Sustainable Salida Businesses
Check out the article by The Mountain Mail about Woodland Motel! From introducing single- stream recycling bins in each room, repurposing linens for cleaning supplies, using refillable soap, shampoo, conditioner dispensers, cutting down on their use of single plastic bottles, using laundry detergent sheets instead of liquid laundry detergent to making upgrading their heating and cooling systems, Woodland Motel is making a big difference! They hope that at the very least guests will also start thinking about recycling and water conservation too.
Sustainable Salida organizes electronics recycling events. The May 2021 event recycled 67,500 pounds of appliances and electronics. The September event at the fairgrounds recycled 23,000 pounds. Read more.
An amazing accomplishment for everyone at 50 Burger! They are officially a 3-star Green Restaurant! If you want to learn more about the Green Restaurant Association and how they are working to be a sustainable business in our community visit www.dinegreen.com
Boathouse Cantina has gone completely compostable. And they did so in only 3 weeks’ time! As the Boathouse is the largest restaurant in Salida and Chaffee County, they have truly taken a leadership role.
Colorado Sports Recycler touches the heart of Salida for they both recycle (as their name signifies) and have a passion for outdoor sports, which is the life blood for many locals and visitors of Salida. Owner Fraser Crenshaw’s business works as a hub for people to bring their old toys and gear in for the chance that these toys can again be used by another. Fraser houses the goods until they sell. Though none of us see our old skis or rafts or bikes as junk, Colorado Sports Recycler gives our old gear a chance to be the tools for joy and passion of another person. In this way Colorado Sports Recycler not only prevents waste, the eventual “trashing” of our old gear, it also gives life to both those who acquire the gear and the gear itself.
Elements Mountain Compost is helping Chaffee County businesses divert organic waste from the landfill! EMC provides pick-up services for commercial kitchens and can accept all food scraps (except meat and dairy), plus compostable containers, napkins and more. On average, one restaurant will produce about 60 gallons of organic waste each week – that’s over 15 cubic yards of waste per year that can be kept out of the landfill and turned into a reusable soil product. Composting 60 gallons per week reduces greenhouse gases and is equivalent to removing 3 passengers cars from the road each year. Locally sourced “brown” materials (leaves, woodchips and sawdust) are also accepted and residential services are coming soon. All materials are processed to create resource-rich compost that is sold locally in bags and in bulk.
The Hodgepodge started in 2012 as small gift shop featuring locally made items. Customers receive handmade cloth shopping bags with their purchases, a trademark of this unique local business. In 2016, the shop moved to a larger location and opened a fabric store, ensuring a steady supply of fabric to make shopping and gift bags. The owners offer complimentary coffee, tea and water to all customers, served in biodegradable or china cups or the customers’ own beverage container. The unique creations of several Hodgepodge artisans feature recycled and repurposed objects.
Kaleidoscope Toys is honored to be a Salida Business that Cares. We have always tried to do our part to be environmentally friendly. We have always recycled our cardboard, packing paper and plastic. We replaced all our light bulbs with long lasting LED bulbs. Thanks to the efforts of Sustainable Salida we have reusable bags to offer our customers. We also provide reusable T-shirt bags made from re-purposed T-shirts and sewn by Oveja Negra and other volunteers.
NetZero Rocky Mountains is located in Buena Vista, and is just entering their 3rd year in business serving the Upper Arkansas Valley from Leadville to Salida. We also have a few commercial projects located in the Denver Front Range market, and is expanding into the San Luis Valley and along the I-70 corridor of Summit and Eagle Counties. The father and son team of Chris & Ryan Martin focuses on retrofitting existing commercial and industrial building old lighting fixture with new Light Emitting Diode (LED) lights. Recently we just passed our 100th client in this market. Retrofitting LED lights results in a very substantial energy savings for the client and the simple payback for this investment is often just 2-3 years. The CO2 emission impact of these projects to date are approximately as follows.
• Annual electric KWH Reduction = 1,383,000 kwh/year
• CO2 emission equivalent = 1050 US tons
• Annual greenhouse gas equivalent = 188 Cars
• Barrels of Oil reduction = 2,212 Barrels
• Gallons of Gasoline = 38,557 Gallons
• CO2 emissions from home = 82.0 homes
• Carbon sequester by tree = 24,482 tree seedlings over 10 years
• Carbon sequester by tree acres = 200 acres
In addition, before NetZero, the old fluorescent tubes and ballast were often being sent to the Chaffee County Landfill. These are very toxic with mercury and other dangerous components. Even though it was “allowed” to be disposed in the landfill, NetZero has made a commitment to properly dispose of over 12,000 linear feet of old tube lights and over 2000 lbs. of ballast to an EPA approved disposable facility in Indiana.
Simple Lodge and Hostel We’re a global community. We have hosted travelers from ever corner of the world. We understand the importance of keeping it a viable place for us all to live, which is why we’re an eco-hostel.
We recycle.
We compost.
We up-cycled most of our remodel and continue to thrift and create for the things we need.
We use earth friendly cleaners.
We use energy efficient appliances.
We have community food shelves to reduce food waste.
We give the surplus of our garden to through hikers all summer long.
We’re the only eco-hostel in the Rockies.
We rarely boast about this. We believe it’s a simple thing to do and that it’s our responsibility to do so. We couldn’t imagine living any other way.
Recycling Solutions
Local Events
Marvin Park recycling event collects more than 33 tons of electronics, appliances …
May 13, 2023 recycling event collected 30,000 pounds of e-waste.
Local Businesses
When Angel of Shavano Recycling went out of business, Chaffee County lost it’s only free recycling option. All three local waste businesses offer paid recycling, and this Mountain Mail article provides a good overview of current recycling options.
