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Posts tagged ‘celebration’

Aug 24

Off Broadway Community Garden Celebration

Today we celebrated the opening of Salt Lake City’s newest community garden, Off Broadway Community Garden.  Media representatives and residents joined Mayor Ralph Becker, Alex Eaton of the Community Foundation of Utah, Ashley Patterson of Wasatch Community Gardens, and Abby Bluth of Off Broadway Community Garden for the celebration.

“Salt Lake City recognizes the high demand for community gardens in our downtown core, which highlights their importance in building a strong local food system,” said Mayor Becker. “The Off Broadway Community Garden project, located in a neighborhood with a two-year waiting list for garden plots, now provides 30 more city residents the opportunity to grow and enjoy fresh organic produce.”  Here’s a link to a great video of Mayor Becker’s speech!

Last year, Salt Lake City’s Green City Growers program was awarded $50,000 in grant funds to support the development of two new community gardens, including the Off Broadway Community Garden. The award included $25,000 from the Local Sustainability Matching Fund, a Partners for Places project of the Funders’ Network for Smart Growth and Livable Communities. The Community Foundation of Utah provided the $25,000 grant match and will manage permanent endowments.

“We are committed to sustainable nonprofits and sustainable communities, and this project is a demonstration of both,” said Alex Eaton, Executive Director of the Community Foundation of Utah. “We are proud to support this project, which increases access to healthy food and strengthens our local community.”

Salt Lake City works directly with Wasatch Community Gardens and community members to develop gardens within City limits. Wasatch Community Gardens is a community-based nonprofit that has served Salt Lake County for over 25 years.

For more information on the Green City Growers Program, which provides City owned/managed land for the development of community gardens, please visit www.SLCgreen.com.

News links:

KUER News: http://kuer.org/post/slc-community-gardeners-struggle-meet-demand#stream/0

SLC Mayor’s Office: http://www.slcmayor.com/read/2015/8/24/mayor-becker-community-partners-to-announce-new-downtown-community-garden

Jul 13

Salt Lake City Announces Project Skyline Challenge Award Winners

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Today, Salt Lake City Mayor Ralph Becker, Kathleen Hogan, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency for the U.S. Department of Energy, and Matthew Dalbey, Director of the Office of Sustainable Communities for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, joined City leaders and building owners in honoring the winners of the Project Skyline Mayor’s Challenge 2015 Awards. Project Skyline, a multi-year challenge to reduce building energy use in buildings across the city, was launched in May 2014. The goal is to challenge building owners across Salt Lake City to proactively meet – and exceed – the air quality and energy-saving targets of the Sustainable Salt Lake – Plan 2015 by 15 percent by 2020. Throughout its first year, Project Skyline has been overwhelmingly successful, hosting educational and networking workshops, providing resources for evaluating the building’s energy use, and helping establish energy-saving goals for each business involved.

At the 2015 Project Skyline Awards Luncheon, five winners were recognized for their leadership in Challenge efforts over the past year.

This year, the Energy Innovator Award goes to Basic Research. Basic Research has improved the efficiency of their 230,000-square-foot facility by improving the lighting, HVAC systems, and installing the largest privately owned solar photovoltaic project in the state of Utah. By making these improvements, Basic Research has improved their ENERGY STAR score from 10 to 99.

The Sustained Excellence Award goes to Fidelity Investments. Across the country, Fidelity Investments is working to obtain LEED certification in 65 percent of their buildings and their location on 49 N 400 W is no exception. The building falls under LEED Silver certification, and recently, they added LED lighting and lighting controls and photovoltaic panels to improve the building’s ENERGYSTAR score to 96.

The McGillis School, a private co-ed school located on the Northeast bench of the Salt Lake Valley, has earned the Most-Improved EnergyStar Score Award. In 2014, the school reported an ENERYSTAR score of 97, which marks a 17 point improvement from 2013.

The Energy Efficiency Leadership Award goes to Newmark Grubb ACRES. Throughout the past year, Newmark Grubb ACRES has helped tremendously attending and presenting at multiple workshops. Company leadership also participates on BOMA Utah’s Energy and Sustainability committee and helped launch the BOMA Utah Kilowatt Crackdown. Additionally, the company is working on energy efficiency in several of its properties and are continuing to improve their ENERGYSTAR scores.

Lastly, the Benchmarking Champion Award goes to the Salt Lake City School District. Since 2009, the Salt Lake City School District has begun benchmarking to monitor energy consumption in over 40 buildings. Not only are 72 percent of the district’s schools benchmarked, but they are also certified ENERGY STAR buildings. They have seen an an 18 percent improvement in ENERGY STAR scores in all of their buildings.

Congratulations to these businesses.  For more information on Project Skyline and the Mayor’s Challenge, visit our website.

 

Jul 1

Idle Free City Celebration

An Idle Free City celebration took place at Liberty Park Tuesday morning.  This media event included speeches by Mayor Becker, UCAIR Director, Ted Wilson, and Youth City students.  High pollution levels are affecting air quality this summer.  Join the Clear the Air Challenge, which starts today, and remember, turn your key, be idle free!

