One Man's Trash....

Waste. It’s difficult to avoid but continues to be a major problem for our planet. We have all seen the photos of massive mountains of waste in landfills with piles of food, broken furniture, textiles, and everything in between as far as the eye can see. But what can we do about it?

This past October, the TAOS Ski Valley Sustainability and Development teams collaborated to offer the first Waste Diversion event and Fall Cleanup Month for resort staff. As part of our commitment to sustainability, we focused on utilizing responsible disposal practices for all work-related items no longer in use with the goal of donating, recycling, and re-using as much as possible. In an effort to divert recyclable materials from the landfill, a drop-off area was created for scrap metal, building supplies, usable electronics, e-waste & recycling, furniture, and appliances.
As TAOS’s first time adding a Waste Diversion event to its end-of-summer schedule, this program was a huge success with the help of our staff’s participation to help divert 3,000 pounds of scrap metal and donating a large load of office and household items to CAV and the Habitat for Humanity Restore. This was a big step towards reducing our scope 3 emissions in addition to our day-to-day recycling practices. Just two years ago, the only thing we could recycle locally was cardboard. Now, we recycle glass, aluminum, tin, paper, some plastic, batteries, and more with the help of a few regional partners. We hope to turn this into an annual event (and maybe even a full-time year-round drop-off location for staff!) to continue in our efforts to reduce waste in landfills.