For the week of Dec. 25 and Jan. 1, your garbage, recycling, and compost collection day is one day later. This applies citywide in Salt Lake City.
For more information, visit: www.slcgreen.com/curbside-holiday-schedule
Happy holidays!
Holiday Tree Disposal
As the holiday season wraps up, you may be wondering what to do with your Christmas tree when the decorations are ready to come down. Please consider not burning your tree. Burning anything during the winter is bad for our air quality (Burning during “air action” days is also against State regulation and violates Salt Lake County Health Department rules).
Residents may dispose of trees in two ways. For immediate disposal, Salt Lake City asks residents to cut their trees up into a few small pieces and place in their brown compost containers. Ornaments and lights must be removed. “Flocked” trees are not accepted in the brown containers.
“Please do not stuff your tree in the cart,” said Lance Allen Director of the Waste and Recycling Division. “This makes it extremely difficult or impossible for our operators to remove your tree. Instead, please cut your tree into four foot or smaller pieces.”
Alternatively, residents may place whole trees on their curb for disposal in January. Exact pickup depends on demand and will occur in mid-to late-January. Residents may call 801-535-6999 for more information.
Salt Lake Leaders Celebrate Utah’s Largest Electric Vehicle Charging Installation
This Tuesday, local business Packsize International unveiled its new electric vehicle (EV) charging stations at its Salt Lake City campus.
The site now hosts 52 total EV charging ports, including two fast-charge stations, making it the largest charging installation in Utah.
And the best news is that the stations will be available for use at no financial cost both to Packsize employees and the general public.
Rocky Mountain Power awarded Packsize International with a $111,280 incentive check to offset the cost of the Level 2 electric vehicle chargers. These EV incentives are available to any Utah company that wants to install charging infrastructure!
Packsize is a leader in sustainability and forging solutions to our local air quality problems. It spearheaded the creation of a non-profit, Leaders for Clean Air, in 2015 to encourage businesses to install charging infrastructure. Because vehicles are the largest source of wintertime air pollution and EVs have no tailpipe emissions, incentivizing employees to make the switch to an electric vehicle by offering workplace charging is a tangible way businesses can get involved in promoting better air quality.
Leaders for Clean Air now has an alliance of dozens of businesses and has helped catalyze the installation of 184 workplace EV charging stations in the last two years.
At the ribbon cutting, Salt Lake City Mayor Jackie Biskupski, along with other Leaders for Clean Air founding members, provided updates on the clean air advancements and future goals for Salt Lake’s airshed. Leaders for Clean Air also presented a charging unit to Attorney General Sean Reyes, who spoke at the event.
Mayor Biskupski and Rep. Patrice Arent, Clean Air Caucus founder & Chair, demonstrate how to use a new Level 2 EV charging unit at Packsize’s campus.
Avoid the Cold Start
We’re in the midst of a yucky inversion. At one point on Monday, the amount of particulate pollution crossed the 55.5 microgram/cubic meter threshold, which puts us in the red category of “Unhealthy” territory.
Air quality conditions and forecasts are available at http://air.utah.gov
Unfortunately, our weather patterns and geography mean we have to work extra hard to reduce what goes into the air.
One of the simplest things you can do is to leave the car at home.
Did you know that the majority of pollution comes when you simply turn your car on?
It’s the phenomenon of “Cold Starts.”
It means that 60-90% of your commute’s emissions come in the first three minutes. Pretty incredible, huh?
You can learn more about cold starts from UCAIR’s great blog post and video below.
So what can you do? Well, aim to keep your car parked as frequently as possible — even if it’s just for a day, or a single trip you’re skipping
How to avoid the Cold Start: Continue reading
Green Holiday Guide
SLCgreen’s “Green Holiday Guide.” It’s snow bunny approved.
During the holiday rush, sustainability may not be the first thing on your mind. Fortunately, there are a number of measures you can take to ensure your festivities are more eco-friendly and sustainable.
We’ve compiled these actions into a convenient Green Holiday Guide. No matter how you celebrate, we at SLCgreen hope you find this information helpful and wish you the best of times and a very happy New Year!
