Tag Archives: environment

Dining with Discretion: Food Choices Matter

Last week, SLCgreen’s Bridget Stuchly and Tyler Poulson unveiled a compelling presentation at the Intermountain Sustainability Summit to a packed house. Dining with Discretion: Food Choices Matter outlines how personal choices about what and how we eat impact our environment and can either contribute to, or help alleviate, climate change.

The Presentation

If you missed it, you can scroll through their presentation slides.

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Dining with Discretion from SLCgreen

Take Action!

Long story short, there are some very real steps you can take in your everyday eating habits that will have a positive impact on the environment:

Eat less meat & dairy
Eat more plants
Cook smart
Waste less
Speak out

Source: Meat Eaters Guide to Climate Change + Health

A Blueprint for the Central Wasatch Mountains

The legacy of the Central Wasatch Mountains, one of Utah’s most valuable resources, could be lost unless action is taken today.

Increasing population and visitation, sprawling development, congestion and a changing climate are putting more and more pressure on these mountains. Mountain Accord was established to make critical decisions designed to address these threats and ensure long-term vitality for generations to come.

After more than a year of researching, collaborating and considering public input,

Mountain Accord has released a proposed Blueprint for the Central Wasatch

that addresses and balances the future of environment, recreation, transportation and economy in the Central Wasatch and proposes specific actions to be made in each area. Now it’s up to you to weigh in on this proposal and help shape the future of the Central Wasatch.

Visit mountainaccord.com between now and March 16 to read the proposed Blueprint and answer a short questionnaire.

Additional opportunities for the public to learn and weigh in are listed below:

Proposed Blueprint Q&A
Wednesday, Feb. 11
6:00 – 7:30 p.m.
Cottonwood High School Auditorium (use north entrance)
5715 South 1300 East Murray, UT 84106

Proposed Blueprint Q&A and Open House*
Tuesday, Feb. 24
Q&A: 6:00 – 7:30 p.m.
Open House: 7:30 – 8:30 p.m.
Black Box Theater, Eccles Center for the Performing Arts
1750 Kearns Blvd., Park City, UT 84090

Proposed Blueprint Open House
Wednesday, Feb. 25
6:00 – 8:30 p.m.
Skyline High School Cafeteria (use main entrance)
3251 East 3760 South Salt Lake City, UT 84109

*Please note that the Park City event has been rescheduled from Feb. 10.

Comments may also be emailed to comment@mountainaccord.com or mailed to:

Mountain Accord
375 West 200 South, Ste. 275
Salt Lake City, UT 84101

Please take the time to share this post with your friends, family and co-workers. The future of the Central Wasatch is in your hands!

Help Shape the Future of the Wasatch Mountains!

Photo Credit: Steve_W via Flickr.

The Mountain Accord is a collaborative public process to make long-term decisions and take action regarding transportation, environment, recreation, and economy in the central Wasatch Mountains (between I-80 and Little Cottonwood Canyon).

Your input is crucial to this important process! Comments are currently begin accepted on MountainAccord.com until November 20. Respond to a short questionnaire about the ideal scenarios for transportation, environment, recreation and economy.

This Evening: The Future of our Wasatch Canyons

You’re invited to explore proposed development plans for the Wasatch Canyons at a special event this evening. Learn about the Mountain Accord and the future of our canyons for recreation, transportation, economy and environment.

Panelists include Laura Briefer, Water Resources Manager for Salt Lake City Department of Public Utilities, Natalie Gochnour, Associate Dean, David Eccles School of Business, University of Utah, Will McCarvill, President, Wasatch Mountain Club, Jon Nepstad, Principal, Fehr & Peers, Transportation Lead for Mountain Accord and David Whittekiend, Forest Supervisor for the Uinta-Cache-Wasatch National Forest.

Mountain Accord Discussion
Thursday, September 18
6:30-8:30 p.m.
Tessman Auditorium, Main Library (210 E 400 S)

The evening is hosted by The League of Women Voters of Salt Lake.

Nominate Your Business for a P2 Award!

Salt Lake City accepts a 2013 P2 Award for the net zero Public Safety Building.

Each year, the Utah Pollution Prevention (P2) Association issues “Outstanding Achievement in Pollution Prevention Awards” to organizations for excellence in pollution reduction practices. These awards recognize outstanding efforts that reduce risk to Utah’s environment or to public health. This can be done through practices, projects or activities that reduce pollution at the source or remove materials from the waste cycle.

Pollution prevention uses source reduction techniques to reduce risk to public health, safety, welfare, and the environment. 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 prevention and will not be eligible for this award. Projects that focus on the environmental benefits of a product or service are not eligible.

The Utah P2 Association is requesting nominations for the 2014 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.

To be considered, organizations must be able to demonstrate excellence in pollution prevention practices for the calendar year of 2013. Reductions can be achieved through practices, projects or activities that reduce pollution at the source or remove materials from the waste cycle.

Who is Eligible?

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

Entry Deadline: Friday, July 18, 2014

Awards Banquet: October 2014

Questions? Contact Paul Harding at (801) 536-4108 or pharding@utah.gov.

P2 Awards Selection Criteria

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 2013.
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). Helpful tools and information.

Submissions must be received by July 18 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.

SLC Embraces Earth Hour

Photo credit: Michael Cote via Flickr

This year, Salt Lake City will participate in Earth Hour, turning off the lights of the Salt Lake City & County Building at 8:30 p.m. next Saturday, March 29th.

Check out the FAQs below to learn more about this effort, and find out how you can get involved!

What is Earth Hour?

