What goes in your bin?

Salt Lake City Green is asking residents one very important question — “What goes in your curbside bin?”

The survey is part of an effort to improve Salt Lake City’s curbside garbage, recycling and composting services.

In the coming months, residents will see a fresh, retooled #WhyWasteIt campaign roll out on Salt Lake City Sanitation trucks, social media and more. The campaign will be focus on optimizing the curbside programs and diverting as much waste as possible from the landfill.

Do you have 60 seconds to spare? Then let us know what goes in your curbside bin!

Downtown Streetcar Open House

Streetcars are returning to Salt Lake City!

With the Sugar House Streetcar (now called the S-Line) opening on December 8, Salt Lake City is exploring a vision for streetcars in the downtown core.

A public open house has been scheduled to share ideas and educate residents on the current proposed streetcar routes.

Downtown Streetcar Public Open House
Thursday, September 12 from 5-7 p.m.
Harmons City Creek (135 E 100 S) – Second floor

Learn more about the visioning project.

Wasatch Watershed: Snowflakes to Your Tap

60% of the water used by residents of Salt Lake City and the Valley’s east bench comes from canyons in the Wasatch Mountains. The Utah Chapter of the Green Building Council is hosting what promises to be a fascinating exploration into the successes and challenges of protecting Salt Lake City’s water.

The Wasatch Front Watershed: Snowflakes to Your Tap
Thursday, September 26 from 4-6 p.m.
Salt Lake City Public Library
Register online or pay at the door.
Questions: programs@usgbcutah.org

In the 1950’s, access to City Creek Canyon, a source of Salt Lake City’s drinking water, was closed to public use for over 10 years due to bacterial contamination, public health concerns and damage to the City Creek Watershed. Lessons learned from this event and the ensuing restoration of City Creek Canyon, as well as other water sources across the nation have informed Salt Lake City’s watershed protection policies for the last several decades.

Join Laura Briefer, Water Resources Manager, for the Salt Lake City Department of Public Utilities to learn about Salt Lake City’s role, perspectives, successes, and challenges in protecting the main sources of Salt Lake City’s water supplies in the Central Wasatch Mountains – including recent scientific research and other work regarding climate change impacts on Salt Lake City’s water supply.

The Salt Lake City Department of Public Utilities (SLCDPU) is a municipal water supplier responsible for the provision of drinking water to over 300,000 people in the Salt Lake Valley. Laura manages SLCDPU’s Water Resources Division, which includes watershed management, water conservation, hydrology, water rights, and land preservation functions.

Pollution Prevention Awards Due Tomorrow!

The Utah Pollution Prevention (P2) Association is requesting nominations for the 2013 Outstanding Achievement in Pollution Prevention Awards.

Large Businesses or Industry, Small Businesses or Industry, and Community Involvement Programs are eligible. Special consideration will be given to businesses or organizations demonstrating Collaboration with other businesses and organizations, Employee Involvement, and Innovation and Initiation of New Programs.

These awards recognize the outstanding efforts of businesses whose practices reduce risk to Utah’s environment and to public health. To be considered organization must be able to demonstrate excellence in pollution prevention practices for the calendar year 2012.

Reductions can be achieved through practices, projects or activities that reduce pollution at the source or remove materials from the waste cycle. Pollution prevention avoids transferring waste from one environmental medium (air, land, water) to another.

Treating existing waste, installing equipment to comply with pollution control regulations, and energy recovery are not considered pollution and will not be considered for this award. Projects that focus on the environmental benefits of a product or service are not eligible.

Who is Eligible?

Any individual
Environmental, community, educational, or non-profit organizations
Business
Industry
Agriculture
Trade or professional organizations
Local government

Entry Deadline: Tuesday, September 10, 2013

For Rules, a Nomination Form, and Previous Winners, visit the P2 Web Site.

