Halloween Decorating! SLCgreen Style

Halloween is right around the corner! Have you finished your decorations yet?

The City & County Building is having a door decorating competition between departments (never mind that the building itself might be haunted….!)

Of course, here at the Sustainability Department we know it’s important to “walk our talk” in terms of decorating with reused, compostable, and recyclable goods to keep material out of the landfill.

In the process, we had a fun time using our creativity (and Google) to come up with some cool ways to spookishly decorate. Here are some tips for your home or office: 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

It’s Leaf Season!

Fall is here in Salt Lake City and leaves are beginning to drop.

This is a friendly reminder to please use your brown compost bin to dispose of leaves. The brown bins go to the compost facility at the Salt Lake Valley landfill, keeping this methane-producing organic material out of the traditional landfill.

Keep Leaves Out of Your Gutter and the Storm Drains

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#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 →

Back-to-Basics with Recycling and the City’s Business Recycling Ordinance

Check out a recent blog post from Salt Lake City’s Economic Development Department on the Business Recycling Ordinance!

And if you’re a business or multi-family property in Salt Lake City that has questions about the ordinance or starting a recycling program, mark your calendar for two upcoming workshops:

October 26

When: Thursday, October 26, 2017, 2:30 – 3:30 p.m.

Where: Salt Lake City Main Library, Room A (Level 1). See list of room locations here.

What: Salt Lake City Waste & Recycling staff will present the details of complying with the ordinance and answer any questions you may have.

November 30

When: Thursday, November 30, 2017, 2:30 – 3:30 p.m.

Where: Salt Lake City Main Library, Room A (Level 1). See list of room locations here.

What: Salt Lake City Waste & Recycling staff will present the details of complying with the ordinance and answer any questions you may have.

SLCgreen’s Tyler Poulson talks #UtahClimateWeek and Clean Energy with HEAL Utah

Parowan Solar Tour (Scatec) - Aug 5, 2015

SLCgreen staff member Tyler Poulson on a tour of a large solar farm in Parowan, Utah, 2015.

Check out Tyler Poulson, Salt Lake City’s sustainability program manager, on the HEAL Utah podcast! He chats with HEAL’s Matt Pacenza about several key climate and energy issues including Utah Climate Week, coming up October 8-14. Tyler also offers his take on the recent rooftop solar settlement reached between Rocky Mountain Power and other stakeholders.

For more information about all of the interesting activities occurring during Utah Climate Week, visit the website of the Utah Climate Action Network.

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.
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Cider Pressing Day

This week, SLCgreen FruitShare partner The Green Urban Lunch Box and Mountain West Hard Cider are inviting volunteers to help press locally harvested apples into the second edition of The Green Urban Lunch Box Hard Cider.

The collaboration between the local non-profit and local business began last year and was a natural solution to the problem of what to do with fruit that’s not high enough quality for eating or donating, but is perfect for juice. What a creative way to minimize food waste!

Harvesting about 9,000 pounds of fruit from 50 various locations across the Salt Lake Valley and even a bit beyond, The Green Urban Lunch Box pressed approximately 350 gallons of juice in 2016. A crew of six staff members and two faithful volunteers spent two 12-hour days pressing apples, while almost 400 volunteers put in more than 1,500 hours to pick fruit that contributed to this juice.
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Help SLC Win a $150K Grant to Revitalize the Utah Pickle Company Building

We need your vote! Help Salt Lake City win a grant to restore a historic building, ensuring the sustainability and preservation of a great space in our community.

Salt Lake City is one of just 25 cities selected nationwide to compete, and is calling on its residents, business owners, patrons, and visitors to get behind the effort. The City has the chance to receive up to $150,000 in grant funding for the restoration of the historic Utah Pickle Company building. Built in 1894, this former pickle warehouse is located at 741 South 400 West in Salt Lake City’s Granary District, which recently received Utah’s first neighborhood business district Main Street America designation.

Restoring the Utah Pickle Company building will provide the Granary District with much-needed event space, a media production studio, flex office spaces for local artists and entrepreneurs, and a community garden!

Want to help Salt Lake City win?

1. Go to http://www.nationalgeographic.com/voteyourmainstreet

2. Make an account

3. Vote for SLC (up to 5 votes per person, per day!)

4. Login and vote each day until Oct. 31^st

Top: Mayor Biskupski speaks at the opening of the Liberty Wells Community Garden in 2016. A new community garden is just one of the proposed additions to the Utah Pickle Company building. Bottom: The Utah Pickle Company building in 1936 and today.

Continue reading →

Be Prepared for Climate Emergencies, Joint Op-Ed from SLC’s Sustainability & Emergency Management Directors

With all of the storms, hurricanes, and wildfires hitting our country this fall, we need to take the opportunity of September being Emergency Preparedness Month to prepare for and mitigate climate change.

Read the op-ed published in The Salt Lake Tribune from Salt Lake City’s directors of Sustainability and Emergency Preparedness.

By Vicki Bennett and Cory Lyman

September is Emergency Preparedness Month.

While Utahns traditionally take important measures to prepare for sudden natural disasters such as earthquakes, we also need to think about taking mitigating action for climate-related events such as extreme flooding, changing water supplies, wildfire and heat waves.

This need is amplified by the awful pictures we see of Hurricane Harvey and Irma and the destruction they have wrought. In Texas alone initial estimates are putting the damage at over $180 billion – that is billion, with a “b” – and we can’t start to comprehend numbers like that.

Scientists have been warning us for years that a warming climate increases the strength of storms like these — larger, powerful and devastating to our communities.

One month before Harvey hit, Salt Lake City experienced our own 200-year storm. .

CONTINUE ON THE TRIBUNE’S SITE.