Salt Lake City Launches Ambitious New Climate Plan

Salt Lake City Mayor Jackie Biskupski and City Council have committed to a Joint Resolution to transition the community to 100 percent renewable electricity sources by 2032 and an 80 percent reduction in carbon emissions by 2040.

The Mayor and City Councilmember Erin Mendenhall were joined by other City leaders and community members on the steps of the City and County Building today to announce the resolution.

“This is the most ambitious step ever taken by Salt Lake City to address the threat of climate change,” said Mayor Biskupski. “This commitment places the City among leading communities worldwide that acknowledge our responsibility to rapidly reduce emissions and forge a new path forward that protects our economies, societies and overall human well-being.”

Salt Lake City had previously committed to 100 percent renewable electricity sources for its government operations, along with major carbon reductions for City operations, but this resolution expands the scope to include all electricity and emissions on a community scale.

The Joint Resolution cited the scientific consensus that climate change is occurring and being driven by the burning of fossil fuels. The Resolution also acknowledged local impacts such as changes in water systems and extreme weather events that are affecting Salt Lake City now and will be exacerbated in the future.

“We can tackle this challenge and deliver clean energy solutions that will simultaneously improve air quality, protect public health and deliver local jobs. Leading on climate change today is an obligation we all share with each other and to future generations,” stated Mayor Biskupski.

Visit www.slcgreen.com/climatepositive for more information about the plan.

See the full Carbon Reduction Joint Resolution here.

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Mayor Biskupski launches a new mobile farmers market in Glendale and Poplar Grove neighborhoods

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Mayor Jackie Biskupski will officially launch a new program on Monday, June 27, to help some west side communities access more affordable and healthy food. The kick-off event and press conference begins at 10 a.m. at the Sorenson Unity Center. The Mayor and community partners will describe the new “Urban Greens Market,” then open the market for immediate business.

The Urban Greens Market is a creative concept to bring farm-fresh food to Glendale and Poplar Grove—neighborhoods classified as “food deserts” by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). Both Salt Lake City and the USDA found these areas lack grocery stores, have some of the lowest vehicle ownership rates in the country, and are home to an abundance of fast food outlets and convenience stores—all factors leading to the “food desert” designation.

To tackle this problem, in October 2015, the City’s Sustainability Department partnered with local non-profits Green Urban Lunch Box, Real Food Rising, a program of Utah Community Action and Utahns Against Hunger to win a USDA grant to create the Urban Greens Market.

“Ensuring that all Salt Lake City residents have access to healthy and affordable food is a major priority for my administration,” Mayor Biskupski said. “This can be a real challenge for our Glendale and Poplar Grove communities, which are situated in the largest food desert in Salt Lake City. The Urban Greens Market will make affordable, local produce more accessible to our residents in these neighborhoods.”

From now through November 14, the market will rotate through several locations every week in Glendale and Poplar Grove, providing locally grown and harvested produce. Each location will accept food stamp benefits and Double Up Food Bucks — a nutrition incentive program run by Utahns Against Hunger. The Double Up Food Bucks program will match food stamp benefits spent at the Urban Greens Market, up to $10 per market day, for fresh Utah-grown produce.

“We’re thrilled that Urban Greens Market is participating in the Double Up program this season. Double Up Food Bucks is a win-win-win for everyone. The program helps low-income families take home more fruits and vegetables, supports Utah farmers with new customers and more income, and strengthens the local economy by keeping food dollars circulating in the community,” said Brian Emerson, with Utahns Against Hunger.

The Market also provides practical job-training skills by employing teens from the Utah Community Action’s youth development program.

“If you visit an Urban Greens Market farm stand this summer, you may have a chance to meet one of our youth who are gaining skills in job readiness, communication, positive relationships, and healthy living as part of the Real Food Rising team,” said Haley Eckels, with Utah Community Action.

The produce is grown locally by farmers working with Green Urban Lunch Box (GULB) and Real Food Rising. Providing another venue for farmers to sell their produce is an important feature of the Urban Greens Market, which supports GULB’s incubator farm program.

“As we work to increase the number of farmers in the Salt Lake area,” said Shawn Peterson of Green Urban Lunch Box, “It’s very important to also increase the number of customers buying their produce. We hope this gets people hooked on delicious farm fresh food, creating more demand for new urban farmers, and, ultimately, driving up consumption of local food.”

The Urban Greens Market will be hosted by Sorenson Unity Center, Glendale-Mountain View Community Learning Center, Hartland Partnership Center, Neighborhood House, and Sherwood Park from now until November 14.

