Resource Use
From Sustaining Jackson Hole Wiki
I) Overview
The most broadly-used definition of sustainable development is that of the United Nations: Sustainable development is “development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” This concept has tended to focus on using resources more efficiently, in particular reducing resource use whenever possible, and reusing and recycling the resources that are used. However, among those who focus on sustainability issues, some argue that life-cycle cost analysis (following resource use of a product from its inception to demise) encompasses the idea of sustainability more thoroughly then simple reuse and recycling.
By trying to identify the qualities about Jackson Hole which Teton County residents feel are important and worth maintaining, Sustaining Jackson Hole has taken a somewhat broader view of sustainability. However, any study of a community’s sustainability needs to focus on how a community uses its various resources, and the Resource Use Working Group was assembled for that purpose. Because of its widespread use and quantifiable nature, many of the working group’s conversations focused on “efficiency,”i.e. using the fewest resources necessary to produce a desired result, or attaining the desired result with a minimum of waste.
The 2005 Resource Use Working Group identified five key areas of resource use: trash recycling, energy use, water use, shelter, and food production. Food production and buildings (i.e, number of structures constructed using “green” materials) proved to be the most difficult components to assess from a data perspective, and thus are mentioned here only as focal points for future discussions.
II) Participants
- Kelly French, Jackson Curbside Recycling
- Dan Olson, smartsprocket, Inc.
- Meghan Hanson,Carney Architects
- Pete Sibley, Musician
- Rick Knori, Lower Valley Energy
- Amelia Terrapin, ZERI Consultant
- PennyMcBride, Terra Firma Organics & Mountainside Village
- Heather Thomas, Jackson Community Recycling
- Andy Tyson, Creative Energies
- Amy Brennan McCarthy, The Murie Center
- Nate McClennan, The Journeys School
III) Resource Sustainability Indicators
A) Recyclable and Resusable Material Use
A1) Tons of recycled material
Rationale: Teton County’s landfill reached capacity in the 1990s. Since then, the county has shipped its solid waste to a disposal site in Sublette County. For this service, Teton County pays hauling and tipping fees to Sublette County. As these fees are increasing, recycling is becoming an increasingly attractive economic option for Teton County, and in some instances is even generating a profit. This reality helps complete the “virtuous circle” of recycling: The less waste Teton County residents and visitors generate, and the more they recycle, the less the county will have to ship, thus saving both money and energy.
Comment: Recycling has many benefits. Besides reducing the amount of trash that needs to be shipped out of the county, other, lesser-known benefits of recycling include saving the energy needed to process raw materials, and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. In the latter case, studies show that in 1996, solid waste recycling preempted the release of approximately 33 million tons of carbon into the atmosphere (the equivalent of the emissions from 25 million cars). Additionally, according to the National Recycling Coalition, the 30% national recycling rate in 2000 equated to a reduction in energy use equivalent to powering 6.5 million homes annually.
Theoretically, 80 percent of trash generated is able to be recycled or composted. At present, approximately 30 percent of solid waste generated in the United States is recycled and composted. Teton County does not have the capacity to recycle some items (e.g. paper board and some types of plastic), which lowers our theoretical potential. However, we can chart our progress in reducing the amount of solid waste Teton County disposes by comparing how much solid waste is processed at the trash transfer station versus how much is processed by the Teton County recycling center. A sustainable community works to generate less waste, uses materials efficiently, and incorporates systems and services that can repeatedly reuse resources.
B) Natural Resource Use
B1) Energy use
Rationale: Consumption of non-renewable energy sources can contribute significantly to air pollution and climate change. Decreasing current energy needs and encouraging the use of renewable or “clean” energies, such as solar or wind power, can help maintain and improve the quality of our environment, as well as decrease dependence on non-renewable energy sources, such as gas and oil.
Comment: Of particular note is Teton County’s increasing use of natural gas as a source of energy. As a result, kWh of electricity and Therms of natural gas are converted here to MMBTUs, which describes both total electric and gas consumption in one metric.
Weather dictates true demand, and energy transmission systems have to be able to handle peak capacity, which in Jackson Hole occurs on the coldest days of the winter. Teton County’s growth has been such that Lower Valley Energy has been required to develop a major infrastructure improvement every 2-3 years. Putting in a gas system has helped offset demand for electricity, and reduced the possibility of having to install additional electricity transmission capability into Teton County. Additionally, LVE�has recently begun offering green and conservation power alternatives.
[insert graphs]
As this graph suggests, between 1997 and 2004, system-wide LVE experienced a 50 percent increase in total energy demand. Regarding total energy use, these data of total MMBTUs do note include heating oil nor propane supplied by Suburban�Propane (a private-sector competitor of LVE). As this graph indicates, LVE sold 57 percent more total MMBTUs in 2004 than in 1997.
