Tag Archives: salt lake city

SLC’s Commitment to Clearing the Air

With so much talk about Salt Lake City’s poor air quality, it might feel like everyone else is telling you what to do—drive less, walk more, don’t idle, stay inside, think green. While individual actions play a crucial role in reducing the pollutants that get trapped in our valleys, you’re not the only one who can and should make a difference.

At SLCGreen, we recognize that only through collective action at every level and in every sector can we see real change.

Here are just some of the things the City of Salt Lake has been doing to reduce its own emissions in an effort to clear the air:

LEED Silver Standards for all new city buildings and major renovations. Meeting these minimum standards reduces the impacts of construction, sources more sustainable materials, and improves water and energy consumption throughout the life of the building. The latest example is the new Public Safety building on 500 South, which will generate as much electricity as it consumes, making it the first public safety building of its kind in the nation.

City and County Building Efficiency Upgrades. Recognizing that much of our electricity comes from burning coal, we’ve been working over the last decade to reduce the electricity consumed by our existing buildings. The City-County building downtown, home to the Mayor’s office, has reduced its electricity consumption by 840,000 kilowatt hours per year thanks to upgraded lighting and building systems. This is a reduction equivalent to the electricity consumed by 89 homes in one year.

Solar installation on the top of The Leonardo, with a view of the Salt Lake City-County Building.

Fuel Efficient City Vehicles. The city has a lot of vehicles out on the streets that contribute green house gas emissions along with everyone else. To curb our carbon, we’ve introduced 16 compressed natural gas (CNG) trucks to replace diesel sanitation trucks, added 5 hybrids and 2 rechargeable electric cars to the Police Department fleet, and changed over 25% of the Airport’s vehicles to CNG.

Thanks to the Sustainable SLC Plan 2015, this is just the beginning. Read more about doing your part.

Mayors Take to the Hill for Clean Air

Yesterday, SLCGreen took a trip to the Utah State Capitol for a media event hosted by Salt Lake City Mayor Ralph Becker, Ogden City Mayor Mike Caldwell and the Salt Lake Chamber’s Ryan Evans. The purpose of the event was to voice their support for state and local actions to help improve air quality, and to present a list of recommendations that would result in less air pollution.

Among the actions recommended:

Initiate a call to action by individuals to lessen single occupant vehicle driving and cold starts (a large contributor to poor air quality).
Implement a UTA transit pass sponsorship program.
Share local/state level strategies for others to consider:
- Education everyone on the fact that most emissions come from “cold starts.”
- Provide discounted or free transit passes to employees.
- Have a robust carpooling program, creating preferential parking for carpools.
- Encourage employees to telework.
- Pass parking user costs on to employees.
- Establish no-idling ordinances and educational campaigns.
- Allow for flexible schedules to avoid rush hour traffic.
Propose a series of legislative/regulatory actions to improve funding for transit and local transportation funding, reducing vehicle use and removing state barriers to more aggressive action:
- Provide additional transit funding by implementing an increase in the local-option sales tax; or by increasing the gas tax.
- Repeal state law prohibiting Utah from setting air quality standards that are higher than federal regulations.
- Extend tax credits for clean fuel and electric vehicles.
- Change state vehicle registration fee schedule to be based on vehicle emissions.
- Adopt additional driving restrictions during bad air days.
Support regulatory actions due to the new PM2.5 standard:
- New point and area source regulations.
- Trip reduction mandates for companies with over 100 employees.

What are you thoughts on the recommendations listed above? What would you like to see from the Utah State Legislature this session?

Residents Embrace Curbside Glass Recycling

Last fall, Salt Lake City unveiled a program that promised to be an instant hit with Salt Lake City residents: curbside glass recycling.

For a $6 monthly fee, residents receive a 35 gallon recycling bin exclusively for glass, eliminating the need to haul glass to drop off sites and making it easier for all residents to recycle their glass waste.

We are now three months into the program, and the response has been great! Over 1,400 residents have subscribed to the first phase of the project (State Street to 2200 East, city limits south and north, plus the Avenues and Capitol Hill).

The response has been so positive that the curbside program will go citywide this April! If you live west of State Street or east of 2200 East, make sure to sign up to receive your bin (you will need your water bill account number).

About 130 tons of glass is now being recycled per month in the city, a number that is expected to increase when phase two rolls out this spring.

Residents are impressed with the curbside service provided by Salt Lake City contractor Momentum Recycling. We heard from one subscriber who couldn’t believe that their glass bin was picked up, on time, during the height of the January snowstorms:

@dougums1979: Glass recycle bin stuck behind snowbank & not full so I didn’t place on curb. SLC picked it up anyway! Impressed!

What is your experience with the curbside glass program?

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.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iZHwT76phKM]

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.