Cooking brings flavor—but also hidden air pollution. Whether you use gas or electric, how you cook impacts the air your family breathes. Even brief cooking sessions can spread pollutants throughout your home (not just the kitchen). But simple changes can greatly enhance your indoor air quality!
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The New American Goat Club was a 2023, 2024, and 2025 community organization recipient. Photo credit: Ashley Detrick
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June 26, 2025
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Salt Lake City continues to increase residents’ access to fresh, healthy, affordable, and culturally relevant food by funding 12 community food projects through the Sustainability Department’s 2025 SLC Food Microgrant program.
This year, over $56,500 in funding was granted to community-led projects aligned with recommendations from the City’s Resident Food Equity Advisors Program.
“We often talk about building a more resilient Salt Lake City, and this is one way we’re doing it—by supporting neighbors and community groups who grow food, share knowledge, and improve access to locally sourced, culturally meaningful foods,” said Mayor Mendenhall. “These microgrants are small investments with big returns for our health, our environment, and our connection to one another.”
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June 16-24th marks this year’s Waste and Recycling Workers Week! These essential workers keep Salt Lake City clean and sustainable, rain or shine (even through the pandemic, earthquake, and wind storm!) every weekday of the year except for Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s Day.
Our Waste & Recycling Division does some of the most time-sensitive, important work in the entire city! There’s all kinds of things you probably didn’t know about this crucial City division, such as:
If you’re not affected by asthma, it’s likely that you have a friend or family member who is. While asthma severity and triggers may differ, there are common indoor culprits that can be helpful to identify and address. Read our guide below to learn how to improve your indoor air quality and make smarter choices around asthma (and allergy) triggers!
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We’re excited to introduce our Indoor Air Quality Program, designed to help you create a healthier home environment. In this blog series, we’ll share tips, resources, and program updates to help you improve the air quality in your home.
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Salt Lake City is committed to protecting the public health and safety of its residents, including ensuring access to clean air, clean water and a livable environment. 🌏 This Earth Month, take some time to learn about how we’re working toward our Climate Positive 2040 Plan and tips you can start with today to make positive change in your life, community, and for a healthier planet.
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New Report Out! ⚡🚗 🚚
We are excited to share Salt Lake City’s recently completed Community Electrified Transportation Study. The City initiated the study in 2023 and it was completed in January 2025 as a tool to inform an equitable transition to electrified transportation as part of our larger climate and air quality goals.
Why electric vehicles?
Salt Lake City faces significant and unique air quality challenges. In the winter, the Wasatch Front’s geography leads to periodic temperature inversions (cold air getting trapped underneath a layer of warm air) which acts like a “lid” on the Salt Lake Valley—causing particulate pollution to increase. In the summer, pollution from cars, industry, and a multitude of chemical products, combined with high temperatures and bright sunshine, lead to harmful ozone levels.
About 39% of pollution along the Wasatch Front comes from internal combustion engine vehicles. Transitioning the transportation sector to clean energy technologies, including electric vehicles (EVs), will provide a range of benefits including improved air quality, reduced carbon emissions, and enhanced public health.
It’s not just about EV’s though.
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We’re so excited to share the news that on Friday, January 24th, Rocky Mountain Power filed the Program Application with the Public Service Commission on behalf of the 19 local governments participating in Utah Renewable Communities (URC). Following nearly 5 years of negotiation and collaboration, this is our biggest milestone to date!
Over the next few months, the commission will review the application. Once approved, local communities will have the opportunity to adopt local ordinances to move forward.
We’re on our way, and we are thrilled to have 18 other communities along for the ride. Read the press release below and learn more about URC at www.utahrenewablecommunities.org.
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The Waste and Recycling Division of Salt Lake City is making the first citywide change to its curbside collection schedule in more than three decades.
Starting the week of February 3, the City’s collection trucks will switch some weekly pickup days to effectively shift days for neighborhoods with the heaviest workloads to occur in the middle of the week when the City’s equipment and workforce resources are the most robust.
“When it comes to essential services like waste and recycling, we know that residents value reliability and efficiency above all else,” said Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall. “This new schedule will directly lead to more consistency in service and fewer disruptions due to inclement weather or unexpected events, making it a no-brainer for our City.”
All residents who currently have their waste, recycling, and yard waste containers serviced by the Waste and Recycling Division are being notified by direct mail and container tags.
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Every year, we release a Year-in-Review featuring our high-level accomplishments as well as priorities for the year ahead. This is an important time and opportunity for us to take stock, learn from the experiences we had the previous year, and to continue to improve our programs, services, and operations.
While we engage with Salt Lakers mostly through recycling questions and efforts, we do so much more! Here are some highlights from 2024 and keep a lookout for more details in our 2024 Year-in-Review booklet coming soon. (Check out our full 2023 Year-in-Review booklet here!) Let’s take a moment to look back at what we’ve accomplished in just this year.
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