• Visitors stand on the boardwalk of Grand Prismatic, the park's largest hot spring which is ringed with orange, brown and yellow runoff channels.

    Yellowstone

    National Park ID,MT,WY

Purchasing and Reduction: Goals and Objectives

Bear-Spray-Crusher_688
Used bear spray canisters are collected around the Yellowstone Area, where they are then crushed and recycled.
 

Purchase environmentally friendly products and minimize the lifecycle impacts of purchased materials.

  • Follow with EPA's recommendations for environmentally preferable purchasing of products and services and comply with standards and guidelines where applicable. (Action items due: by 2016 - 50 percent; by 2020 - 100 percent)

  • Monitor/track purchasing streams to establish accountability for environmental purchasing. (Action items due: 2013)

  • Implement purchasing policies and requirements for commonly purchased goods and increase central supply items that meet environmentally preferred minimum standards. (Action items due: 2013)

  • Purchase locally and regionally produced sustainable commodities. (Action items due: Ongoing)

  • Purchase of commodities with little packaging, recyclable or biodegradable materials, non-toxic components and low embodied energy from manufacturing and transportation. (Action items due: Ongoing)

  • Offer visitors environmentally responsible, choices and minimize disposable products such as plastic water bottles. (Action items due: 2013)

  • Include sustainability requirements and environmental performance assessments in evaluation criteria for all contracts involving the purchase of products and/or services. (Action items due: 2016)

Ensure the most sustainable use of waste products.

  • Divert municipal solid waste from landfills. (Action items due: by 2016 - 75 percent diversion; by 2020 - 90 percent diversion)

  • Monitor/track diversion rates for recycling efforts. (Action items due: 2013)

  • Collaborate with partners and local communities to ensure efficient, low impact collection, separation, transportation, and disposal/reuse of waste. (Action items due: 2014)

  • Ensure end source markets for waste recycling and disposal are environmentally sound and respect human health and safety. (Action items due: 2016)

  • Implement standards and strategies for recycling and reusing construction and demolition waste to divert building and infrastructure materials from landfills. (Action items due: by 2016 - 75 percent diversion; by 2020 - 90 percent diversion)

Educate employees and visitors on the importance of purchasing and waste reduction, to inspire them to buy green and reduce waste in Yellowstone and at home.

  • Educate staff on standards and policies for environmental purchasing and waste reduction (Action items due: Ongoing)

  • Provide consistent information on Yellowstone's environmental purchasing and waste reduction efforts to employees and visitors (Action items due: 2013)

  • Inform visitors of the environmental impacts of their purchases and opportunities to minimize waste associated with their visit (Action items due: 2016)

 
What you can do

What You Can Do

 
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Did You Know?

Dog Hooked to Travois for Transporting Goods.

Some groups of Shoshone Indians, who adapted to a mountain existence, chose not to acquire the horse. These included the Sheep Eaters, or Tukudika, who used dogs to transport food, hides, and other provisions. The Sheep Eaters lived in many locations in Yellowstone.