Subaru and the National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA) have been working together for nearly a decade, collaborating on a longstanding project called the Don’t Feed the Landfills Initiative in coordination with the National Park Service (NPS) and the National Park Foundation (NPF). This project has been working since 2015 to reduce the amount of waste that national parks send to landfills, and it was recently announced that the initiative was able to eliminate a total of 22 million pounds.
The Don’t Feed the Landfills Initiative started with three pilot parks: Denali National Park & Preserve, Grand Teton National Park, and Yosemite National Park. Together with the NPCA, community stakeholders, the NPF and the NPS, Subaru worked to develop methods of waste reduction, recycling, and composting, as well as providing educational initiatives and engaging with park visitors to encourage them to lessen their impact on the environment during their visit. The initiative also worked to design infrastructure systems to ensure sustainable and resilient park operations.
Over time, the Don’t Feed the Landfills Initiative has spread a ripple effect to a network of nearly 60 park partners supporting the effort. The project has covered everything from sustainable food packaging to reusable containers, visitor stewardship, and educational programming, enhancing recycling and composting infrastructure, recruiting dedicated staff for educational outreach, and standardized bin labeling to increase recycling participation. Subaru even provided grant funding to the National Park Foundation to support engagement programs and operational and infrastructure improvements, including more than 1,000 new bear-proof containers and almost 30 water-filling stations.
“The Don’t Feed the Landfills Initiative has been an important undertaking at Subaru for nearly a decade and has led to the elimination of 22 million pounds of trash through recycling, composting, and educational initiatives,” said Alan Bethke, Senior Vice President, Marketing at Subaru of America, Inc. “We are incredibly grateful to our partners at the National Parks Conservation Association, National Park Foundation, National Park Service and others for helping us develop and implement innovative waste reduction solutions. Together, we have reduced the amount of waste taken to landfills by half at Denali, Grand Teton, and Yosemite, and we are proud to have provided a scalable waste reduction roadmap that supports the national parks' sustainability efforts for future generations.”
“We were so proud to join forces with industry leader Subaru of America, the National Park Foundation and the National Park Service to address the significant waste challenges facing our national parks,” said Theresa Pierno, President and CEO of the National Parks Conservation Association. “Through our nearly 10-year partnership on the Don’t Feed the Landfill initiative, we’ve helped keep millions of pounds of waste out of our parks and the landfills, made it easier and more clear to recycle, and connected with millions of Americans about ways they can help lessen their footprint when they explore our parks. The systems and infrastructure we’ve put in place will benefit national parks, and all who visit them, for decades to come.”
If you’re interested in learning more about Subaru’s many initiatives and charitable works, you can continue reading our blog here at Haldeman Subaru!
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