Community Partnerships

Slow Food in the Tetons provides an exceptional platform for the demonstration of Road to Zero Waste event strategies at both the summer and winter Jackson Hole Peoples Market. The first to pilot the rental of reusable beer cups in 2015, this organization continues to move the needle closer to zero with the addition of reusable plates and utensils and increased waste station programming to assist customers in making the most of their market discards.

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, ReStore! This Road to Zero Waste partnership offers regular Upcycling Workshops and repair expertise to the Jackson Hole community. This organization provides, access, expertise and creativity to encourage people to see used items in new ways and gives them the tools, techniques, confidence and support to make the most of these resources.

Partnership with the Center provides increased zero waste messaging through Center events while assisting the Center’s recycling program by installing additional recycling containers and signage. Home to 19 local, regional and statewide organizations and a myriad of annual community events, programs and performances, the Center is an ideal venue to showcase and educate both residents and visitors on Road to Zero Waste practices in Teton County.

Hole Food Rescue contributes a great deal to the Road to Zero Waste by keeping food out of the landfill and ensuring that it is distributed according to its highest and best use. This means feeding people first and then animals, before ensuring that these valuable organics are composted into nutrient rich new soil. Their partnership with ISWR will include surveys, data gathering, outreach, and recognition for businesses with the opportunity to maximize the value of their materials and minimize what goes to the landfill.

As part of their 2018 Road to Zero Waste partnership, The Art Association has taken steps to incorporate zero waste event programming into both summer Art Fairs as well as gallery programming. A dishwasher installation allows them to offer reusable cups and dinnerware to minimize disposables at public events, and a recent gallery exhibit, Ridges and Grooves: A Corrugated Adventure portrayed corrugated cardboard as much more than packaging material.

In partnership with ISWR and the Teton County School District, the Children’s Museum has developed a Reduce, Reuse, Recycle curriculum for summer school students, which is also utilized by Children’s Museum participants and shared with other interested organizations. The themed curriculum incorporates waste minimization and resource conservation into focused topics, such as the 2017 eclipse and regional water quality. Students learn to apply their knowledge to real world problems and work creatively to design solutions.

Teton County ISWR and the Riverwind Foundation have worked together for a number of years in support of the RRR Business Leaders Program and are now in partnership through the advanced sustainable business recognition program, Business Emerald Sustainability Tier (BEST), as well as the Green Matters in Jackson Hole publication, introduced in November 2017 and issued quarterly.

Title sponsorship of Jackson’s annual Eco-Fair event, hosted by Energy Conservation Works, to support simple and sustainable living in the Tetons.

Local artist John Frechette created custom Jackson Hole reusable shopping bags for guests of the Wort Hotel. The hotel supplied hotel guests with the bags to encourage reusable bag use during their stay in Jackson, and, ideally, send them home with an increased awareness of what they could do to increase sustainability in their own communities.

Assisting Families, schools and businesses in the Jackson Hole and Teton Valley community to collect alternative and reclaimed materials with the goal of reinventing their use and meaning. At the 2014 Jackson Eco-Fair, kids (and adults!) created a fun and beautiful piece of art with a local artist, Ben Roth, using otherwise non-recyclable items.

Materials collected for the Remida Project were redistributed to interested teachers to use to enhance learning experiences in their classrooms. A product of the Reggio Emilia teaching philosophy and practice, Remida is a cultural project that represents an optimistic and proactive way of approaching environmentalism through the arts.

The monthly presentations of the Sustainability Series provide the Jackson community a cohesive understanding of on-going local sustainability efforts. More important, it offers specific actionable items community members can apply to their everyday lives while contributing to and improving the efforts of the community as a whole. These presentations help to increase the awareness and action of community members toward more sustainable behaviors while providing opportunities for collaboration between organizations.

Provided assistance to establish the JH2O Project, which succeeded in installing water bottle filling stations to downtown Jackson at five highly visible and heavily trafficked locations. This project continues to establish and promote refillable water bottle stations throughout the Jackson community, including the well-loved mobile ‘Hydration Station’ available for use at local events.

Partnership with the Center provides increased RRR messaging through Center events while assisting the Center’s recycling program by installing additional recycling containers and signage. Home to 19 local, regional and statewide organizations and a myriad of weekly community events, programs and performances, the Center is an ideal venue to showcase and educate both residents and visitors on RRR practices in Teton County.

Established an RRR Zero Waste Green Event program piloted at the 2015 and 2016 Jackson Hole People’s Market. This program introduced reusable cups, plates and bowls to be used at this event. It also provided outreach and increased awareness of both Zero Waste event practices and Teton County’s Zero Waste Resolution. Data and feedback from this pilot program has assisted the development of Teton County’s RRR Zero Waste Green Event Recognition program, and will aid in continuing to develop additional Zero Waste Event guidelines by creating a lasting system that is both familiar and easy to implement.