Category Archives: Air Quality

How’s the Air Quality at Your Home?

During the winter, when high pressure rolls in, pollution builds up.

Specifically pollution called PM2.5 which are tiny particles that actually obscure our view of the mountains and even of neighboring buildings on bad days.

The Division of Air Quality operates monitors at several locations across the Wasatch Front, but pollution concentrations can vary depending on where exactly you’re located. Contributing factors include:

Do you live next to a road?
Do you have a neighbor who frequently fires up their meat smoker or burns wood?
Is there a nearby restaurant or small business that releases precursor pollutants?
On top of all those factors– what is happening with the particular mix of geography and weather at your location?

Air quality science is complex.

But gaining a better understanding of pollution nuances across the valley can help policy makers make better decisions, and can help residents better protect themselves. Continue reading →

Breathe Clean Festival on November 18

Inversion season is upon us (yuck!)

As we prepare for colder weather and snowfall, it’s also important to understand how to take action on air quality at this time of year.

UCAIR has helpful resources for understanding Utah’s air pollution problem and what you can do about it. SLCgreen also has a handy list of actions you can take to reduce your contribution to the bad air.

We’d also like to invite you to come to a free community event on November 18 to learn more.

There will be presentations from organizations involved in tackling this issue, as well as helpful giveaways for you and your family (air masks, LED lights, home insulation kits, and more!) Continue reading →

Sustainability Saturday: Take Advantage of SLC’s Sustainability Assets

Does SLC’s commitment to sustainability improve your quality of life? Does it make Salt Lake City a better place to live and work? We think so! Check out our latest blog with SLC Economic Development on how and why businesses should seek out and take advantage of our city’s “sustainability assets.”

#e2business #SustainableBusiness #SustainableCity #LiveWorkPlay

#UtahClimateWeek: What Can You Do?

We’re in the middle of Climate Week in Utah! Our events have been a great success so far and we are looking forward to the rest of the week’s activities.

Today we want to focus on what you can do to combat climate change. Of course, national and international policies make a huge difference in how many emissions global society ultimately cuts in the coming years.

But each of us can also play a role. Here’s how:

Calculate your carbon footprint

Measure your impact with this comprehensive carbon footprint calculator for individuals and households. It will show you how your consumption habits compare to national and global averages and give you suggestions on how to offset your carbon footprint. SLCgreen also has a handy list of household actions you can take to reduce your impact.

Knowledge is power

Misinformation on climate change is all-too-prevalent. Be informed. Check multiple sources focusing on articles which cite and list scientific studies. Here is a sample of some reputable sites, documentaries, and books:

Walk the talk

Transportation plays a big role in our carbon footprint. The western states have all been working to install more electric vehicle infrastructure, making it a viable and increasingly affordable option for Utahns. Consider an EV next time you are purchasing a car.

Don’t discount the big impact that walking, taking public transit (HIVE passes are great for this), or riding a Greenbike can have on your carbon footprint!

Continue reading →

Announcing Utah Climate Week– October 8-14!

We’re excited to announce Utah’s first Climate Week, with events from Ogden to Orem and here in the capital city!

Organized by the Utah Climate Action Network, Utah Clean Energy, and Salt Lake City, Climate Week will provide an inspiring opportunity for community members to learn of the risks and breakthrough solutions to climate change.

Click here for a full list of events, and take note of an interesting panel we’ll be part of on October 12: Utah’s Clean Energy Future.

Mayor Biskupski will offer opening remarks on our Climate Positive goals and SLCgreen team member Tyler Poulson will participate on the panel discussing what cities in Utah are doing to transition to clean energy. Other panelists include HEAL Utah, the Sierra Club, and Rocky Mountain Power. Utah Clean Energy will moderate the discussion.

What: Utah’s Clean Energy Future

When: Thursday, October 12, 6:00-7:30 p.m.

