local officials, TVCR, volunteers, and local recyclers for making this happen. Of note, the national waste diversion average is around 33%, meaning that two-thirds of waste generated from Americans is not recycled or diverted from the landfill through either composting or reuse. Oh, how far we have come since the first days of recycling in Teton Valley; yet there is much potential for additional waste reduction and recycling in our community.
TVCR has worked for over fifteen years to implement and expand recycling and waste reduction programs in Teton Valley. Even though modern-day recycling has prevailed for decades in the U.S. and is a significant contributor to job creation and economic development, recycling drop-off and curbside pick-up in Teton Valley is still relatively new. Other diversion programs, like our county’s new green waste composting program, are helping to reduce the amount of waste sent to the landfill located 50 miles away in Jefferson County.
I often hear from friends (even those who themselves avidly support recycling) that recycling in Teton Valley is inconvenient and limited. We are listening and relentlessly exploring cost effective and ethical solutions to local solid waste and recycling disposal. Likewise, I am frequently asked why the transfer station doesn’t accept certain items—most notably #3-7 or the non-bottle shaped #1 and #2 plastics (the short answer is that our community doesn’t have a cost effective market for these materials). Our small population size and remote location are challenges that we have to overcome to further increase waste diversion in our area. We are located far from factories that process recyclable materials into new products, and our rural and mountainous location makes it difficult to transport products, especially in the winter. With just over 10,000 people living in the valley, the total tonnage of recyclables collected is small compared to larger municipalities. It can take months and years to collect enough recyclable commodity products to sell to market. Even so, recycling of many products is still the most cost saving, profitable, and environmentally-friendly option for waste disposal.
Good news is that there are exciting opportunities for increasing recycling and waste diversion in Teton Valley, and you can help to be part of this change! If you recycle and drop-off your recyclable items directly at the transfer station or subscribe to curbside pick-up through the RAD Recyclers, your efforts directly contribute to the many benefits of recycling realized right here in our community. Economic benefits include saving taxpayer money, since less waste is being transferred to the landfill; saving money on waste disposal costs for both households and businesses (individuals can drop-off recycling and other sorted waste for free up to 350lbs during transfer station hours Tuesday-Saturday); generating revenue earned from the sale of recyclables that can be reinvested back in our local community; and providing job opportunities for county and private recycling businesses. Environmental benefits include conserving natural resources; saving energy in the production of new material; reducing fuel consumption and emissions used to transport waste to the landfill; reducing methane emissions from rotting trash; and reducing air and water pollution. Besides practicing the three R’s (reducing, reusing, and recycling) yourself, other opportunities to help decrease landfill-bound waste include becoming a volunteer and supporter of Teton Valley Community Recycling, talking to others about the benefits of recycling and how to recycle, and helping your local neighborhood or workplace set-up recycling programs.
Jen Werlin is the Executive Director of Teton Valley Community Recycling. For more information about waste reduction, reuse, and recycling, and/or to become involved with our community-wide efforts to reduce litter and landfill waste, please visit tetonrecycling.org.
