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Subaru of America, Inc. and the National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA) recently highlighted the substantial achievements of their collaborative efforts through the Don’t Feed the Landfills Initiative. In partnership with the National Park Service (NPS) and the National Park Foundation (NPF), Subaru and NPCA have successfully reduced the waste sent to landfills from national parks. Since its inception in 2015, the initiative has eliminated 22 million pounds of waste via reduction, recycling, composting, and educational programs, encouraging park visitors to minimize their environmental impact.
Initiative Origins and Development
The Don’t Feed the Landfills Initiative began with three pilot parks—Denali National Park & Preserve, Grand Teton National Park, and Yosemite National Park. Utilizing the expertise of NPS and NPF, Subaru and NPCA engaged with the parks and community stakeholders to innovate waste reduction strategies and design resilient infrastructure systems for sustainable park operations.
Alan Bethke, Senior Vice President, Marketing at Subaru of America, Inc., stated, “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. 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.”
Community-Based Success and Impact
The program’s success is largely due to its collaborative community-based approach in and around the parks. Supported by a network of nearly 60 park partners, these efforts have created significant ripple effects in nearby communities while transforming how millions of visitors experience America’s national parks.
Elements of the initiative include sustainable food packaging, reusable containers, visitor stewardship, and educational programming, in addition to enhancing recycling and composting infrastructure, establishing dedicated staff for educational outreach, and standardizing bin labeling to increase recycling participation. Subaru has also provided grant funding to the National Park Foundation, supporting engagement programs, operational improvements, and infrastructure, including bear-proof containers and water-filling stations.
Theresa Pierno, President and CEO of the National Parks Conservation Association, remarked, “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. 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.”
Expanding Waste Management Practices
The National Park Service manages over 80 million pounds of waste annually. Leveraging the lessons learned from the three pilot parks, Subaru and NPCA have developed best management practices for waste diversion, reduction, and management, aligning with NPS strategic plans, including phasing out single-use plastics. These efforts have more than doubled the amount of single-use plastics kept out of landfills at the pilot parks. This roadmap is now being adopted by other national parks, such as Big Bend and Zion, which are already making significant strides in sustainable practices and reducing operational costs.