Author Archive: insight

Zero Landfill in Grand Teton National Park

Subaru is teaming up with the National Park Service and the National Parks Conservation Association to work toward eliminating trash from our national parks. Grand Teton National Park is one of 3 pilot national parks that have been chosen to lead the way. InSight recently joined a stakeholder meeting up at the beautiful Jackson Lake Lodge. It is clear that this is a unique and exciting collaboration with the potential to do great things for both our local zero waste efforts and for our country’s treasured national parks.

Local food – the “swiss army knife” of sustainability solutions

Today was the first Jackson Hole People’s Market of the summer and fall! InSight teamed up with Teton County Integrated Solid Waste and Recycling and non-profit stewards of the local and regional food economy Slow Food in the Tetons to roll out the first phase of going zero waste at the People’s Market. I helped Slow Food plan and receive grant funding to purchase a fleet of Liquid Hardware stainless steel pint glasses to replace all disposable cups at the markets. Folks who forgot their cups could borrow one of these cups for a deposit, and those that remembered were rewarded for their efforts. Only 12 more Wednesday markets to go to try to get people in the habit of bringing their own cups. What a great initiative!

I always enjoy working with Slow Food in the Tetons. From farmer’s markets to cooking classes with local food, Slow Food believes that local food economies operating in the spirit of “good, clean and fair food” are a win for everyone. They result in healthier people, a cleaner environment, and a higher degree of social responsibility. They like to say the local food is the “swiss army knife” of sustainability solutions. I like it!

Showcasing the re-usable cups from the People's Market in a game of "veggie memory" with local kids.

Showcasing the re-usable cups from the People’s Market in a game of “veggie memory” with local kids.

 

Zero waste in Los Angeles

InSight partner Mari Allan Hannah and I just wrapped up a 3-day trip to the US Zero Waste Business Council conference in Los Angeles. We both finalized the course work required for the USZWBC certification, and spent two additional days with sustainability-minded business leaders from around the globe discussing a wide variety of zero waste topics. Personal highlights of the conference were meeting Bridgett Luther from the Cradle to Cradle Product Innovations Institute, spending time with conference key note speaker and zero waste guru Eric Lombardi of EcoCycle, and learning about the Great Pacific Trash Gyre from Captain Charles Moore .

Telling your sustainability story

InSight co-hosted the final workshop in the 2014/2015 Jackson Hole & Yellowstone Sustainable Destinations workshop series with Julie Klein from Confluence Sustainability. The workshop’s topics were sustainability management planning and telling your sustainability story. We heard from the organizers of Old Bills Fun Run on tips for running a sustainable event, as well as our special guest, Jackson Mayor Sarah Flitner, who spoke about the importance of the partnership between the Town of Jackson and Teton County in working to achieve sustainability goals in our community. Find a few of the resources from the workshop on the JHYSDP Website.

A photo of attendees A photo of attendees at the workshop enjoying some "networking". at the workshop enjoying some "networking".

A photo of attendees at the workshop sharing their sustainability stories

Looking upstream from the trashcan

Today, inSight hosted the second Jackson Hole & Yellowstone Sustainable Destinations (JHYSDP) workshop of the series, “Looking upstream from the trashcan: optimizing purchasing and supply chains toward downstream benefits”. Check out some great resources from the workshop on the JHYSPD website. The most popular slide of the day was set in the context of a discussion about who’s at fault for our 50-year-old landfill in Teton County, which is leaking and contaminating groundwater. The slide’s photo depicts a young boy standing on the old, buried landfill with a shirt exclaiming, “chill out bro, nacho fault”.

Photo credit: Mac Dukart

Photo my Mac Dukart

A view from Grand Teton National Park

InSight teamed up with Teton County Integrated Solid Waste and Recycling’s Education and Outreach Coordinator, Mac Dukart, to spend the day in Grand Teton National Park (GTNP). We met with GTNP Chief of Facility Management Chris Finlay and GTNP Sustainability Coordinator Margaret Wilson to share progress on the Teton County Road to Zero Waste Plan. We were excited to hear that GTNP is looking into ways to move toward zero waste, and were interested in seeing the work done by the County up to this point. The views of the Grand Teton were stunning from our conference room!

A rough timeline of recommendations and waste diversion from an early version of the Teton County Zero Waste Plan. Created by inSight Sustainability.

A rough timeline of recommendations and waste diversion from an early version of the Teton County Zero Waste Plan. Created by inSight Sustainability.

Skiing and working – it’s one way to walk the talk

inSight spent the day with the co-founders of outdoor freeride apparel company, Flylow, discussing the business of outdoor skiwear and making turns in the Jackson Hole backcountry. Skiing powder was the perfect way to lead into an afternoon of workshops and meetings.

Exactly one year ago, we all met for the first time at Flylow design headquarters in Lake Tahoe, CA where we worked towards putting to paper Flylow’s vision of a sustainable company, and took stock of current practices and baseline measurements. Today, we were in a good place to begin the first phases of the long-term Flylow Sustainability Plan. This is an ongoing effort with some exciting initiatives coming soon. You can get a sense of what’s ahead by checking out Flylow’s long-term objectives on the Flylow website.

Join inSight – Sustainable Business Workshop, Tuesday, November 18th

sustainabilityworkshop

InSight is pleased to be part of the instructional team for the Jackson Hole & Yellowstone Sustainable Destination Program‘s Sustainable Business & Organization Workshop Series, together with Julie Klein of Confluence Sustainability. The first workshop will be held on Tuesday, November 18th from 8 am to 12 pm at the Wort Hotel. To register, contact Tim O’Donaghue at riverwind@wyoming.com.