Earth Hour is a worldwide grassroots movement uniting people to protect the planet, and is organised by WWF. Engaging a massive mainstream community on a broad range of environmental issues, Earth Hour was famously started as a lights-off event in Sydney, Australia in 2007. Since then it has grown to engage more than 7000 cities and towns worldwide, and the one-hour event continues to remain the key driver of the now larger movement.

When does Earth Hour take place?

Earth Hour 2014 will be held on Saturday, March 29th between 8.30 p.m. and 9.30 p.m. in your local time zone. The event is held worldwide towards the end of March annually, encouraging individuals, communities households and businesses to turn off their non-essential lights for one hour as a symbol for their commitment to the planet. Earth Hour 2015 will take place on Saturday, March 28th at 8:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. in your local timezone.

What does Earth Hour aim to achieve?

Earth Hour aims to encourage an interconnected global community to share the opportunities and challenges of creating a sustainable world.

How can I get involved?

The first thing anyone can do to get involved is to turn off their lights on Saturday. But there’s much, much more. Our full ambition is for people to take action beyond the hour. Whether it’s supporting a crowd-funding or crowd-sourcing campaign on www.earthhour.org or starting the movement in their own community. The vision is always to do more, so make the light switch the beginning of your journey.

Get inspired to take action at SLCgreen.com.

Green your 2014

Update: Catch the feature on KUTV 2News! Our very own Tyler Poulson shares a few tips to save $$ and reduce your impact at home.

Step into a leaner, greener YOU in 2014 by committing to a SLCgreen New Year’s Resolution. Challenge yourself to lose 3,000 pounds of CO2 (or more!) by completing household action items that help the environment and save you money.

Make your green New Year’s Resolution for 2014
(Like most things, our form is best viewed in browsers other than Internet Explorer)

Don’t overlook the impact a single family can have on our environment. The average Utah household emits over 80,000 pounds of CO2 annually through its home energy, transportation, and dietary choices. This is equivalent to driving one-way from SLC to New York City 94 times in a Prius. (Do we have your attention now?)

Increase your impact by directing friends, relatives, co-workers and strangers to make their resolution. It is, after all, the sum of all our individual actions that create the future we leave for the next generation.

Just remember: every pound of CO2 counts!

Check back for our New Year’s Resolution “Carbon Counter.” We’ll be posting how much CO2 we’ve collectively resolved to reduce in 2014!

Designing a Future with Nature in Mind

Our friends at the University of Utah’s Office of Sustainability made us aware of this exciting event tomorrow.

Designing a Future with Nature in Mind
George Bandy, Jr., Interface Inc. Vice President for Sustainability

Sept. 19, 2013, 11:30 am to 1 pm
Saltair Room, Union (200 Central Campus Drive, SLC).
Lunch provided.

George Bandy, Jr. looks for opportunities to develop a better future through environmental, economic and socially responsible solutions in his role at Interface. His knowledge includes eco-friendly business practices, greening the supply chain and social sustainability. He is currently Chair-Elect of the U.S. Green Building Council Board of Directors and works with The Natural Step, Second Nature, Natural Resource Conservation Commission, and others. An Office of Sustainability event.

Enjoy a Green 4th of July!

The Fourth of July is just around the corner, and SLCgreen staff have a few tips for residents who want to make their celebrations a little greener.

Use durable goods instead of disposable. Please, just say “no” to disposable plates, cups and utensils. Instead, bring out the readily available dishes from your very own kitchen! Sure, they require more cleanup, but you’ll be saving money and reducing waste. If you need to use disposables:
- Take some advice from Durable versus Disposable Guide (PDF).
- Consider reusing disposable goods for another summer get-together to reduce your impact.
- Please note that compostable plates and utensils are currently not accepted through Salt Lake City’s Curbside Compost Program (i.e. your tan can), so steer clear.
Provide drinks in large dispensers. It’s going to be a steamy Fourth of July this year, but instead of offering bottled water (and all of the plastic waste that comes along with it), put out drink dispensers that can be used to fill up your guests reusable water bottles or recyclable cups. This concept can also apply to any other beverages offered at your celebration – fewer bottles means less waste!
Skip the personal fireworks. A controversial suggestion, we know. But the air pollution from fireworks can be tough on our valley’s air quality. Even sparklers have high concentrations of air pollution (read the scientific study). Consider air-friendly decorations that can be stored and reused next year instead. Need inspiration? The Daily Green has some great ideas.
Choose air-friendly transportation. Can you bike or walk to your 4th of July celebration, or your yearly neighborhood fireworks show? Many homes in Salt Lake City offer a nice view from the convenience of your very own roof! We suggest that you skip the headache of parking and help reduce air pollution on a holiday that is especially prone to it. At the very least – carpool!
Use a gas grill instead of charcoal. Propane gas grills heat up faster and have a whole lot less polluting emissions than charcoal grills. Read on to learn more at Earth911.com.
Recycle, of course! When the party is over, be sure to recycle plastics, cardboard, cans and glass in the appropriate containers. Salt Lake City residents can put most recyclable materials into their blue curbside bin, and residents that subscribe to curbside glass service have an easy way to get the job done. Glass dropoff sites are also located throughout Salt Lake City.

More Resources

The Daily Green has a very comprehensive Fourth of July Green Guide available on their website. We particularly love:

While you are there, also take a look at their Declare Your Independence piece.

SLC Sanitation Launches New Customer Form

Salt Lake City’s Sanitation Division recently launched a new online form that makes it easier for residents to report service issues related to their waste, recycling and curbside compost (yard waste) bins.

The online form covers the following common requests:

Missed pickup
Broken bin
Lost or stolen bin
Bins left overnight
Bins blocking traffic or bike lane
Seasonal – extra leaf bin and holiday tree pickup

Residents can also always call Sanitation Customer Service directly at (801) 535-6999. Learn more about your curbside waste service.