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Sep 9

Celebrate the S-Line Greenway Grand Opening on Sept. 19

SLINEOPEN

You’re invited to the grand opening of the new S-Line Greenway in Salt Lake City!

Grand Opening: Friday, September 19th

Come celebrate the opening of Salt Lake City’s newest public space. The S-Line Greenway is a mile-long linear park running parallel to the streetcar line from 500 East to McClelland Street. The greenway features public art, plazas and a multi-modal segment of Parley’s Trail.

11:30 a.m. Grand Opening Press Conference (S-Line at 600 East)
Join Salt Lake City Mayor Ralph Becker as he marks the official completion of the Greenway and the S-Line’s Parley’s Trail connection. He will be joined by South Salt Lake City Mayor Cherie Wood, County Mayor Ben McAdams and other project partners. Refreshments will be provided.

5:30 & 7:30 p.m. S-Line Community Celebration
Come celebrate the Greenway and it’s new Parley’s Trail connection with the corridor’s artists, designers and community partners. This free event will feature food, art and musical performances along the corridor.

We’ll see you there!

Jun 24

Art Fans Unite! Festival Runs June 26-29

Credit: Utah Arts Festival, Facebook.
Credit: Andrew Stone, Flickr
Credit: Clint Gardner, Flickr.
Credit: Jeremiah Roth, Flickr.

It’s time for the annual Utah Art’s Festival!

Spanning four days from June 26-29, this momentous event attracts the entire city to enjoy live music, unique film performances, endless art displays, and of course, incredible food. The Arts Festival is an opportunity for everyone to explore, engage, and appreciate the vibrant city culture within Salt Lake.

The festival schedule this year offers everything from beginner’s drawing workshops and comic book creations to epic concert performances and the “Fear No Film” series of unique and impactful independent films. And of course, how could you forget the food? Between Thursday’s Chef Competition, the Leo Libations Wine Pairing workshop, and the numerous booths providing delicious eats, this annual celebration will undoubtedly be a memorable crowd-pleaser.

If you’re still in need of reasons to attend, more good news awaits: this year, the festival is going above and beyond to “green” up the four day celebration.

As in past years, the Festival is offering FREE bike valet services along 400 South in the sponsored Blue Sky Bike Lot. As we all know, downtown parking can be nothing short of a crowded nightmare; do yourself AND the environment a favor and bike down for free! Worried about the trek back? The Library TRAX station is located just outside the festival and can take you safely where you need to go. Additionally, the 228 and 205 buses run directly by the heart of the festival; you, your friends, and your bike can catch a hands-free ride home after a day of artistic enjoyment.

The Arts Festival is also proud to announce this year’s recycling opportunities for plastic bottles, cups, aluminum cans, cardboard, glass, food scraps, and even vegetable oil. Be sure to keep an eye out around the tents for designated garbage, recycle, and compost bins throughout the plaza. Our beautiful city will thank you!

Even more exciting news: Rocky Mountain Power, in partnership with Blue Sky, will be transforming the festival into an entirely “green” event by supporting renewable energy equivalent to the amount required to fuel the four-day celebration. To put this in numbers, the Festival will be preventing the potential emission of 87,398 pounds of carbon dioxide from entering the atmosphere. With the additional help of all the attendees who will spend the days enjoying the outdoors rather than driving around, it’s safe to say that the Utah Arts Festival is officially a notable step towards a greener Salt Lake!

If you’ve ever doubted joining in on this annual event, 2014 is certainly the year to hop on board and let loose for a weekend of great food, incredible art, lively performances, and now more than ever, the chance to help keep our beautiful environment clean. See you all there!

This post was written by SLCgreen intern Lauren Mills.

Oct 9

It’s Time to Celebrate Local Food!

FruitVeggieBanner

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.

Read more

Jul 9

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Solar Day: Call for Vendors

Solar Day Salt Lake will take place on Saturday, July 27th in Liberty Park (900 South 700 East) from noon to 6 p.m. Admission is free, so come enjoy live music, speakers and other fun festivities! Are you interested in becoming involved?

Read more

Jul 2

Enjoy a Green 4th of July!

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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.

  1. 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:
    • 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.
  2. 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!
  3. 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.
  4. 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!
  5. 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.
  6. 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.

May 12

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Utah Bike Week

Utah Bike Week has arrived! And Utahns all along the Wasatch Front and beyond are celebrating the joys of traveling by two wheels.

This week is packed with events designed to celebrate biking, connect you with the biking community and reward you for leaving your car at home!

A few of our favorites:

  • Gallery Roll Art Show (May 17) – Meet at 177 East 200 South to take part in a fun art gallery “roll”
  • National Bike to Work Day w/SLC Commuter Pit Stops (May 17) – Look for bike-friendly “pit stops” on your way into work for free snacks, bicycle lights, beverages, stickers and other items.
  • Bike Bonanza (May 17, 4-8 p.m. @ Gallivan Center) – Join UTA for entertainment, prizes, booths and more. This is a great, family-friendly event!

You can learn more about all of the exciting Bike Month events at UtahBikeMonth.org.

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