Clear The Air Challenge

1.7 MILLION POUNDS OF EMISSIONS AVERTED FROM OUR AIR
BY CLEAR THE AIR CHALLENGE PARTICIPANTS

Challenge Successful in Changing Habits to Improve Air Quality,
Lessen Traffic Congestion and Conserve Energy

Salt Lake City, July 18, 2009 – Salt Lake City Mayor Becker, Salt Lake County Mayor Corroon and Governor Huntsman’s Energy Advisor, Dianne Nielson, announced today that during the six-week Clear the Air Challenge Utah residents came together and eliminated 110,720 single occupant vehicle trips and averted 1,000,615 miles, resulting in a reduction of 1.7 million pounds of emissions in our air.

“We are very excited we were able to achieve our goal of saving 1,000,000 miles driven,” stated Mayor Becker. “It ‘s obvious by the community’s reaction this is a cause they care deeply about and are willing to make sacrifices to improve our air quality. It is critical we continue to build on our successes and take the lessons learned during the Challenge and apply them daily. If every driver along the Wasatch Front parked their car for one day a week, harmful emissions would decrease by 86 tons. Every trip counts.”

During the awards ceremony outstanding teams were recognized for their extraordinary efforts, those teams include:
•    Most Pounds of Emissions Saved – Rio Tinto
•    Most Trips Saved – Zions Bank
•    Most Participants  – Zoo Crew (Hogle Zoo)
•    Best Integration of TravelWise Strategies including use of public transit, carpooling, active transportation, teleworking, flexible workweeks and trip chaining – Feral Chihuahuas
•    2009 Corporate Role Model – O.C. Tanner

The grand prize winners were also announced:
•    Most Pounds of Emissions Saved – Tami Jannelli
•    Most Trips Saved – Soren Simonson, Salt Lake City Councilman, District 7
•    Most Consistent – Gold Level – Heidi Schubert
•    Most Consistent – Silver Level – Debby Vanetti
•    Most Consistent – Bronze Level – Russel Boltz

“The community’s participation and commitment to this Challenge was very impressive,” stated Mayor Corroon. “We understand it can be hard to modify habits at first, but we have been very pleased by the results. We’ve heard from many participants that once they started, the motto ‘Drive Less, Drive Smarter’ became second nature.”

The primary goals of the Challenge were to educate residents about thinking more and driving less to help reduce vehicle emissions and improve Utah’s air quality. The initial benchmarks set for the Challenge were to eliminate a total of 300,000 single occupant vehicle trips and avert 1,000,000 miles, resulting in a reduction of 1.8 million pounds of emissions in our air.

During the Challenge educational courses were held and social media sites were used to educate the public about the issue and encourage participation. Social media was also an integral part of bringing the community together on this problem and helping each other in reaching a solution. This is one of the first State campaigns that has had such a strong social media component and it seems to have had a large impact on the participation in the Challenge.

“It is our hope that this is not the end of the community’s efforts,” said Dianne Nielson. “This Challenge should be treated as the kick-off for our commitment to Drive Less, Drive Smarter. We need to continue these efforts all year round and educate other residents about TravelWise strategies. It is up to each of us to continue meeting the challenge to keep our air clear.”

This Challenge was coordinated by the Salt Lake Solutions Air Quality Partners Team, a collaboration of more than 20 government, business, community and faith-based organizations. Many local companies sponsored the program and donated prizes. The list of sponsors and the partners can be found at http://cleartheairchallenge.org/partners.php.

For more information on the Clear the Air Challenge visit:
Website: www.cleartheairchallenge.org
Participant Stories: www.cleartheairchallenge.org/blog/participant-stories
Team Spotlight: www.cleartheairchallenge.org/spotlight.php
Facebook: www.facebook.com/cleartheairchallenge
Twitter: www.twitter.com/cleartheairutah
Full List of Winners: http://cleartheairchallenge.org/grandwinners.php