SLCgreen is proud to be a part of the 8th annual Intermountain Sustainability Summit. Our Department Director Vicki Bennett and City Energy Project Advisor Wendy Lee will be speaking on the 17th. To register for the Summit click here to view student and professional registration rates.
Salt Lake City and Salt Lake Chamber partner on the Third Annual Skyline Challenge to accelerate commercial building energy efficiency
As part of her mission to improve air quality, reduce carbon emissions, and form strong partnerships with the business community, Mayor Jackie Biskupski is pleased to launch the Third Annual Skyline Challenge—this year with the Salt Lake Chamber joining the roster of partners.
The annual Skyline Challenge is a voluntary program to accelerate investment in energy efficiency from large commercial buildings and raise public awareness of building energy performance while creating jobs and fostering a stronger local economy.
Salt Lake City is proud to unveil a new grant program, offering $85,000 to spur local sustainable farming efforts.
Because just 3 percent of the fruits and 2 percent of the vegetables consumed by residents are grown in Utah, this program aims to support a more resilient local food system.
In partnership with Urban Food Connections of Utah—the non-profit affiliated with the Downtown Alliance– we’ll be granting money to farmers who want to expand their operations with sustainability in mind. Continue reading
by Kyle Strayer
The winter season is in full force this year in Utah, with above-average snowfall and chilly temps all along the Wasatch Front.
You might think all this snow means the end of biking season, but with just a few changes in your habits, you can continue to travel on two wheels year-round.
Read on for our guide to staying safe, warm, and happy while commuting or riding for fun during the colder months: Continue reading
As we’ve discussed previously, we think cities are hotbeds of sustainability solutions.
Here’s another example from our friends to the south: Provo’s Clean Air Toolkit.
In 2014, Provo was awarded a grant by Utah Clean Air Partnership (UCAIR) to pursue this project. The toolkit’s goal is to present local residents and businesses with a centralized list of strategies they can use to achieve cleaner air in Utah County, and to make clean air the common goal of Provo City’s strategic planning and operations.
You can check it out at www.provocleanair.org. As you’ll see, it offers a comprehensive guide for individuals, businesses, and municipalities to use to reduce air pollutants, as well as helpful statistics and infographics detailing projections for air quality over the next few decades.
by Tera Clausen, SLCgreen intern
Which means it’s time to come together with family and friends to celebrate– and what holiday celebration would be complete without delicious feasts and yummy treats?
At this time of plentiful feasting, we thought it’d be a great time to talk about food.
One of my recent tasks here at SLCgreen was to compile information for a new webpage, called Dining with Discretion. This section is a bit different than SLCgreen’s other pages, in that it discusses the big picture way our food choices have an environmental impact.
I was surprised by some of what I found:
These are sobering and overwhelming statistics. But our goal is to empower you with information necessary to make a difference– whether that’s through a few small changes or even bigger ones.
That’s what “Dining with Discretion” means.
Discretion is the freedom to decide what should be done in a particular situation, so to Dine with Discretion means to make food choices with the understanding of how the food system affects our world.
As I discussed webpage content with my supervisor, one of my co-workers in our neighboring division overheard the idea of giving up meat and cheese one day a week. She joined the conversation and was adamant that she would never give up meat or cheese. The longer we discussed food choices, the more of our fellow SLC Corp co-workers began joining in on the conversation. When I left work that day I had no idea that this conversation would continue for several days. While many people had varying opinions, one thing became very clear – food can be a divisive topic.
However, the question remains: Do people actually want to make these choices, especially when it comes to animal products?
I decided to do a little “market research” by asking around the Public Services office whether people would be willing to alter their behaviors to Dine with Discretion. Continue reading
Reusable bags are a great way to use less plastic.
The holidays are right around the corner, which means lots of gift and grocery shopping. Find out how you can make small changes in your holiday habits to use fewer materials, be more sustainable, and spread the joy!
While most plastic is recyclable, the reality is that we currently recover only 6% percent of the plastics we produce. The vast majority of consumed plastics gets sent to landfills or contaminates ecosystems where it will last for thousands of years.
So what’s the alternative?
Not using that plastic fork in the first place. It may be convenient to not wash dishes during the Thanksgiving feast, but that saved time just transfers an extra burden to our environment. The solution? Use something more than once.
Disposable plastics goods such as plastic silverware, bags, one use bottles, caps, lids, straws and food containers are the most discarded items in our society. And for the most part– they’re not readily recyclable.
A big source of waste also comes from packaging. While much of this is also recyclable, it does create a cost on the environment during transportation and energy required to run recycling plants. The solution? Be aware of the packaging of products and seek out those with less.
A big surge in packaging during the holidays comes from online shopping. While purchasing items online can be convenient, consider the benefits of shopping locally (Small Business Saturday is coming up!). You’ll help minimize waste by skipping the extra packaging AND improve air quality– all those delivery trucks on the roads in December add an extra dose of pollution to our air right in the middle of inversion season.
December means lots of gift wrapping as well. Consider reusing blank sides of scrap paper and making your own stamps or illustrations (snowflakes are great!). You can also tie on pinecones for a decorative flourish instead of single-use bows.
A change in daily– and holiday– habits can go a long way.
Here is a list of simple tips to help you ditch the disposables this holiday season– and every day: Continue reading
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7h1E9kDLvDM
University of Utah Women’s Softball came out swinging in GULB‘s latest video! Watch as they decimate rotten fruit in a home run derby like you’ve never seen! Help us spread the word about GULB, by sharing the video now!
by Tera Clausen
Have you ever heard the saying, “Behind every great kid is a parent who is sure they are doing something wrong”?
I remember when my twins were born and I became a mom. As many new parents do, I always erred on the side of caution. I wanted them to be safe, healthy and happy. Living in a world that feels so big and scary at times, it can be a daunting task to protect our children. Even if you are not a parent yourself, most people have children in their lives that they care for and want to keep safe. Child safety is a common goal we can all agree on.
It can be overwhelming to think that every little thing could be a danger to your child – whether it’s the safety rating of a car seat or the toxicity levels in everyday household items. Sometimes it is hard to know which dangers merit caution and which ones are due to overactive paranoia.
This is why I was so excited for Salt Lake City to partner with Healthy Babies Bright Futures (HBBF), earlier this year.
HBBF is a non-profit organization whose mission is to work towards a toxic-free future for all children. Continue reading
Recycling? Check!
Bringing your reusable bag? Double-check!
Proudly displaying your idle-free sticker? Yup!
Mulching at home? Huh??
Did you know that one of sustainability’s best practices is to “leave leaves alone”?
In the fall, when autumn brings a chill to the air, and Salt Lake’s oaks and elms and other deciduous trees drop their leaves, many of us turn on the blowers, haul out the rakes, and get ready for some serious work.
But—have you considered an alternative? Using some or all of your leaves to mulch your yard or garden?
We’d like to invite you to do just that.
Feeding leaves back into your soil is a cost-effective and natural way to enrich your yard, as well as to protect fall plants and vegetables from the cold.
Curious? Here are some tips for making the most of our autumnal deluge: