We think of national parks as areas that are completely protected from human impacts. Yet the very act of providing access and services impacts the park’s resources, as roads, power lines, water and sewage systems, visitor centers, and other infrastructure needs leave their mark on the land. Park managers try to mitigate these impacts as much as possible, particularly when it comes to the trash we generate.

Everything thrown away in Big Bend National Park ends up in the park's landfill. Space in this landfill is limited, and when it eventually fills, the park has two options. It can either dig a new landfill in the park, destroying pristine desert land that we are obligated to protect, or contract with the city of Alpine, one-hundred miles away, to dispose of our trash in their landfill, at great expense. Park experts estimate that without recycling, the current park landfill might fill in ten years. If current recycling efforts continue, however, the landfill should last at least sixty years. For this reason, the park has embraced recycling as a means of prolonging the life of our existing landfill.

Recycling in the Park began in the early 1990s as a grassroots effort run by volunteers. Today, it is one of the finest recycling programs found in the National Park Service (NPS). Barrels and bins at campgrounds, visitor centers, and the employee housing area provide visitors, staff, and residents the opportunity to recycle glass, aluminum and steel cans, paper, cardboard, and some plastics. These materials are taken to regional recycling centers in Alpine or Odessa. Forever Resorts, Inc., the park concessionaire, recycles all of their cardboard and aluminum cans, as well.

One of the unique features of the program is the partnership with the park concessioner in its overall operation. They collect and sort the recyclables generated by their business, bring them to the recycling center and also donate 32 hours of labor a week in the center. The park then hauls all materials to Odessa, Texas which is over 200 miles away. Between the two partners the park recycled close to 40 tons of recyclable materials in 2004.

While the park receives money for the materials it recycles, it does not cover the cost of the recycling program. The benefit, instead, comes from knowing that through recycling, the NPS mission of preserving and protecting the environment at Big Bend is being accomplished.