Where: Salt Lake City Main Library Auditorium (210 E 400 S)

Learn more in the press release below.
Continue reading →

“Live Electric” EV & E-Bike Discounts Through Sept. 30

Do you hate bad air days? We do too. Luckily, there are more and more options for cleaner transportation in Salt Lake City from Ride With Hive to the Live Electric EV & E-Bike discount program, a deal worth looking into if you have ever considered purchasing an electric vehicle.

Continue reading →

UTA HIVE: Trax, Buses, and S-line Streetcar for $42/mo.

by Colin Green

Another summer has come and gone, can you believe it? The days are getting shorter and the fall equinox is right around the corner. Crisp morning air greets us as we step outside, sending kids off to school and beginning our morning commutes.

Autumn is a time of fresh starts and new routines. This transition is a great time to build positive habits that will carry smoothly into the busy year ahead.

We’d like to encourage you to consider integrating a lower emission commute into your routine this fall.

Around the globe, urban transit is the single greatest source of transportation related emissions and it’s growing. By riding public transit, even a few days a week, you can do your part to reduce emissions.

Driving alone in your vehicle is also a major source of local air pollution. Did you know that over 50% of Salt Lake City’s air pollution comes from transportation? By building public transit into your routine, you can make a difference on a local and global level.

The Hive Pass can help you do that! This Salt Lake City subsidized program, which launched several years ago, offers City residents half off the monthly UTA pass! Continue reading →

Moving forward with a Comprehensive Sustainability Policy for Salt Lake City Corp

by Brooke Taylor

As our readers know, one of SLCgreen’s core goals is to help you adopt tips and practices to make your life more sustainable. Whether that’s reducing your contribution to air pollution, learning how to eat more local food, or understanding what to recycle, all of us have a role to play in making Salt Lake City a more sustainable place to live.

That goes for our own operations as well. One of the major areas of focus for SLCgreen (as the City’s Sustainability Department is known) is helping SLC Corporation adopt best practices when it comes to those same sustainability measures we ask of our community.

That’s why we’re delighted to share with you some elements of our new internal Sustainability Policy, signed in January 2017 by Mayor Biskupski.

This policy affects Salt Lake City’s approximately 3,000 government employees, the community as a whole, our vendors, and the supply chains emanating from those vendors. By vowing to practice the best sustainable methods in all operations from prohibiting Styrofoam cups in break rooms, to carefully tracking our buildings’ energy usage, SLC is setting a community standard—a green standard.

We’d like to note that many of the guidelines in the Sustainability Policy were already in effect through various executive orders and policies, but this is the first time the best practices have been consolidated and turned into a comprehensive document.

If you’d like to read the whole policy, you can find it here.

Otherwise, read on for highlights . . . Continue reading →

How to Improve Summertime Air Quality

Courtesy of www.ucair.org

Many of us associate bad air– yucky inversions and hazy gunk– with winter in the Salt Lake area. But did you know that we have bad air days in the summer too?

While it’s mostly invisible, ozone is just as harmful as particulate matter for the very young, very old, those with health conditions, and people who exercise outdoors.

Ozone is caused by emissions from vehicles, industry, and a multitude of chemical products which interact with sunlight and high temperatures.

So how can we reduce ozone? Continue reading →

Sustainability Highlights in the Mayor’s Proposed Fiscal Year 2018 Budget

Last night, Mayor Biskupski presented her proposed 2018 fiscal year budget to the City Council.**

In the proposed budget, the Mayor continues to press for cleaner air and other practical approaches to addressing climate change.

Last summer, the Mayor and City Council adopted a historic resolution to completely transition Salt Lake City’s community electricity needs to renewables by 2032 and to reduce carbon output by 80 percent by 2040.

The Mayor wants to keep the momentum going toward greater sustainability citywide.

First up: Initial steps will be taken in partnering with Rocky Mountain Power in establishing a large solar farm for cleaner City energy. This goal is part of a robust Clean Energy Cooperation Statement the City inked with RMP last year that requires cooperation in evaluating and implementing multiple projects to help the City achieve its clean energy targets. Continue reading →