Selection Criteria

2013 Outstanding Achievement in Pollution Prevention Awards

Activities should be true pollution prevention, not pollution control or treatment. Acceptable activities include:
- Facilities, program-wide and multimedia efforts, or outstanding projects;
- Projects must reduce waste generation, pollutant emissions or other releases at the source; recycle materials or conserve water or energy.
Nominated program should use sound technology, be innovative and cost effective.
Environmental benefits should be demonstrated.
Applicant’s efforts, both inside and outside their organization, should promote pollution prevention as the preferred approach to protecting the environment and human health.
Measurable progress should have occurred during the calendar year of 2012.
Efforts should be able to serve as a model for other programs.
Efforts should be taken voluntarily (in advance of regulatory requirements), but can be an innovative response to regulatory programs.
Nominees should have a good overall environmental compliance record for two years prior to the nomination deadline.

Nomination Form

All nominees should submit a cover sheet, a one-page summary, and a narrative description. Optional supporting documentation, including charts, photographs, news clippings, news releases, publications, or other material may be included.

The cover sheet should include:

Nominee’s name, address, and telephone number(s);
Name, title and phone numbers(s) of a contact person to answer questions regarding the nomination;
Name, title, organization, address, and telephone number(s) of the person/organization submitting the nomination (if not self-nominated, please be sure to notify the nominee).

The summary should include:

A one-page overview of activities including dates when achievements occurred.

The narrative should include a description of:

The nominee: including background information, reasons for the project or program and number of individuals involved and their efforts;
Pollution prevention efforts, quantitative results of efforts, technological or managerial innovations, employee involvement, financial impact on operations, and costs and benefits (financial or otherwise).

Submissions must be received by Tuesday, September 10 and sent to:

Pollution Prevention Awards
Utah Pollution Prevention Association
Attn: Paul Harding
P.O. Box 144810
Salt Lake City, Utah 84114-4810
(801) 536-4108 Fax: (801) 536-4457

Electronic submissions may be sent to pharding@utah.gov

Engage, Salt Lake City

What’s your vision of the future of Salt Lake City? We have two unique opportunities for you to weigh in!

Airport

The Salt Lake City International Airport is building a new terminal, and they are looking for your best ideas! Explore the plans for the brand new terminal complex and tell them what you think they should focus on.

One tidbit we learned from visiting their site – the new terminal will be designed to high environmental standards and will aim for meeting a LEED Silver Rating or better from the U.S. Green Building Council. Nice!

Plan Salt Lake

Plan Salt Lake is a citywide vision that will help guide the City into the future, which will bring together all of the existing citywide policies and help residents, business owners, visitors and City decision makers make decisions today that will impact tomorrow.

Let them know what you value about Salt Lake City and be a part of this important conversation!

Psst… sneak preview

Salt Lake City Green is working on a Sustainable City Dashboard that will provide an opportunity for residents to engage in a multifaceted conversation about sustainability in our community.

The dashboard expands on the vision outlined in Mayor Becker’s Livability Agenda and Sustainable Salt Lake — Plan 2015. Stay tuned for the details…

Tips to Green Your Lunchbox

Fall is in the air!

With kids heading back to school, Salt Lake City parents will once again be packing lunches for them. Which makes it the perfect time for SLCgreen to share our tips for a healthy and waste-free packed lunched!

[VIDEO: Check out our segment with KUTV 2News This Morning]

1. Food First

ChooseMyPlate.gov has a lot of helpful advice on food groups, including suggestions on variety and tips to help you (and your kids) eat more fruits and vegetables. Check out the fantastic 2013 Healthy Lunchtime Challenge Cookbook containing 54 winning recipes from America’s junior chefs (PDF).

Did you know that the average meal travels 1500 miles to reach your plate? Local food travels shorter distances and therefore has a lower environmental impact. Consider sourcing your ingredients from local producers – Farmers Markets are a great place to start.

Pinterest is full of ideas for creative, healthy lunches.

Pinterest is full of ideas for creative & healthy bento box lunches.

2. Ditch the Disposables & Save Money

Let’s compare the cost of a reusable lunch versus one that uses disposable goods. Learn more from WasteFreeLunches.org.

