USANA Amphitheatre’s journey in going green has been an experience that has changed the way we are all looking at waste and human impact. Plans to become more efficient started years ago, but the guidelines did not start to become defined until Jack Johnson came through Salt Lake City.

Johnson had what he called a “green rider.” This document was put into the mix to promote green action and direction. Many venues had basic elements of recycling, but most lacked a serious plan. This document explained further than just putting some paper into a specific waste can — it helped people think about water usage, better light bulbs, effective ways to communicate your green plans and an overall vision of where to be and how to get there. We at United Concerts (owner and operator of the USANA Amphitheatre) took this and ran with it.

The first steps were difficult, as people were not completely behind plans to put green ideas into action, and some of these concepts were going to cost a substantial amount of money. We decided a starting point would be to enlist a college and have them work with us to create our first plans.

Utah Valley University (formally Utah Valley State College) took us under its wing, and one of the earth studies classes used the USANA Amphitheatre Green Project as its course curriculum. The biggest item that was established early on was a green team — a group of people that attended every show as ambassadors of recycling. Another item that was enacted the first year was putting out recycle bins next to our waste bins. The third critical piece was the recycler that came forward, Dunn Recycling. Pat Dunn came with a passion in his heart and transferred that to our green team, inspiring them to get out there and communicate the importance of recycling and reducing waste. Every year, we have tried to make more changes, and we are currently running a solid green venue. We have moved on to work with Rocky Mountain Recycling and we were awarded the “Greenest Show in Utah” in 2009. The venue’s 2009 statistics from our green programs are: 10.01 tons of recycled material saves…

• 170 trees
• 3,804 gallons of oil
• 33.0 cubic yards of landfill space
• 40,040 kilowatts of energy
• 70,070 gallons of water
• 2,193 gallons of gasoline
• 641% energy savings
• 581% water savings
• 600.6 pounds less of air pollution

We are a long way from being perfectly green, but we are trying very hard to reduce what is used and create awareness that being green is worth every penny. Thanks to Rocky Mountain Recycling for really taking us to the next level. Lastly, this brings me to our mission: promote waste reduction, reuse what is available and empower the public to make an impact for green. Chris Abbott is Director of Ticketing Operations and Marketing at United Concerts. USANA Amphitheatre is the premier summer concert venue in the Salt Lake City metro area, located southwest of the city in West Valley City, UT. See the venue’s green page for more information.