Tag Archives: utah

We Love Honey Bees!

Join Slow Food Utah for the 4th Annual Honey Bee Festival in Salt Lake City. All are welcome to enjoy this free event.

What: Honey Bee Festival

Where: Sorenson Unity Center (1383 South 900 West)

When: Saturday, June 7th from 1-5 p.m.

Why: Honeybees are critical pollinators for a wide variety of vegetables, fruits, and nuts in our food supply. In fact, it is estimated that one in three bites of food is dependent on bees in some way. Honeybees of course also directly produce a remarkable food, honey.

So come on down to enjoy crafts and games for kids, local honey and food tastings, a live bee demo and backyard bee-keeping workshops!

More information is available at SlowFoodUtah.org.

Living Traditions Returns this Weekend

Have you ever wanted to travel around the world?

The Living Traditions Festival returns to Library Square this weekend to celebrate the vibrant and diverse culture we embrace right here in Salt Lake City!

The festival features local folk and ethnic arts. With three stages of entertainment, from Scandinavian dancing to Native American traditional music, prepare to be dazzled from the moment you enter. There will also be food tents with a wide spectrum of delicious delights, and tents filled with trinkets and goodies that you just won’t resist.

This year there are two featured artists. Red Baraat will be playing on the North Stage at 8:30 p.m. on Friday (May 16) and Quetzal will also be performing on the North Stage at 5:30 p.m. on Sunday (May 18).

The SLCgreen crew recommends taking alternative transportation to the festival. Library Square can be accessed by TRAX from either the Library Station (Red Line) or Courthouse (Blue and Green Line) Station. The Salt Lake City Bicycle Collective is offering a complimentary bike valet service at the northeast entrance of the festival grounds. And if you must drive, carpool with some friends so you can all enjoy the festivities!

Full schedule:

Friday, May 16: 5 p.m. to 10 p.m.
Saturday, May 17: Noon to 10 p.m.
Sunday, May 18: Noon to 7 p.m.

More details are available on the Living Traditions Festival website.

Bike Love at the Utah Bike Summit

The sixth annual Utah Bike Summit will be held Friday, April 25, and will gather citizens, riders, cycling advocates, government officials and representatives from some of the world’s biggest bike brands to discuss, plan and promote the efforts to make Utah the most bike-friendly state in the country.

The Summit will take place at the University of Utah Guesthouse in Salt Lake City, and is open to the public. Attendees can register online at www.utahbikes.org/SummitRegistration.

This year’s keynote speaker is Sarai Snyder, founder of the women’s cycling blog Girl Bike Love and the global CycloFemme ride. The goal of both of these efforts is to grow and empower the future of women in the sport of cycling. Sarai also sits on the Women Bike Advisory Board for the League of American Bicyclists.

In addition to this year’s keynote address, the Summit will host two round table discussions featuring leaders from UDOT, UTA, WFRC, MAG, as well as Salt Lake City Mayor Ralph Becker, Odgen Mayor Mike Caldwell and Provo Mayor John Curtis.

The afternoon agenda is packed with breakout sessions addressing a variety of Bike Friendly advocacy topics and a post-summit reception closes out the day’s activities at Contender Bicycles.

To highlight some of the cycling opportunities that can be developed through community and interagency cooperation, a group ride is planned the next day following the Summit on the Murdock Canal Trail. The ride will depart from the Orem FrontRunner Station at 9:05 a.m.

“We invite anyone and everyone, cyclists and those interested in how cycling can be integrated into Utah’s transportation infrastructure, to attend this year’s Bike Summit,” said Phil Sarnoff, executive director of Bike Utah. “After attending, we hope attendees will be inspired and return home with information and new skills to work with their friends, co-workers, families and local government officials in supporting Utah-based cycling programs, events and outreach activities.”

More Information

Friday, April 25th
8:30 a.m. to 7 p.m.
University of Utah Guest House
See the full agenda
Visit BikeUtah.org

About Bike Utah

Bike Utah is a 501(c)3 non-profit charitable organization made up of recreational and commuter cyclists, bicycle manufactures and retail shops, and transit advocates working to improve bicycling conditions throughout the State of Utah. The mission of Bike Utah is to integrate bicycling into the everyday culture of the state.

