Many organizations are investing heavily in efforts to increase efficiency and reduce the environmental impact of their operations, but are they taking the right steps to ensure that these efforts are institutionalized? This question is at the center of efforts by Salt Lake City businesses, non-profits, and governmental agencies, to make changes to systems and processes which will help them improve workplace sustainability.

Over the last few years, Momentum Recycling has helped dozens of Salt Lake City organizations develop waste reduction, recycling and other workplace sustainability goals, as well as tactical plans to meet those goals. Institutionalizing these goals is a major key to success, and our experience has shown that employees must be engaged in every step of the process in order to get buy-in from the workforce. With that in mind, here is Momentum’s list of the top ten things an organization should do in order to improve workplace sustainability:

1. Establish a recycling program for consumable goods.
2. Use environmentally friendly purchasing practices (close the loop, buy goods with post-consumer recycled content).
3. Recycle, donate, or refurbish electronics or other durable goods.
4. Eliminate disposables. Instead, use reusable flatware and dishware, or other durable goods.
5. Recycle or reuse packaging materials.
6. Avoid petroleum based products (plastics).
7. Reduce paper waste (circulate one copy of magazines and newspapers, use double-sided print settings).
8. Buy locally produced goods from local merchants.
9. Reduce energy use (buy Energy Star appliances, create an engine idling policy, carpool, turn off equipment at night).
10. Form a Green Team (set sustainability goals, make sustainability practices part of the employee manual).

For those who are interested in delving deeper into workplace sustainability, you might be interested in attending the Utah Society for Environmental Education’s (USEE) Sustainable Systems at Work discussion series. This five-session discussion guide for the workplace is designed to further organizational sustainability initiatives. This new program inspires innovation and creates alignment between employee actions and organizational objectives. USEE will be hosting a group starting in January, with the initial meeting date still to be determined. If you are interested in attending, please email Andree' Walker Bravo at director@usee.org or call 801-328-1549.

Please join us in extending a warm welcome to Justin Mills, who joined Momentum's operations team in September. Many of you may have met Justin already, as he has been driving every weekday for the past few months.

Justin is a very friendly and enthusiastic guy, and always has a smile on his face. Justin brings to Momentum a passion for making our community a greener, healthier place.

Justin relocated to Salt Lake City from southern California several years ago, and has found Salt Lake to be a warm, hospitable, and exciting place to live. We're excited to have Justin's skills, experience, and passion on our team!

Momentum would like to extend an enormous THANKS to Katie McKeon who has served as an intern since the spring of 2010. Katie has contributed a great deal of time and dedication to Momentum’s mission. We appreciate her willingness to leap into any task with a great deal of energy and passion, be it sales related, providing support on the routes, or digging through trash during a waste audit. We wish her well in her next endeavors!

Hospitality establishments in Salt Lake City are making significant progress towards sustainability by minimizing their impact on the environment. The travel and tourism industry is the largest sector in the world economy, and has an massive impact on landfill waste volumes. By acknowledging and acting on their obligation to reduce their environmental impact in the communities in which they are located, hospitality businesses are also having a positive influence on the behavior of their suppliers and their clientele who are being asked to conform to the new waste reduction and recycling standards being adopted. All of this has resulted in an improved approach to sustainability industry-wide and a recognition that hospitality businesses can gain competitive advantage by becoming responsible stewards of the environment.

Momentum Recycling has been fortunate to provide recycling and waste reduction services for a number of hospitality establishments in the greater Salt Lake City area including:

• Alta Club
• Hilton Hotel, Downtown Salt Lake
• Holiday Inn Airport
• Hotel Monaco Salt Lake City
• Radisson Hotel SLC Downtown
• Salt Lake City Marriott Downtown
• Shilo Inn Salt Lake City
• Springhill Suites by Marriott
• University of Utah Guesthouse

Two Momentum clients that have shown a particularly strong dedication to diverting their recyclables from the landfill are the Hilton Hotel in downtown Salt Lake City, and the Salt Lake City Marriott Downtown. Both hotels recycle green waste and glass, and track their progress with the help of Momentum diversion reports.

The Hilton Hotel, Downtown Salt Lake
The Hilton has earned the reputation of being one of the most environmentally friendly hotels in Salt Lake City. Recycling is a key component to that reputation. The Hilton partnered with Momentum in 2008 to reduce waste and improve recycling efforts. Since that time, the Hilton has recycled 36 tons of glass and 55 tons of green waste!

Components of the Hilton’s Waste Reduction & Recycling Program:

• Expansion of recycling collection areas to include common areas, offices and guest rooms.
• Use of Momentum Recycling’s wheeled carts, which allow green waste and glass to be easily transported from the kitchens and restaurant to the loading dock for pickup.
• Use of eco-friendly water bottles, reusable cups, plates and napkins, and use of bulk containers for condiments to reduce waste.

Salt Lake City Marriott, Downtown
The Marriott Downtown has incorporated energy conservation and recycling initiatives into their Corporate Social Responsibility efforts, resulting in the integration of these values into Marriott’s culture. The response from their clientele is reflected in the loyalty they show to the Marriott. According to Dusty Casey, SLC Marriott Downtown’s Director of Operations, the hotel publishes information about their green practices, and clients are choosing to book business at their hotel because they do so much to reduce, recycle, recover and reuse.