For more information on the program’s locations and hours please visit:

www.SLCgreen.com/urbangreens

Or register for text alerts by texting MARKET to 51555.

Clear the Air for a Cleaner, Healthier City

Throughout Utah, air pollution is reaching alarmingly unhealthy levels. In fact, many areas along the Wasatch Front are currently out of compliance with portions of the Clean Air Act.

Transportation is a major cause of the problem. Vehicle emissions are responsible for 50 percent of ground level ozone, meaning that each time we turn the key, we produce pollution which harms our health and the health of our children.

The 2016 Clear the Air Challenge kicks off July 1^st and is a great opportunity to explore alternative methods of transit to improve our air quality. For the past several years, local businesses and citizens have participated in reducing emissions. In 2015, we kept 646.5 tons of CO2 out of the air!

This year our goal is even greater: eliminating 700 tons of CO2, in addition to the many other pollutants coming out of our tail pipes.

How to Take the Challenge!

Besides helping everyone breathe a little easier, participants are eligible to win prizes from the Challenge!

The challenge is open to all residents of Utah and offers many options for reducing trips in vehicles.

Employers can encourage employees to participate as a team (to earn prizes and be recognized by the City for good performance!). They can also provide support incentives including the following:

Transit passes
Bike parking
Car-pool incentive programs
Bus-to-work days
Telecommute days
Alternative schedules
Commuter reimbursement benefits, and
Employee recognition of participation in the challenge.

Don’t have an employer who’s participating? Individuals can sign up by tracking their trips and miles saved using the TravelWise Tracker. Individual participants compete against one another based on total miles saved for prizes and recognition.

Miles can be updated throughout the entire month. Your information is used to determine the total emissions saved and, collectively, show us how little changes can make a big difference!

Resources

Taking part has never been easier:

Visit Ride UTA for fares and schedules. If you live in Salt Lake City, consider signing up for the HIVE pass, which saves you 50 percent!
The city’s green bike program can help you get around downtown without a car, and new bike lanes make traveling on city streets safer and easier.
Partner with a co-worker to alternate who drives to work each day.

Don’t forget to sign up!

And thank you for helping make our city a cleaner, healthier place to live, work, and play!

New “Mobile Farmers Market” to Open June 17

Salt Lake City is launching a new initiative, dubbed the “Urban Greens Market,” to bring healthy, affordable food to the Glendale and Poplar Grove neighborhoods.

After winning a U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) grant in October 2015, SLCgreen partnered with local non-profits Green Urban Lunch Box, Real Food Rising, a program of Utah Community Action and Utahns Against Hunger to implement this creative approach to providing farmers-market-fresh food to the Glendale and Poplar Grove communities.

These areas, in particular, need better access to healthy food. In fact, the USDA classified the Glendale/Poplar Grove neighborhoods as “food deserts” because of low supermarket access and some of the lowest vehicle ownership rates in the city.

That’s where the Urban Greens Market comes in.

Over the course of the summer and fall, it will make the rounds with fresh produce for sale, grown and harvested locally by farmers working with Green Urban Lunch Box and Real Food Rising.

Beginning Friday, June 17, the City’s Urban Greens Market program officially kicks off, with the first market located at Sherwood Park (1400 W 400 South 84104).

“Ensuring that all Salt Lake City residents have access to healthy and affordable food is a major priority for my administration,” says Mayor Jackie Biskupski “This can be a real challenge for our Glendale and Poplar Grove communities that are situated in the largest food desert in Salt Lake City. The Urban Greens Market will make affordable, local produce accessible to our residents in these low access neighborhoods.”

The Urban Greens Market begins on June 17 and runs until November 14 and will be hosted by Sorenson Unity Center, Glendale-Mountain View Community Learning Center, Hartland Partnership Center, Neighborhood House, and Sherwood Park.

Thanks also to the Poplar Grove Community Council, Comunidades Unidas, and Community Health Centers for supporting our grant application to make this program happen!

For more information on the Urban Green Market’s locations and hours visit www.SLCgreen.com/urbangreens or sign up for text alerts by texting MARKET to 51555.

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Welcome Sophia Nicholas!

Can’t be beet! Sophia in her garden.

The SLCgreen team is excited to welcome Sophia Nicholas to the Division of Sustainability as Communications Manager.

Sophia, a Salt Lake City native, brings to our office extensive experience in communications, event planning, social media, and a deep knowledge of the environmental issues affecting our community.

