Hot Issue: Air Quality

Air quality is a hot topic for residents living in Salt Lake City and along the Wasatch Front. It’s no surprise, really. With more than 22 RED air quality days on the calendar so far this year, it’s easy to count the days our air quality has been GREEN on your fingers.

Learn more about winter inversions – what they are and what we can all do.

Salt Lake City is committed to improving our air quality, and is aggressively working to reduce vehicle emissions and improve air quality through programs that conserve electricity and natural gas, encourage individuals to drive down their personal motor vehicle miles and reduce other sources of air pollution.

Learn more about what Salt Lake City is doing to help improve air quality.

One of the largest contributors to our air pollution is motor vehicle emissions. This is both a challenge and an opportunity. The opportunity is for residents to take simple but important actions to reduce their vehicle trips and miles. The challenge is speaks for itself.

Learn more about driving less and other green transportation options.

In addition to implementing an Idle Free Ordinance, Salt Lake City is working on new strategies that will result in real, measurable improvements in the air quality. Stay tuned for more developments.

View current air quality conditions in Salt Lake City.

Community Food Assessment

How does the availability of wholesome and affordable food impact the health of our community? This is the question that Salt Lake City Green and the Mayor’s Food Policy Task Force took on when they began the Community Food Assessment.

The food assessment provides a basis for developing strategies to support local food enterprises, foster rural/urban food links (farm to plate) and expanding access to healthy and nutritious food.

“Gaining a firm understanding of Salt Lake City’s current food system is necessary to assist Salt Lake City and it’s Food Policy Task Force in creating strategic planning, policy and action steps to strengthen local urban agriculture,” states an excerpt from the report.

Food Snapshot Highlights:

From 1997 to 2007, Utah Certified Organic operations increased from 3 to 48.
Salt Lake City is home to more than 22 community, school and neighborhood gardens, providing fresh, healthy food for hundreds of residents.
Salt Lake City is home to eight farmers markets, providing a direct link between residents and the people growing their food, and providing more convenient, fresh, local food while growing our local food economy.
Approximately 20% of Salt Lake City’s residential waste is food scraps.

Stayed tuned for more in depth coverage of key findings from the report, including next steps.

In the meantime, read the draft report.

Sustainable Salt Lake — Plan 2015

Over the last five years, Salt Lake City’s pursuit of success in sustainability, social justice, and neighborhood
and downtown vitality has helped shape the collective vision for how we live, work, recreate and
grow in Salt Lake City.

The Sustainable Salt Lake – Plan 2015 reflects a broad and ambitious agenda to protect our resources, enhance our assets, and establish a path toward greater resiliency and vitality for every aspect of our community.

The plan is an extension of Salt Lake Mayor Ralph Becker’s visionary Livability Agenda. The agenda was crafted to guide policies during Mayor Becker’s second term.

Learn more about how sustainability is an important part of the future of Salt Lake City.

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Explore the Sustainable Salt Lake — Plan 2015.

Let us know what you think about Salt Lake City’s plans to increase the long term sustainability of our community.