By Doug Hare EBS STAFF
BIG SKY – On Nov. 21, numerous Big Sky community leaders comprising the newly formed Visit Big Sky Sustainability Committee sat down for a presentation from Matt Elsaesser, owner of 406 Recycling based out of Helena, Montana.
Elsaesser discussed his role in helping reduce the utilization
of single-use plastics and maximizing the recycling rates at events like the
Peak to Sky festival and the Big Sky PBR. The meeting of minds was the second
time the committee had met together in person.
“Candace [Carr Strauss] had initially approached me about
starting a sustainability-oriented group to get things moving along,” said Josh
Treasure, general manager of Roxy’s Market and the chairman of the committee.
“Eric Morrison, Jessie Wiese and myself had been a small group working on these
things for the past few years. When Candace approached us it was perfect
because we were able to use some of Visit Big Sky’s existing infrastructure to
get more people on board.”
Sustainability is based on a simple principle. According to the Environmental
Protection Agency, “most everything we need for our
survival and well-being depends, either directly or indirectly, on our natural
environment.” Pursuing sustainability entails creating and maintaining
the conditions whereby humans and nature can exist in productive harmony to
support both present and future generations. Potential solutions to
sustainability problems, however, are often complex—especially in popular
tourist destinations like ski towns.
“Ultimately, we’ll have a 1-year plan, 5-year plan,
10-year plan and a 25-year plan that we can put together, but right now we’re
focusing on some small battles that we think we can win to get some momentum
going,” Treasure said of the group’s progress.
Those initial battles include establishing viable, robust
composting and recycling programs throughout Big Sky and maximizing
participation. Treasure hopes that eventually every Big Sky business will have
a composting bin and __ recently added a recycling bin behind Roxy’s Market.
Going forward, the committee will be working with Republic Services for their
recycling efforts and YES Compost to handle compostable products.
Many of the committee members, which include
representatives from the Yellowstone Club, the Hungry Moose Market and Deli,
Big Sky Resort, the Gallatin River Task Force and Town Center, are also
pursuing accreditation from the Global Sustainable Tourism Council.
The GSTC training program teaches baseline standards for
sustainability in travel and tourism. As a basis for certification, GSTC
courses also inform about awareness-raising, policy-making for businesses,
government agencies and other organization types, as well as measurement and
evaluation of the effectiveness of various sustainable strategies and their
results.
Treasure is optimistic about what the future holds for Big
Sky and wants our mountain town to set the standard for putting environmentally
conscious policies into effect for mountain towns worldwide.
“The biggest obstacle for improving sustainability right
now is communication amongst local business owners and community at large,” he
said. “Education and communication will be key going forward.”
The next meeting of the VBS
Sustainability Committee is scheduled for Dec. 19 at the Visit Big Sky office
building.