She previously worked at the local environmental non-profit HEAL Utah, first as its Development Director and then Associate Director. In those roles, she helped shape the organization’s campaigns, strategic focus, and messaging over the last eight years– in addition to her role as lead fundraiser. Over that time, HEAL’s supporter list quadrupled, fundraising income doubled, and their mission expanded to include more issues affecting public health and the environment. Check out her outgoing interview on the HEAL Utah podcast here.

Prior to HEAL, Sophia graduated with a degree in political science from Wellesley College, followed by a stint traveling and working abroad.

As the Sustainability Division transitions to a full City Department under Mayor Biskupski, Sophia looks forward to helping us develop new partnerships, increase participation in key programs, and highlight the many ways Salt Lake City can continue to lead on sustainability initiatives.

Welcome Sophia!

Ride with Hive Sees Record Ridership

The Hive Pass Program recently completed its first full year with some amazing results. Over 2,300 Salt Lake City residents have purchased a Hive Pass resulting in over 520,000 trips! We have been steadily adding new riders each month with continued growth in ridership and trips taken.

The month of April saw the highest average daily use of Hive passes, with 1,831 average daily trips taken. Thanks to the extra day in March, there were a total of 55,964 trips taken throughout the month. Both of these figures represent record use for the Hive Pass Program. Bus-based trips are the most popular mode of transit among Hive Pass holders with 55% of their trips being made on UTA buses.

Hive Pass holders have been doing their part to reduce congestion and improve air quality. With the average transit trip length being 3.28 miles, Hive Pass users have logged more than 1.7 million miles of travel. Hive Pass holders have prevented more than 803 tons of CO2 from being emitted into the air by taking trips on transit rather than a car. That’s the same as taking more than 130 cars off Salt Lake City roads.

Hive Passes are still available for Salt Lake City residents. For only $42 a month, Hive Pass holders can enjoy unlimited rides on all UTA bus, Trax, and streetcar services. There are 3 sales locations for you to get your Hive Pass. You’ll need to bring in one photo ID and two pieces of mail to prove you live in Salt Lake City (A lease agreement also works). Find out all the details on www.ridewithhive.com

Salt Lake City partnering on study for more clean energy

Salt Lake City, along with local government partners Park City and Summit County, is exploring creative new pathways towards securing more clean energy for the community.

The SLC City Council and elected officials from the other two communities recently adopted an Interlocal Agreement that commits the municipalities to collaborate and jointly fund a feasibility study. The study will evaluate renewable energy options, impacts, and opportunities to create a cleaner electricity supply for the long-term.

More clean energy on the way!

The Interlocal Agreement reiterated what many of us already know–that energy choices have a notable impact on public health, including the economic and social well-being of current and future residents. The Agreement also noted that Utah has an abundant supply of solar energy, being one of the 10 sunniest states in the U.S., and that a recent report from The Solar Foundation revealed that there are already over 2,500 solar jobs in Utah.

The communities are jointly seeking a firm to provide technical assistance and a feasibility report this year. Summit County has published a Request for Proposals. Results of the study could be available as early as late 2016.

Transitioning to renewable energy is essential for the City to meet its climate and air quality goals. Emissions from electricity generation create over 50 percent of the Salt Lake City community carbon footprint and over 75 percent of the carbon pollution from local government operations.

Mayor Biskupski recently set a goal of 100 percent renewable energy for electricity used in government operations by 2032. This new partnership with Park City and Summit County includes an expanded scope to help us get there. As a whole, the study will evaluate clean energy options for the entire community, including all homes and businesses.

Stay tuned!

New Sustainability Program Begins at Salt Lake City!

Salt Lake City Green recently launched Empower SLC, an in-house sustainability training platform available for all City employees. The twelve-month program will cover a variety of sustainability-related topics, including energy use at home, water conservation, renewable energy, and food. Empower SLC is designed to motivate behavior change at the individual level in order to reduce pollution, save resources, and enhance Salt Lake City.

Every week, short lessons are released under a larger monthly theme topic. Users can earn points by completing lessons, taking quizzes, and committing to actions each week. To encourage participation amongst all users, employees will earn a sustainability certification based on their level of participation. The Empower SLC certificate will be endorsed by the Mayor and the Sustainability Director at three levels: Basic, Gold, and Platinum.

To date, over 400 employees have registered with Empower SLC! The first month’s theme, Water Free SLC, covers waste management, recyclable materials, and hazardous and electronic waste, with simple tips on how to green your lifestyle at home and in the office. For a closer look into how each department is participating, check out the chart below.