Subaru of America, Inc., the National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA), and National Park Foundation (NPF) announced that through an innovative partnership three of America’s most iconic national parks are at the forefront to reduce the amount of waste that parks send to landfills. As part of the multi-year Don’t Feed the Landfills Initiative led by NPCA, Subaru of America Inc., NPF, and park concessionaires, Denali, Grand Teton and Yosemite national parks have made incredible progress to shrink the environmental footprint in and around these parks. Since the launch of the initiative in 2015, the three pilot parks have made significant strides by keeping more than 16 million pounds of waste out of landfills. Last year alone, through increased recycling and composting efforts, the pilot parks cut their landfill waste by nearly half.
With, on average, 330 million visitors each year, the National Park Service (NPS) manages nearly 70 million pounds of waste nationally, which would fill nearly 600 dump trucks. Subaru has extensive experience in understanding waste diversion to landfills, as the first automotive assembly plant in America to achieve zero-landfill status in 2004. Because of this, Subaru has committed to sharing its knowledge of zero-landfill practices by working with NPCA, NPF and NPS, toward a goal of significantly reducing the amount of waste that national parks send to the landfills.
“At Subaru, we are committed to protecting and preserving not only our national parks, but the entirety of our great outdoors as we work toward a future free of landfill trash,” said Alan Bethke, Senior Vice President, Marketing, Subaru of America, Inc. “Our continued work on the Don’t Feed the Landfills Initiative has brought a significant reduction in landfill trash in the three pilot parks and will help keep America’s national parks – our national treasures – beautiful and clean for future generations.”
The successes and long-term impact of the initiative can be attributed to the collaborative community-based approach. Working with many partners including Grand Teton Lodge Company, Signal Mountain Lodge, Yosemite Hospitality, Aramark, Doyon Limited Aramark, Denali Education Center and Nature Bridge, prioritizing visitor outreach and engagement, and customizing innovative waste solutions for each park, have been critical for the progress made so far.
“With millions of people visiting our national parks every year, park staff have a lot to contend with, including millions of pounds of waste that can impact everything from visitor experience to wildlife behaviors,” said Theresa Pierno, President and CEO for the National Parks Conservation Association. “Working with our many partners, we set out to address this mounting issue starting at Denali, Grand Teton and Yosemite national parks. The progress we’ve made together is incredibly promising. We’ve reduced trash and increased recycling through visitor and employee education and put new, innovative processes into place. And in doing so, have created a road map that can be used in parks across the country. Together, we are creating a lasting legacy and leaving our parks more sustainable for generations to come.”
By first identifying the common waste items found in the pilot parks, which includes food waste, cardboard, single-use plastic bottles, plastic wrap and packaging, steel and aluminum cans, glass bottles and jars, and single-use portable propane canisters, Denali, Grand Teton and Yosemite national parks set incremental goals to keep recyclable and compostable materials away from landfills. This work has also helped engage visitors to change their behaviors while in parks through improved infrastructure and clear, consistent labeling. There are nearly 1,000 new waste and recycling containers in high-traffic areas in these parks and they are having an enormous impact. The additional containers make it easier for visitors to correctly sort and recycle while encouraging the use of reusable items to help reduce single-use plastic bottles and bags, and coffee cups. Since year one of the initiative, improved visitor participation has helped the three parks on average, increase recycling by 27 percent.