Waste Management

October 31, 2008

The Waste Management Committee works to reduce waste generated by the park and to divert recyclable materials from landfills. We provide staff and visitors with information about ways to recycle in and around Glacier National Park.

The Waste Management Committee has our work cut out for us! As many of you know, portions of Glacier National Park are remote, and managing a recycling program in some areas is challenging.

The committee explores ways to enhance our recycling opportunities within the park, and to provide park partners with information about green initiatives, including recycling opportunities in local communities and other best management practices.

You can recycle in Glacier National Park: For #1 & 2 plastics and aluminum cans, seasonal locations include: Apgar Visitor Center, Apgar Transit Center, Logan Pass Visitor Center & St. Mary Visitor Center.

Green Tip: According to some statistics, an average adult in the USA receives a whopping 41 pounds of junk mail a year and approximately 44% of this mail winds up in a landfill without having been opened. Imagine that; over a lifetime over a thousand pounds of unwanted mail end up in our landfill- now multiple that by millions of people. Find ways to stop your junk mail!

The Green Team

October 21, 2008

The Glacier National Park Green Team was established to assist the park in implementing action items in the park’s Environmental Management Plan (EMP). Membership on the Green Team is voluntary and includes representatives from all Divisions in the park. Several committees have been organized to work on various goals in the EMP. These include Waste Management, Visitor Transportation, Employee Transportation, Green Operations, and Outreach & Communications. Each committee will have an opportunity to report on their activities in this blog.

Today’s report is from the Outreach & Communications Committee. We are currently working on: green messaging through our visitor centers, weekly green tips, email opportunities to our staff, employee handbooks, this green blog, a green suggestion box, and fun communication tools to share facts.

Green Messaging: We have added green messages on the big screen monitors in the visitor centers and at the transit center. We are also working on a Climate Change green message for the St. Mary Visitor Center to use in summer 2009.

Green Tips: We have offered Green Tips to our employees every Wednesday through the park’s morning report, an electronic newsletter that provides information to park employees each day. These are short suggestions on what each of us can do both at work and at home to reduce our negative impacts on the environment.

Seasonal Information: We are preparing updated information for the seasonal employee handbook, for seasonal orientation, and a brochure for all employees about the Green Team and green practices.

Green Blog and Web Page: We have set a goal to add a new entry to this blog weekly, and we are making plans for a park web page that would inform visitors about what they can do to make their stay in Glacier National Park greener.

Green Box: We plan to develop a Green Suggestion Box, probably electronic in format, where employees can provide input on ways the park could implement greener practices. The suggestions would be reviewed by the Green Team and implemented if feasible.

Sticker Facts and Toilet Times: Plans are in the works to post Green Messages in obvious locations where employees will see them. The messages would be changed regularly. We will keep you posted as we make progress on these goals.

And here is a Green Tip for you today:

Tires: Properly inflated tires could improve your gas mileage by up to 3%. The average American who drives 12,000 miles per year could save about 16 gallons of gas annually. Leave the old ones with the dealer when you buy new ones. Just check that they recycle them. Worn out tires can be used as highway paving, doormats, hoses, shoe soles and more.