Hosted by the Utah Recycling Alliance (URA)
Thursday, November 7, 2013
Brewvies Cinema Pub (677 South 200 West)
$5 admission includes one free drink ticket, two raffle tickets and an evening of entertainment! RSVP to the Facebook event.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7UM73CEvwMY&w=560&h=315]
Liberty Park & Tracy Aviary Site Design Workshop
Thursday October 24 from 5:30-7:00 p.m.
Tracy Aviary Education Center inside Liberty Park (589 East 1300 South)
Salt Lake City and The Friends of Tracy Aviary are partnering to re-purpose the land in Liberty Park surrounding the concession stand, including the vacant land adjacent to the Aviary and the amusement park ride area of the Park.
Tracy Aviary will build a Tropical Rain Forest building/exhibit on approximately 50% of the vacant space adjacent to the Aviary, and the City would like to facilitate community input for ideas about how to enhance this west entrance to the park and utilize the remaining space in the future.
A Site Planning Workshop to explore these issues is scheduled for Thursday October 24 from 5:30 to 7:00 p.m. at Tracy Aviary’s Education Center.
It’s time to celebrate local food!
Food Day is a nationwide celebration of healthy, affordable, and sustainably produced food and a grassroots campaign for better food policies.
Salt Lake City is marking Food Day 2013 with a series of exciting local events.
Salt Lake City Mayor Ralph Becker gathered with community leaders late last week to unveil a new proposed program geared towards clearing the air. The program would offer discounted UTA passes to Salt Lake City residents for just $30 a month — a 63% discount!
We all know that vehicle emissions are a key factor in the poor air quality that plagues our valley during the winter months. The good news is that getting people out of their cars and on to public transportation can go a long way to help reduce emissions and clear the air. This exciting program – the first of its kind in Utah – could make it possible for most city residents to have a UTA pass in their pocket!
Here are the details on the proposed program.
Purpose: Offer an annual transit pass to Salt Lake City residents to incentivize transit use and make riding transit more affordable.
Basic Structure: Salt Lake City residents will be eligible to purchase a one year transit pass for $360. The passes will be available for purchase from Salt Lake City upon providing proof of residency. Residents may pay all at once, or pay in 12 installments of $30 via a monthly bill.
The pass will be issued with the resident’s photo on it, and is non-transferable. There is no limit per household. The pass will be good on local and express bus, TRAX, and FrontRunner. Ski bus, Park City Connect and paratransit services will be excluded from the pass.
The program is a unique partnership between UTA and Salt Lake City. While modeled after other bulk pass programs offered by UTA for employees of eligible organizations, it’s the first pass of its kind to be designed for residents.
Benefits: In just 12 local trips per month (6 round-trips), residents who opt in to the pass will have broken even on their investment. Having a ‘pass in pocket’, residents are more likely to use transit.
Timeframe: The program will launch in early 2014. This pass is being implemented as a one-year pilot program. If successful, UTA and SLC may choose to continue the program. The program will be refined as needed and made available to other communities.
Basis: UTA completed a random sample telephone survey to assess interest in purchasing this pass. Based on results of the survey, up to 6,000 passes could be sold.
Media Coverage:
Next Steps: To make this program a reality, work to be completed over the next few months includes:
The Utah Clean Air Partnership (more commonly known as UCAIR) is now accepting proposals for their new grants program.
The purpose of the program is to provide incentives to the private sector, government entities, and individuals to reduce emissions of criteria pollutants that cause Utah’s poor air quality.
Grants will be used to promote investment by the private and public sector in emission-reducing technology, lower emission vehicles, energy efficiency and other proven methodologies for reducing or eliminating emissions, including education of the public.
The program will also encourage creative thinking and promote the development of new technology, but will be based on solid metrics and performance standards that demonstrate actual emissions reductions. A loan program will be announced at a later date.
Visit the UCAIR website for more information, and to download the application form.
October 5-12, 2013 is Eat Local Week in Salt Lake City, and there are many events taking place to celebrate our community of local-foodists.
Eat Local Week aims to increase awareness of our foodshed, provide information and resources for eating locally, and build a community hungry for local food–making Utah a more nourishing place.
Eat Local Week also introduces the Eat Local Challenge! The Challenge is simple, eat as local as you can. The standard challenge is only eating food that comes from within a 250 mile radius. Not ready for that? Come up with a challenge that works for you! Choose a couple of food groups to get locally and stay true to them. Be creative, challenge yourself, and have fun!
This is a guest blog post by Katie McKeon of Momentum Recycling, Salt Lake City’s contracted glass recycling services provider.
How many of these items do you consume?
Here at Momentum Recycling, we often hear people say they don’t use much glass. Most people think of glass bottles and immediately think of alcoholic beverages. While we receive a fair share of this type of glass, there is also quite a bit of glass out there that goes unnoticed. Recycling just one of these glass containers saves enough energy to:
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.
With fall upon us, and cooler weather in the forecast for Salt Lake City, it is the perfect time to recommit to making one small change that will have a positive impact on our air quality (and your pocketbook!) this season. Say it with us…
For over six years, Salt Lake City and its partners have promoted the voluntary Idle Free Utah campaign in schools across the valley and in every corner of the state. The campaign reminds parents to eliminate vehicle idling in school pick up zones to prevent the unhealthy buildup of air pollution in an area heavily trafficked by children.
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.