All of these data are system-wide, though Teton County is approximately 2/3 of LVE’s service. Although LVE has far more residential than commercial consumers, commercial customers consume more energy, both overall and per meter. Though systemwide electricity use has been increasing, the percentage used by each customer type has stayed relatively level.
B2) Water use
Rationale: Because water is a scarce resource in the west, monitoring water usage is important to understanding resource sustainability. Focusing on the long term, particular attention needs to be paid how efficiently Teton County residents use water.
Comment: Teton County residents obtain water from a wide variety of systems. At one extreme is the Town of Jackson’s extensive system for its residents; at the other are the properties which rely on their own wells. The mix is further enriched by the many small water districts scattered throughout the county. Because of this mix, an accurate and reasonable method of measuring total water use from all sources currently does not exist. However, Teton County is in the headwaters of the Upper Snake River Water Basin, and has legal entitlement to use 4% of the available water resource (based on inter-state water compacts that regulate the water resource between up- and down-stream users.) Currently, Teton County residents use approximately 1.5% of this 4% allotment.
Teton County’s water consumption is expected to drop between now and 2022. The main reason for this decrease in consumption is the loss and conversion of ranching/agricultural land to housing developments (which are less water intensive).
Work is ongoing at the Teton County Natural Resources Conservation District to compile a comprehensive assessment of available county water quality data. Currently available data suggest that water quality in Teton County is quite good. One notable exception is Flat Creek as it runs through and then out of the town of Jackson. The compromised water quality of Flat Creek is mainly the result of non-porous town surfaces and their contribution to storm water runoff. Street sanding in the winter is a major contributor to water quality pollution.
IV) Resource Use Indicators Wish List
• Per capita amounts of trash generated • How much trash generated can potentially be recycled or composted • Amount of water used by different user types • Number of local members of CSAs (Community Supported Agriculture farms) • Greenhouse gas conversion for LVE’s electric and natural gas consumption • Extent and type of green building practices used in structures in Teton County
V) Statement of Ideal
Teton County residents, businesses, and visitors will use resources in the most efficient way possible.
Comment: As noted in the Introduction to this report, the definition and focus of “sustainability” (and related concepts) vary with the particular user.
A commonly accepted definition of resource sustainability is the use of fewer resources to obtain the same outcome (i.e. higher productivity/efficiency resulting in realizing the same standard of living). The Resource Use Working Group’s Statement of Ideal is rooted in this view of sustainability.
In recent years, the concept of sustainability has evolved, based on the notion that there is more to sustainability than simply using fewer resources to do the same thing. In this new view, the older focus on efficiency/productivity is too narrow, because it could define as “sustainable” activities which, no matter how efficiently done, are unsustainable; i.e. activities which threaten future generations’ needs. Instead, the emerging view of sustainability envisions a community that supports healthy and vibrant economic, social, and environmental spheres without compromising the integrity of systems that will support the flourishing of future generations.
From the perspective of drafting a Statement of Ideal, the difficulty with the emerging view of sustainability is its ambiguity. For instance, reasonably people can disagree over the meaning of the terms “healthy” and “vibrant.” Recognizing these problems, the Resource Use Working Group’s Statement of Ideal reflects the older, more utilitarian, view of “sustainability”: while there may be more to sustainability than just the efficient use of resources, every approach to sustainability will be predicated upon the most efficient possible use of both renewable and non-renewable resources.
Ideal Indicators/ Addictional Steps Needed:
To gauge progress toward Ideal, Jackson Hole needs to accurately measure the following items related to the Resource Sustainability Working Group’s Statement of Ideal:
- ...use resources in the most efficient way possible
To fully and accurately determine this indicator, a life-cycle study needs to be made of all consumptive activities in the community. Until such studies are complete, proxy measures can include trend data in both overall and per-capita use of items such as electricity, water, trash, etc.
VI) Action Component
The Resource Efficiency group has decided to look at indicators that other communities around the country use as resource sustainability indicators, and determine how to tailor these to our own community. In figuring out which indicators would be appropriate here, next year the group can spend more time trying to obtain the data for the indicators.
Additionally, in response to discussions had within the Resource Use working group, Jackson Community Recycling, smartsprocket, and Teton County conducted a waste audit in early October, 2005 to determine what recyclable materials end up in household trash. As recycling in Teton County actually generates income (superceding the need to ship trash to the landfill in�Sublette County), this figure can be used to determine how much trash - and therefore how much money - the County would save if all recyclable items were actually recycled.