A Disposable Lunch

1 egg salad sandwich	$1.25
1 yogurt	.85
1 granola bar	.45
1 apple	.30
1 package of carrots and dip	.65
3 plastic bags	.12
1 juice pouch	.35
1 plastic spoon	.04
1 paper napkin	.01
TOTAL	$4.02

A Waste-free Lunch

1 egg salad sandwich	$1.25
1 serving of yogurt	.50
1 serving of granola	.35
1 apple	.30
1 serving of carrots and dip	.25
water	0
cloth napkin	0
stainless steel spoon	0
packaging	0
TOTAL	$2.65

With a waste free lunch, you can save $246.60 per person per year!

3. Get the Gear

Our friends at Earth Goods General Store have all the supplies you need to gear up for your reusable lunch. Their store has moved to a new location on 327 E 300 South in downtown Salt Lake City. You can also find them on Facebook.

Here’s our suggested shopping list:

Lunch tote
Cloth napkins
Water bottle (we prefer stainless steel)
Glass, plastic or metal bento box-type containers in a variety of sizes for veggies, dips, etc.
Reusable sandwich bags
You can even pick up a book or two full of healthy lunch ideas!

Green gear from Earth Goods General Store.

Mark your calendar! Fall Plant Sale

Our friends at Wasatch Community Gardens invite you to join them for their 3rd Annual Fall Plant Sale and (yum!) Tomato Sandwich Party.

Keep your garden alive! Purchase vegetable starts and seeds that can produce crops into the early winter months.

Both the Fall Plant Sale and Tomato Sandwich Party will take place on Saturday, September 7 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Grateful Tomato Garden (800 S 600 E).

The promise of unique heirloom tomatoes, homemade pesto and fresh, locally made bread is more than enough to get us on board!

More information is available on the Wasatch Community Gardens website.

Bike Commuting: The Basics

[Watch our bike commuting feature on KUTV 2News This Morning!]

Commuting by two wheels can transform the dullest part of your day (your commute) into the best part of your day (your “me” time).

The SLCgreen crew loves their bikes, so we, with the help of the Bicycle Transit Center and BikeSLC.com, put together some tips to get you rolling.

Safety First. Make sure your bike is road-worthy! We recommend that you:

Take your bike it into the shop for a quick tune up.
Make sure you have the proper bike lights and reflectors.
Find the right helmet with a proper fit.
Pull out your brightest yellow shirt or vest for enhanced visibility.
Read up on the rules of the road at BikeSLC.com.

Gear Up! There are a few things that will make your commute run smoothly:

Secure a bike rack and panniers on your bike.
Pack a repair a kit with the basics. You can buy one or assemble it yourself.
Consider fenders, which will protect you from tire splatter on a drizzly day.
Lock it up! U-locks are more secure than cable locks. Get the scoop from BIkeSLC.com.
License your bike with the city. This simple step can help you recover your bike in the event of theft, and it is required by law.

What to wear. In addition to your bright shirt or vest, a few things to consider:

Mellow Commute: You may be able to wear your work clothes.
Not-So-Mellow Commute: Pack your work clothes in your panniers. We recommend rolling your clothes to prevent creasing.

Plan your attack. Choose the right route for your commute. Check out the BikeSLC Map or try the bike feature on Google Maps.

More Resources

Say Hello to the New Public Safety Building

Today Salt Lake City opened the new Public Safety Building. The state-of-the-art facility will be Net Zero for energy use, meaning that it will produce as much energy as it uses. Cutting edge energy efficiency strategies and the use of solar power make Net Zero possible for a building that traditionally has high energy demands.

Indiana Ave Green Waste Fire

Late last night a pile of green waste (tree branches, grass, etc.) ignited, possibly due to a lightening strike. A quick response from the Salt Lake City Fire Department and separation of the pile by Salt Lake City Public Services limited the scope of the fire. FOX13 media story.

SLCgreen was onsite this morning to survey the area.