"Change is always difficult but it is always easier when others can help," says Casey. "Momentum has a great program in place to make it easy to implement ‘green practices’ in your place of business."

The Marriott Downtown has diverted over 12.5 tons of glass and 17.5 tons of green waste since the hotel began working with Momentum Recycling over two years ago.

Momentum Recycling commends all of its hotel clients for the fantastic work they have been doing to divert recyclables away from the landfill!

At Momentum, we measure success in terms of diversion rates. The table and graph below show the growth we have experienced in collections. We're thrilled to announce that, as of the end of 2010, we've diverted over 3 million pounds (1,500 tons!) of recyclable material away from the landfill. Hats off to all of our dedicated and conscientious clients for making this amazing contribution to our community.

Actual Collections
Material:	4th Quarter 2010	2010 Totals	All Time Totals
Mixed Recyclables1	101 tons (201,760 lbs.)	322 tons (644,580 lbs.)	477 tons (953,720 lbs.)
Glass2	80 tons (159,100 lbs.)	288 tons (575,800 lbs.)	357 tons (713,150 lbs.)
Green Waste3	91 tons (182,815 lbs.)	379 tons (758,360 lbs.)	695 tons (1,390,245 lbs.)
TOTAL	272 tons (543,675 lbs.)	989 tons (1,978,740 lbs.)	1,529 tons (3,057,115 lbs.)

¹Mixed Recyclables = paper, cardboard, plastics 1-7, metals. These figures are derived from weigh-ins which occur at Rocky Mountain Recycling.
²Glass weights are determined by multiplying the standard weight of a glass bin by the number of full bins we collect.
³Green Waste = fruit and vegetable scraps, yard waste, coffee grounds. These figures are derived from weigh-ins which occur at the Composting Facility at the Salt Lake Valley Landfill.

As a mission-driven company, one of our founding principles has been to build awareness of, and commitment to, recycling and other sustainability measures among clients and the greater community. Below you’ll find some recent examples of our work in this area:

• Rowland Hall Auction: Momentum Recycling donated recycling collections to Rowland Hall school for their bi-annual auction, which serves as a fundraiser for the school. Rowland Hall had over 400 people in attendance, and diverted over 500 lbs. of mixed recyclables and 1000 lbs. of glass from the landfill.
• Recycling at Locals First Fundraiser: Momentum provided recycling services free of charge to Local First’s Fall Fundraiser. Local First is a non-profit organization with the goal of strengthening communities and local economies by promoting, preserving, and protecting local, independently owned businesses throughout Utah.
• Consulting for Commerce CRG: The property management firm Commerce CRG recently engaged Momentum Recycling to conduct a waste audit at their 170 S Main property in downtown Salt Lake City. The resulting reports showed the impact of current recycling programs and provided recommendations for improvements. These results contribute to the LEED EB certification that Commerce CRG is pursuing for this property.
• Utah Society for Environmental Education (USEE) Brown Bag on Recycling: Momentum Recycling gave a presentation on recycling at home and in the work place in July. Providing educational opportunities to the greater Salt Lake community is a key element of Momentum’s mission.
• Wasatch Community Gardens Support: In support of Wasatch Community Garden’s mission to promote urban gardening and youth educational opportunities, Momentum delivered over 1.5 tons of green waste to WCG to be processed into compost for their gardens.
• Recycling at KRCL’s Polar Jubilee: Momentum provided glass and mixed recyclables collection at KRCL’s Polar Jubilee celebration and fundraiser in December. KRCL diverted approximately 263 lbs of mixed recyclables and 250 lbs of glass from the landfill during the event.
• Whole Foods Local Farmers and Food Artisans Event: Momentum donated recycling services to the event and manned a community recycling education booth.
• Educational Programs for Clients: As part of our basic customer service, Momentum conducts free "Reduce, Reuse, Recycle Educational Seminars" for all new clients. In the past quarter, we've conducted over a dozen of these seminars, helping businesses and their employees understand more clearly how to maximize their diversion rates.
• Promote Your Recycling Efforts: Get a Momentum Point of Sale Sign Now! The PoS signs, which are typically placed at high customer traffic areas in client facilities, have the purpose of informing customers about Momentum clients’ commitment to recycling. We see this as a great opportunity to improve awareness about recycling opportunities among the general public, as well as a fantastic opportunity to promote our clients’ (and Momentum’s) dedication to the pursuit of zero waste. Let Jeff (jeff@momentumrecycling.com) know if you are interested in having a sign developed free of charge.
• Cross Fertilization between Clients and End-Users: As part of our mission, Momentum Recycling works to "close the loop" on recycling in our community. We organize events to bring recycling stakeholders in our community together for an on-going dialogue about zero waste and the local initiatives which have been introduced in support of this goal.
• During the third quarter of 2010, Momentum facilitated a site visit to Squatters Brewery. James Soares, Squatters’ Director of Environmental and Social Responsibility, met with us to talk about the company’s visioning process and the sustainability initiatives which resulted. The brew pub has truly taken its commitment to sustainability to a whole new level.
• In September, Preston Hamren, the Whole Foods Highland Green Mission Rep, met with us at their store in Cottonwood Heights to talk about the company’s commitment to social and environmental responsibility.
• Momentum Recycling will be offering more tours of other end users’ facilities, as well as tours of client facilities in the near future with the next one occurring in January to Rocky Mountain Recycling. Stay tuned for more information on places & dates!