LiveGreen SLC! Festival: May 3, 2014

Spring is here, and the annual LiveGreen SLC! Festival is on the horizon.

Mark your calendars for Saturday, May 3rd at Library Square from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Salt Lake City, Utah’s 2014 annual Live Green SLC! Festival, presented by ReDirect Guide, showcases a full spectrum of sustainable green products, services and ideas from cutting edge renewable technologies to everyday solutions that can be implemented in the home.

At this outdoor event, held in the beautiful downtown Library Plaza, attendees will enjoy features such as interactive and educational exhibits, local and organic foods and goods, live auctions, a children’s area, eco-carnival games, music, entertainment and much more.

There are three great ways to get involved:

Exhibit! Host a booth to present your green products or services and connect with a great community of green-inspired people. Salt Lake City e2 Businesses get 25% off booth space.
Become a sponsor. Let your organization benefit from the good will and strong media outreach and promotional efforts associated with the LiveGreen SLC! Festival.
Volunteer. Get involved and experience amazing opportunities to lend a hand, make connections, and have some fun!

Film Screening: Garbage Warrior

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2KYJ0dsd-x0?rel=0]

Join SLCgreen, DesignBuildBluff, Catalyst Magazine and Earthship Utah for a screening of the film Garbage Warrior. The film will be followed by a panel discussion lead by expert natural and green builders.

Garbage Warrior Screening
Wednesday, March 26
6-8:30 p.m.
Main Library Auditorium

Continue reading →

World Urban Forum 7

Medellin, Colombia. Photo BorisG via Flickr

Salt Lake City is excited to participate in the World Urban Forum, hosted by UN-Habitat this April in Medellin, Colombia.

The City will participate in a special networking session called “Clean Energy and Transport Solutions in an Urban Hemisphere: Lessons from the Americas.”

Over the past few months, Salt Lake City has been collaborating with San Jose, Costa Rica to share experiences & lessons learned from the two cities’ alternative transportation programs. During the session, the City will share our lessons learned from running the Clear the Air Challenge and the “twinning” process with San Jose.

The session is the result of a partnership between the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Organization of American States (OAS). Learn more about the forum below, or on the OAS website.

We’ll be updating the @SLCgreen Twitter feed live from the World Urban Forum (#wuf7) from April 7-11. Stay tuned to stay in the loop!

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.

Air Quality Bills: 2014 Legislature Wrap Up

The community had high hopes for meaningful action during the 2014 Utah Legislative Session on air quality. With the session now at an end, our friends at the Utah Department of Environmental Quality posted a nice summary of the bills that passed.

Here’s a quick overview, head over to their newsletter for the full story.

State Fleet

Legislators directed the Division of Fleet Operations to ensure that 50 percent or more of the state vehicles used to transport passengers will be alternative fuel or high-efficiency by August 30, 2018. View the bill.

Electric Vehicles

A House bill amended the current definition of public utilities to encourage businesses to provide charging stations for electric cars. Another bill provides a state income tax credit of $1500 for the purchase or lease of a new electric vehicle and a tax credit allowance for a plug-in electric hybrid. View the bill. Legislation modified The Clean Fuels and Vehicle Technology Act to allow electric-hybrid vehicles to qualify for funding for alternative refueling infrastructure. View the bill.

Wood Burn Program

The Division of Air Quality received funding to educate the public about the dangers of wood smoke and help convert homes whose sole source of heat is wood to natural gas or other clean fuels. View the bill.

Medical Waste Incinerators

A Senate bill banned the incineration of medical waste within close proximity of a school or residential subdivision. View the bill.

Retrofit and Replacement Program

This program will help small businesses and individuals by providing grant and loan funds for emission-reducing technologies, including retrofits, repowers, and replacements. The program will also encourage replacement of snow removal, landscaping, and other yard equipment with cleaner alternatives. View the bill.

Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) Funding

The Department of Air Quality (DAQ) received a one-time, $1.4 million grant that allocated $1 million for Utah-specific air quality research, $300,000 for an inventory and photochemical modeling study in the Uinta Basin, and $100,000 for volatile organic compound (VOC) infrared testing equipment. DAQ also received $400,000 in ongoing funding for four full-time employees to work on Uinta Basin oil and gas permitting and compliance.

