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One of the five pillars of the green business program is ‘Thriving Community & Equity’ – a pillar that focuses on how businesses can make positive impacts for both their community and their employees. One of the key ways employers can support their workers is by providing health insurance… I know often easier said than done! Providing health insurance coverage can be really expensive for small businesses, but we all know that a healthy workforce is important to our community. 

At the Park City Chamber & Visitor’s Bureau, we’ve spent a lot of time discussing how employees who have high-quality health benefit options are healthier, happier, and more engaged in their work. Fortunately, in partnership with the Heber Valley Chamber and local insurance experts, we are now able to provide a new program to help small businesses offer health insurance to their employees! You can find more information HERE. 

This new group insurance program gives chamber member businesses affordable access to medical, dental, vision, and other benefits (like pet insurance!) to their employees, including employers with as few as two employees. Our hope is that this program will decrease the insurance burden on small businesses and help them secure and support the top talent that keeps our community running! 

It is hard to think about life without a car, and the unfortunate associated pollution into our airspace. In 2015, Summit County Council adopted a Climate Action Plan with a goal to reduce community-wide greenhouse gas emissions by 80% from a 2014 baseline by 2050. Sadly, a recent emissions inventory reports that instead of decreasing, County emissions have grown. The number one contribution is transportation.

The primary way we, as individuals and businesses, can curb our transportation-related emissions is to not get into a vehicle…. easy right? Summit County’s extensive network of paved bike paths and transit options through High Valley Transit (HVT) and Park City Transit (PCT), including off-the-beaten path routes through HVT Microtransit services, can assist. Could your business offer incentives for commuting via transit or bike, teleworking, or a ride-share program? Additionally, since grid electricity is becoming increasingly supplied by renewables, could you or your business purchase an alternate fuel vehicle (i.e. hybrid, plug-in hybrid, or electric vehicle) and/or install an EV charger(s)?  Tax credits or rebates are offered for many such actions!

Changing our ways with transportation is challenging, but has significant potential to reduce emissions within our County. Please don’t hesitate to reach out to our green business team with questions about transportation. Thank you for all you do!

Zack Darby
Summit County Sustainability Analyst

You’ll find a garden full of edible flowers, herbs and tomatoes on-site at this Done To Your Taste Catering in Kamas, Utah. They work hard to include local ingredients in their menus, including produce from a local Oakley farm. They even capture water in their four rain barrels to hydrate their gardens! Their garden’s harvest is revealed above in Eileen’s “Garden to Glass” cocktail. Love your thinking, Done To Your Taste Catering!

We’re all guilty of food waste, and now our environment is begging us to reduce it. Summit County’s bars and restaurants waste is 66% organics and residential waste is 36% organics. Reducing food waste is ranked in the top ten solutions to mitigating climate change in an article by the World Resources Institute. Paul Hawken in Drawdown ranks reduced food waste as #3 out of 100 important ways to reverse global warming by 2050. Hawken states, “The food we waste is roughly 8% of total anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions. People who need food are not getting it, and the food that is not getting consumed is heating up the planet.”

We are extremely fortunate in Summit County to have ways to donate food and compost. Contact the Christian Center of Park City (CCPC) for ways to donate uneaten food for those in need; subscribe to Momentum to compost business or event food waste or Spoil to Soil for residential. Or, start composting at your home with a backyard bin or electric composter. 

Change is not easy, it’s certainly easy to refuse to do. But how long can our resilient Earth stand up to our human actions? Make it your goal today to start a food waste plan in 2023 for your home and workplace. Our community will thank you for it.  

Mary Closser
Recycle Utah Education Director

All Seasons Adventures knows the importance of providing water to their summer customers. The higher price point of plastic-free alternatives has always been a barrier, until this summer. They reworked their pricing and are very excited to finally switch to a resealable, aluminum water bottle for their 100+ customers on the Weber River, and more. Looking forward, they hope to assist more local businesses to do the same, possibly with bulk order collaboration! Contact Caroline for more information.

The Park City Library is currently working on the Sustainable Libraries Initiative certificate program. One initiative they launched last year is the Sustainability Resource Center, inspiring awareness and action through unique displays, books and creative tools to help our residential and business community gain knowledge on climate change, economics and sustainability. Learn more about Park City Library’s Sustainability Resource Center here.