Christmas Trees
One great option for your home Christmas tree is a live native potted tree. When you’re done with it, plant it after the holidays or let it live on as a house plant. As an added bonus, a live tree will absorb carbon dioxide and breathe out oxygen for cleaner air.
Check with your local nursery or garden center for advice on the best type of tree, depending if you are planning to replant or keep it inside. If you can, hold off and plant it in late March or early April. This will increase the tree’s chance of surviving long term.
If you go for a cut tree, use the compost bin to dispose of it after the holidays. Make sure to cut it up so it fits in the bin and remove any tinsel or non-organic decorations (Just be sure to dispose of it before the wintertime suspension of compost bin collection, beginning the week of January 22, 2018).
If you can’t cut up your tree for the compost bin, no problem. Leave it curbside and we’ll be by during the month of January to collect it.
No matter what you do, do not burn your tree. Burning anything during the winter is horrible for our air quality (Burning during “air action” days is also against State regulation and violates Salt Lake County Health Department rules).
Energy efficiency
When stringing up lights this season, think “less is more.” For the lights you do put up, go for LED lights, which are 80-95% more efficient than traditional bulbs and will last longer. (This is a good reminder to switch out any other traditional light bulbs you may have in your home for LEDs too!)
LED lights look great on me!
Make sure you have your lights on a timer so they only are on when you want them to be. Some LED Christmas lights are even solar powered! Continue reading
Inversion Season is Here — Here’s What You Can Do
We’re getting into dirty air season. Our first big inversion is starting this week and is expected to last awhile.
What this means is that a high pressure system is setting up, trapping cold air on the valley floors– and with it all the pollution we collectively emit. Pollution doubles every day during inversions— and it can get yucky.
Salt Lake City is committed to reducing emissions and helping our community breathe easier.
But we need your help.
A significant source of pollution comes from our cars (roughly 50%), as well as our homes and buildings (roughly 35%). That means each of us can make a difference to our air quality.
This winter, the SLC Sustainability Department will be pushing out regular air quality tips and reminders.
Please join us! Follow along on social media and right here on our blog. We also encourage you to join our email list to have tips delivered right to your inbox.
Share, repost, and demonstrate your commitment to clearing the air.
The top three things you can do this winter are listed in the graphic above. Click here for more information.
- Drive Less— aim to increase your #CarFreeDays to have the most impact. Make use of the Hive Pass if you live in Salt Lake City.
- Be Idle Free
- Skip the wood burning
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
Important Service Announcement for Thanksgiving, Nov 23rd
Areas serviced on Thursday & Friday will be delayed by one day and serviced on Friday & Saturday respectively. Happy Thanksgiving!
Join the Pesticide Free SLC Campaign!
As you may know, Salt Lake City has partnered with the Healthy Babies Bright Futures alliance to conduct an assessment and implement approaches to reduce exposure to certain chemicals deemed most risky for babies in their first 1,000 days of development.
One of the ways we’re doing that is by piloting organic turf management at two Salt Lake City parks, with the goal of adding more City properties.
Now we’re asking you to join us! Take the pledge to be Pesticide Free in your landscaping. You’ll get a yard sign, as well as a helpful toolkit for how to use organic methods at your home or businesses.
“Pesticide Free SLC” is a public campaign to educate and encourage Salt Lake City residents and businesses to phase out chemical pesticide, herbicide, and fertilizer use from their landscaping. Continue reading
New Climate Change Leaders Network Launched!
Path to Positive Utah brings together 40 inaugural leaders who have committed to discussing and forging local solutions to climate change in Utah.
Read more in the press release below!
SALT LAKE CITY, Nov. 14, 2017 – Prominent Utah leaders from business, government, higher education, faith communities and civic organizations united on Nov. 14, 2017 to sign a declaration acknowledging shared responsibility for protecting Utah’s economy, air quality and environment, and safeguarding against the risks of climate change.
The gathering kicked off Path to Positive Utah, a collaborative initiative sponsored by Utah Clean Energy and ecoAmerica, that represents a diverse group of leaders seeking to understand, prepare for and raise awareness about climate change risks and solutions.