The legislature appropriated $500,000 to DEQ for an air quality public awareness campaign in partnership with existing clean air programs such as UCAIR and TravelWise. DAQ received a one-time, $500,000 appropriation to help convert homes that burn wood as their sole source of heat and a one-time, $250,000 grant to educate the public on the hazards of wood smoke. The Clean Air Retrofit, Replacement, and Off-road Technology (CARROT) program received a one-time grant of $200,000 for grants and loans to small businesses and individuals seeking to reduce the emissions from their heavy-duty diesel or small-engine equipment.

Get the DEQ Newsletter

Get the full scoop from the DEQ newsletter and join their email list.

City Transit Passes on Sale & On the Road

Salt Lake City’s new resident transit pass, the Hive Pass, is currently available at three permanent sales locations as well as a variety of mobile sales opportunities at locations around the city.

As part of an initial pilot program being offered by Salt Lake City and UTA, Hive Passes are only available to residents of Salt Lake City and can be purchased for the deeply discounted rate of $350 for a year (or $360, payable in 12 easy, monthly installments of $30.)

The pass is good on almost all UTA modes including TRAX, buses, Frontrunner and S-Line Streetcar (exceptions are UTA’s special fare services like Paratransit, ski buses and Park City Connect.)

Passes can only be purchased in-person and a few documents are necessary just to establish Salt Lake City residency. Visit Ridewithhive.com for details.

Also, residents who may not be sure if their address is in City limits will find a handy tool on the website to confirm they qualify for the Hive Pass.

Mobile sales events are happening this week at the following locations:

Wednesday, March 19 – Salt Lake City Chapman Library Branch
577 S. 900 West
5:30-8:30 p.m.

Saturday, March 22- Winter Market
Rio Grande Depot
300 S. Rio Grande Street
10 a.m.-2 p.m.

Permanent Sales Locations/Hours:

Salt Lake City & County Building
451 South State Street
Monday-Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Public Utilities Office
1530 SW Temple Street
Monday-Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Sorenson Unity Center
1383 S 900 West
Monday-Friday, 9 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Sustainability Position at Hogle Zoo!

Utah’s Hogle Zoo is hiring a environmental coordinator — a brand new position that will be focused on facilitating the Zoo’s move towards sustainability.

Here is the official job posting —

Posted: February 20, 2014
Position: Environmental Coordinator
Department: Conservation

Utah’s Hogle Zoo’s Conservation Department is announcing the opening of a full-time position as the Zoo’s Environmental Coordinator.

The Zoo is seeking an enterprising and energetic individual for a newly created Environmental Coordinator position. The Coordinator will assist in facilitating the Zoo’s move towards sustainability. This position reports to the Zoo’s Conservation Coordinator. The Environmental Coordinator will be responsible for developing and tracking the organization’s carbon footprint, tracking environmental compliance, expanding staff and guest awareness programs and assist with the development of the Zoo’s Sustainability Plan.

This is a full time position compensated at an hourly rate with excellent rewards program including a comprehensive benefits package, work-life balance programs and opportunities for professional development.
Candidates with a bachelor’s degree in environment and sustainability studies or related field are preferred. Candidates with previous experience in an environmental related position are also preferred. Candidates must demonstrate strong organizational, communication (both written and oral) and interpersonal skills. Individuals with a strong working knowledge and dedicated interest for the concept of sustainability, awareness of the central issues and controversies should consider applying.

Additionally, applicants must be able to:

Work positively in a team environment,
Represent the Zoo’s mission in public forums,
Be self-motivated, organized and reliable
Be flexible and adapt to complex situations,
Demonstrate strong computer skills in data management word processing and presentation software
Work occasional evenings and weekends as needed
Stand or walk for long periods of time, bending, stooping, and lifting of heavy objects (up to 40 pounds)

Anyone interested in this position should email a cover letter and resume to Liz Larsen, llarsen@hoglezoo.org, Conservation Coordinator at Utah’s Hogle Zoo, by March 15, 2014.