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Posts from the ‘Air Quality’ Category

Jan 22

Help Us Set our Climate Priorities: Take the SL-CLEAR Survey by February 11

🌍 Tackling Climate Change: A Race We Can Win Together! 🏃‍♀️🏃‍♂️ 

Mitigating climate change is both a sprint and a marathon. The challenge? We need to cut our emissions and local air pollution drastically in the near term while investing in projects that can have sustained impact over time. The good news? The Biden Administration’s Inflation Reduction Act has provided billions of dollars in federal funding to support climate action. If we make a compelling emissions reduction plan, we can apply for implementation funds to execute.

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Jan 13

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2023 Year-in-Review Highlights

By SLCgreen

Every year, we release a Year-in-Review with featuring our high-level accomplishments as well as priorities for the year ahead. (Check out our full 2023 Year in Review booklet here!)

It’s also an important time and opportunity for us to take stock, learn from the experiences we had the previous year, and to continue to improve our programs, services, and operations.

While we engage with Salt Lakers mostly through recycling questions and efforts, we do so much more! Here are some highlights from 2023 and keep a lookout for more details in our Year-in-Review booklet coming soon. (In the meantime, you can take a look at previous annual reports for 2022 and 2021.) Some notable achievements include:

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Dec 15

I ❤ Clean Air 

By SLCgreen Staff Jude Westwood

Two weeks ago, I flew from Salt Lake City to Columbus, Ohio, to visit my family. I left during the peak of our first wintertime inversion; smog settled so thickly in the valley that I hadn’t been able to see the Wasatch Range in several days. The inversion was top of mind as I nursed a sore throat, feeling envious of my Midwestern family and friends who can take good air quality for granted.  

As I sat down for breakfast at my brother’s house on my first morning in Columbus, my 11-year-old nephew focused in on the “I ❤ Clean Air” sticker on my Nalgene.  

“Isn’t that kind of obvious?” he asked, eyes squinted with skepticism.  

“You would think,” I said, grimacing. I took a moment to think of how to explain to him, and glancing around at our breakfast dishes, I had an idea.  

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Sep 28

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Mayor Mendenhall Answers Your Questions on Air Quality in SLC

This week, Mayor Mendenhall and SLCgreen hosted an “AMA” or Ask Me Anything on Instagram and Twitter, taking your air quality questions.  

Salt Lake City continues to lead communities in the state when it comes to air quality policies and programs – both with our internal operations, as well as community-facing efforts.   

Still, we collectively have much work to do. Air pollution will not disappear overnight in a valley growing as ours is and faced with the challenges of our geography and climate.  The good news is that, according to the Utah Department of Air Quality, per capita pollution has decreased over the last decade, even as our population along the Wasatch Front boomed. There are also technologies available now that can drastically reduce the manmade emissions in our valley over the coming years, and historic funding opportunities to help us adopt them. Paired with solid urban planning and transportation design, we’re hopeful for the future when it comes to air quality, and that comes from working every day to realize solutions. 

So what causes our poor air quality? And what is the City doing?  

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Sep 27

Fall Into Clean Air: We Can All Be Idle Free

by SLCgreen Staff Brijette Williams

It’s that time of year again! The temperatures are starting to drop, leaves are showing hints of change, and that crisp scent of incoming autumn is the air. The changing seasons also mean it’s time to think about fall and winter air quality season. 

September also marks Idle-free Awareness Month and the annual Governor’s Idle-free Declaration for the month and for Utah’s upcoming winter season. The initiative began in 2006 by Utah Clean Cities and was a statewide effort by 2010 – spurring statewide idle-free policies and action at school districts, cities, towns, counties, and even within Zion National Park.  

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Aug 3

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Mapping Urban Heat Islands

By SLCgreen Interns Frances Benfell, Emma Johnson, and staff Jude Westwood

Picture of two people outside holding a heat watch sensor and guide.

When my friend Tia made plans to spend the weekend in Salt Lake City, she didn’t know what she was in for. A few days before her visit, I texted her and asked, “How do you feel about waking up at 5:30 am to go heat mapping with me on Saturday?” She responded, “I don’t know what that is, but as long as you buy me coffee!”  

As we drove to pick up our heat sensor on a Friday afternoon in mid-July, I explained the project to Tia. We were volunteering to drive one of ten routes across Salt Lake City with a sensor attached to our car that would measure temperature, humidity, and location along the way. Our role (along with over 40 other volunteers) was to gather data for a citizen science research project funded by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Salt Lake City was one of 18 communities chosen to participate in this year’s mapping project. Over 60 communities have participated since the program started in 2017. 

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Jul 27

Carpooling: The Extroverted Way to Commute Eco-Friendly

By SLCgreen Intern Kellen Hunnicutt

Most of us do a lot of driving in our lives. We drive to school, work, to run errands, and to meet up with friends. Not only is all this driving time bad for our air quality, but so much time in our cars can also be bad for us. Studies have shown that long commute times can produce stress and fatigue, and hurt mental health.  

So why drive alone when you can carpool? 

Carpooling saves money, reduces pollution, and can transform a routine commute into valuable social time. Consider carpooling to work with a coworker who lives nearby or coordinating a carpool for your kids to get to school. Carpooling can also be a great way to get to events or out into nature with friends and family. 

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Jul 19

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Walking Works!

By SLCgreen Intern Emma Johnson

Walking is undoubtedly the most straightforward way to move around; humans have been doing it forever! Studies show that people are happiest and healthiest when they live in walkable communities. Walking is also beneficial to the environment and the economy. Despite these findings, in 2021 the average American commute reached an all-time high of 27.6 driving minutes each way. In the United States, only about 3-4% of commuters walk to work, which is sadly unsurprising based on the car-centric construction of many U.S. cities.

During the month of July, Salt Lake City is encouraging people to drive less in favor of walking, biking, and public transit as part of the Clear the Air Challenge. In 2022, this challenge was responsible for a reduction in over 53,000 trips and prevention of over 392 tons of CO2. This year, Salt Lake City employees and other residents will join teams and log their trips to compete and work towards a collective goal of saving 100,000 trips this year.

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Jul 12

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Clear the Air, Try Transit

By SLCgreen Intern Iris Tang

Photo of a UTA trax line stopped at a station.

Brijette Williams, Sustainability Outreach Coordinator, lives in the suburbs but works and goes to school in Salt Lake City. She commutes by public transit as much as possible because it makes her travel time feel “valuable and productive.”  

Instead of getting stuck in traffic on I-15, she can check emails, make lists for the day, or unwind without the stress of being behind the wheel.

Choosing to swap your car trip for a transit trip can help improve air quality and mitigate summer ozone. It’s also a great way to participate in this month’s Clear the Air Challenge, which encourages us all to take fewer single-occupancy car trips.

Here are some reasons to consider taking transit more often and tips to get started.

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Jul 5

Clear the Air, Ride Your Bike

By SLCgreen Staff Judith Westwood

Woman riding her bike home from work.

Public Lands Planner, Kira Johnson, rides her bike five miles to and from work daily. She started bike commuting out of necessity but quickly fell in love with it. She explains, “I didn’t have a car in college, but I had a bike. Thankfully, I had a friend in the same situation, and we got into bike commuting at the same time. We found a lot of childlike thrill doing it.” Several years later, when Kira got her first car, she found she still preferred to bike.   

Bike commuting has a lot of great benefits. You stay more active, you interact with your community differently, and you can save a lot of money. Bike commuting is also a great way to reduce your emissions and air pollution impact, and to participate in this month’s Clear the Air Challenge.  

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