Subaru’s been building cars in zero landfill plants for a decade. In 2004, Subaru became the first automotive assembly plant in North America designated as zero landfill. A zero landfill plant means 100% of manufacturing waste is either recycled or turned into electricity. This means that since May 2004, Subaru’s manufacturing plants have not sent any waste to landfills.

In a monumental mission of environmental stewardship, Subaru recently announced it is sharing its knowledge of zero landfill practices with the National Park Service to reduce landfill waste from national parks across the United States. Subaru’s team will test zero landfill practices in three iconic national parks - Yosemite, Grand Teton and Denali - working toward an end goal of zero landfill from all national parks.

In 2013, the National Park Service managed more than 100 million pounds of waste nationally. Much of this waste was generated in the parks by its 273.6 million visitors. That amount of waste would normally require 20 million household garbage bags, which if laid end-to-end would stretch from New York City to Los Angeles and back again. Twice.

‘Who We Are Is What We Leave Behind’ is a new series by Subaru documenting the enormous and incredibly worthy initiative. Subaru’s environmental microsite is also recording the journey and chronicles the automaker’s environmental achievements since 2003.