This summer was full of many changes for SLCgreen. With Debbie Lyons stepping into the role of Director of Sustainability, and the expansion of our programming, SLCgreen had a few important openings to fill. We’re excited to welcome 2 new members of the SLCgreen team, and to celebrate longtime SLCgreen Communications Manager Sophia Nicholas in her new role as Deputy Director!
The New Faces at SLCgreen
In early July, Bimini Horstmann joined the Sustainability Department as our Special Projects Assistant. Bimini recently finished degrees in Environmental Studies and Biology from Davidson College in North Carolina. An avid rock climber, Bimini was excited to make the move back to Salt Lake City and work with SLCgreen’s team on projects including environmental compliance, climate change, air quality, energy, transportation, waste reduction, and food policy initiatives. The Special Projects Assistant plays a key role in supporting the policy and administrative work of our office, helping ensure that SLCgreen achieves our ambitious energy and climate goals.
This year, SLCgreen is also welcoming Catherine Wyffels to the newly created role of Environmental and Air Quality Program Manager. This position will focus on environmental management, reviewing environmental site assessments, and managing SLCgreen’s air quality programs and initiatives. Catherine is joining SLCgreen after 7 years as an environmental engineer with the Utah Division of Air Quality. We are so excited to have Catherine in this role, which will directly impact our community by ensuring that our building and community spaces are healthy and that our air quality continues to improve.
It’s time for the 12th annual DIY Festival. Normally held at the Salt Lake Fairgrounds, this year’s Craft Lake City will be virtual to help prevent the spread of COVID-19. This year’s festival is putting their STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, & Math) and Craft skills to work by building an entire virtual gallery for attendees to explore.
The virtual space is a unique way to engage with the community. You can pop on your VR (virtual reality) goggles, or just navigate from your computer, and explore the rooms and workshops via a personalized avatar.
But don’t be alarmed – Craft Lake City is still the same event you know and love. You’ll be able to learn about local STEM programs, as well as visit the booths of local artisans. The 3-day festival has something for everyone!
Visit Craft Lake City
If you love the SIMS, Minecraft or other Virtual Reality games, you’ll love exploring the online DIY Festival. But even if you’re not familiar with virtual spaces, there is lots to be excited about for this year’s festival.
Salt Lake City hasbeen a long-time sponsor of the festival and we’rethrilled that the organizers have figured out a way to bring the event to the community again this year.
SLCgreen usually sets up a table in the STEM center at the festival and we areexcited to be part of this year’s virtual space. With the help of the Craft Lake City teams, we built our very own SLCgreen gallery! Take a peek below:
We took an avatar on a spin through our gallery space! Don’t miss your chance to see what SLCgreen’s been up to!
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In the SLCgreen Virtual Gallery, you can learn more about :
Sustainability encompasses environmental, societal, economic, and equity needs. SLCgreen works to fight climate change, reduce emissions, ensure access to local food, and keep our air and water clean. All of SLCgreen’s environmental efforts directly link to equity and social justice.
SLCgreen is dedicated to helping the community build a more sustainable and resilient future. We hope you will visit us at the DIY Festival and tell us what “Sustainability” means to you!
Support Local Vendors
The COVID-19 pandemic has taken a serious toll on the health and economic well-being of our communities. Part of building a sustainable community is helping to support the economic and equity needs in our City. It is more important than ever to support local artists and STEM developers– and Craft Lake City presents a fun and easy way to do that.
There are many reasons to buy local. Shopping at local businesses helps support our local economy, but has the added benefit of being more environmentally sustainable. Local purchases reduce the need for bulky packaging and help cut down on emissions associated with delivery.
Find a full list of participating artists and creators here.
General admission is free, but there are many ways to donate and support the DIY Fest. Visit Craft Lake City for more information! We hope to see you there!
Chris Bell joined Salt Lake City as the Waste & Recycling Division Director in January 2020.
SLCgreen is excited to introduce Chris Bell, Salt Lake City Waste & Recycling’s new Director.
The Sustainability Department is comprised of two divisions – the Energy & Environment (E&E) Division, which is the policy division that houses our energy, local food, business engagement, internal policy, and communications roles. And then there is the Waste & Recycling Divisionwhich is the operational side of our department. This division is responsible for the daily collection of garbage, trash, and recycling, and other special programs.
So we’re happy to welcome Chris to the Department where he’ll lead the Waste & Recycling Division.
Chris’ career in recycling started almost 20 years ago. He is passionate about using his skills to have a positive impact on the environment and is guided by his philosophy to create a strong legacy of conservation. Chris believes that building a sustainable future is our collective responsibility – and has the added benefit of being good business.
Chris’ work in recycling has taken him from Utah to Colorado to Texas and back. Beginning in paper recycling and moving on though operational and commercial management, Chris is highly qualified in recycling and waste management. He is driven to maintain a strong safety record as well as improve operations to deliver outstanding service to the community.
We are thrilled to have Chris on board to help guide our City towards zero waste and a strong recycling and composting system.
The Waste & Recycling Director oversees 60 staff working to collect garbage, recycling, and yard waste from over 42,000 residents in Salt Lake City.
Join us in giving Chris a warm welcome to the SLCgreen team!
It’s 2020 already and we can hardly believe it! Salt Lake City finished out 2019 strong alongside 19 communities that opted into the Community Renewable Energy Act’s pathway to achieve net-100% renewable energy.
But that’s not all SLCgreen got up to in 2019. It was a busy year, and as a community, we have taken major strides in accomplishing our goals. See our full 2019 Year in Review here and read below for a few of the major highlights.
Thanks to all our partners in City government, other government agencies, non-profit associations, neighborhood groups, business partners, and community councils, we are continuing to make SLC more sustainable and resilient.
You can take a look at the 2017 and 2018 reports to see what we’ve been working on over the last few years. Before we set our sights on 2020, here are a few highlights from 2019!
The Salt Lake City and County Building is visible from the roof for the Leonardo Museum, which has several solar panels installed.
Air Quality, Climate Change & Energy
After a three-year collaboration with Park City, Summit County, Rocky Mountain Power, and the state legislature, we successfully saw passage of House Bill 411 the “Community Renewable Energy Act” in the 2019 legislative session. The law establishes a legal pathway for communities with 100% clean energy goals to achieve them in collaboration with Rocky Mountain Power.
Expanded public EV charging infrastructure, increasing the total number of city-owned EV charging ports to 38, plus 16 at the airport.
With Utah Clean Energy, launched “Empower SLC,” a neighborhood energy efficiency program targeting the 84116 and 84104 neighborhoods to improve energy efficiency and conservation measures that reduce pollution and lower utility costs. As of September, over 450 households have been engaged, resulting in an estimated savings of 335,353 kWh per year!
Supported Utah Climate Week 2019, collaborating with 35 organizations to highlight climate action.
Developed an energy after-school curriculum for youth groups and created a new partnership with YouthCity on programming for the Fall 2019 programs. This resulted in the adoption of “energy” as the central theme of their Science Fair.
Hosted the Elevate Buildings awards luncheon, recognizing first-year reporting commercial buildings with ENERGY STAR scores 75 and above and Mayoral recognition of exceptional performers.
Received a Blue Sky Legacy Award from Rocky Mountain Power for over 15 years of partnership in the program.
Ranked in the top 10 states around the country for solar energy production increase, according to the Energy Information Administration.
Talking about Salt Lake City’s curbside waste and recycling services.
Yesterday SLCgreen attended the 6th Annual Sorenson CommUNITY Fair. It was a great event and we had a lot of fun chatting with people about all things green in SLC! Thanks to SLCgreen interns Kara and Miya for a job well done!
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