2020 Clear the Air Challenge Results Announced

Fidelity Investments and Dell Technologies Take Top Awards

SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH (May 22, 2020) – Fidelity Investments and Dell Technologies – Utah took top honors in the 11th annual Clear the Air Challenge, sponsored by the Salt Lake Chamber, TravelWise and UCAIR. While announcement of the 2020 winners was scheduled for March 16, timing was disrupted by COVID-19, and the sponsors felt it appropriate to postpone the announcement of final results until today.

“Air quality is an issue that touches all aspects of life ⁠— health, home and happiness,” said Derek Miller, President and CEO of the Salt Lake Chamber. “It is as important personally as it is to our community and economy. I am proud of the continued support and adoption of clear air principles by Utah businesses and their employees. Our winners ⁠— Fidelity Investments and Dell Technologies ⁠— are not just great places to work but great stewards of our environment, and I applaud everyone who participated in another successful campaign.”

The Clear the Air Challenge is a month-long initiative undertaken by business, government and community leaders that encourages Utah residents to drive less and drive smarter during the month of February. Participants help improve air quality by avoiding trips alone in their car and using TravelWise Strategies such as carpooling, public transit, walking, biking or trip chaining.

The University of Utah and Rocky Mountain Power finished along with Fidelity as top leaders among large teams. Enterprise Rent-A-Car and the Utah Department of Environmental Quality joined Dell Technologies Utah as leaders in the small teams categories. Shirely Zhao of the University of Utah, Sarah Leavitt of Department of Environmental Quality and John Strong of the Utah Department of Health finished atop individual participants.

“The Clear the Air Challenge gives our employees a chance to demonstrate their personal commitment to improving Utah’s air quality,” said Rocky Mountain Power’s president and CEO Gary Hoogeveen. “It’s incredible to see our employees leading the charge on such an important issue. We also have several exciting clean-air projects in the works that will increase access to electrified transportation and low-emissions homes and businesses. I look forward to working with our community partners to create the clean-air future we all want.”

The newest development to the Clear the Air Challenge included modifying the Challenge’s goals to better reflect the past winter Challenge years. The updated goals were as follows: 375 tons of CO2 reduced; 100,000 trips eliminated; and 2,000,000 miles saved. In the attempt to further focus on air quality efforts, the primary focus being on emissions saved rather than trips eliminated and miles saved.

“In our efforts to clear the air we know there are no perfect answers, but there are practical solutions,” said Thom Carter, Executive Director of UCAIR. “By empowering the people whom you work with through the Challenge, you help them find solutions that work innovatively for them. We applaud the efforts of our Challenge participants and appreciate their commitment to our community.”

Collectively, this year’s participants eliminated 97,521 trips, saved 1,596,618.9 miles, 476.4 tons of CO2 and $0.5 million, and burned 1.9 million calories in just 29 days.

Top Large Teams:
Fidelity Investments
University of Utah
Rocky Mountain Power

Top Small Teams:
Dell Technologies – Utah
Enterprise Rent-A-Car
Department of Environmental Quality

Top Participants:
Shirely Zhao, University of Utah
Sarah Leavitt, Department of Environmental Quality
John Strong, Department of Health

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ABOUT THE CLEAR THE AIR CHALLENGE
The Clear the Air Challenge, issued by business, government and community leaders, is a month-long competition starting February 1 that gives you the chance to reduce your vehicle emissions by choosing alternatives to driving alone. The Clear the Air Challenge is a partnership between the Salt Lake Chamber, TravelWise and UCAIR.

ABOUT THE SALT LAKE CHAMBER
The Salt Lake Chamber is Utah’s largest and longest-standing business association. A statewide chamber of commerce with members in all 29 Utah counties, the Chamber represents the broad interests of the state’s 63,000- plus employers, which employ more than 1.4 million Utahns. This includes thousands of Chamber members and their employees. With roots that date back to 1887, the Chamber stands as the voice of business, supports its members’ success and champions community prosperity.

2019 Clear the Air Challenge Winners Announced

SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH (March 8, 2019) – The 10th annual Clear the Air Challenge wrapped up last week and the Salt Lake Chamber, along with its partners TravelWise and UCAIR, are excited to release the final results of the 2019 Clear the Air Challenge.

The Clear the Air Challenge is a month-long initiative that encourages Utah residents to drive less and drive smarter during the month of February. Participants help improve air quality by avoiding trips alone in their car and using alternative modes of transportation such as carpooling, taking public transit, walking, biking or trip chaining.

Fidelity Investments and the Utah Department of Environmental Quality were the top large and small teams, respectively.

“Environmental sustainability has long been a part of Fidelity’s commitment to our community – from our sustained efforts to reduce printing, to our fully-subsidized transportation passes to our LEED certified buildings,” said Carly Seely, Team Leader in Workplace Planning and Advice and head of the Fidelity Investments Sustainability Committee in Utah. “We’ve proudly accepted the past eight Clear the Air Challenges and in that time our employees have stopped an estimated 446 tons of carbon dioxide emissions from entering Utah’s air.”

For the second year, the Challenge was held in the month of February to draw attention to individuals and teams who make a difference to our air quality by creating new commuting habits and changing their individual behavior during a time when air quality is visibly at its worst.

“The Department of Environmental Quality and its employees have been cheerleaders and participants of the Clear the Air Challenge since it started in 2009,” said Donna Spangler, Communications Director for the department. “We know how important it is to ‘walk the talk,’ and the challenge allows us to improve air quality by taking small steps to drive less and drive smarter. If this challenge helps people see how simple it is to use transit, carpool and trip-chain, Utah’s air will be clean and healthy all year long.”

The Salt Lake Chamber set a goal this year to increase private sector involvement in the Challenge. “To see an increase in the number of businesses across the state getting involved with the Clear the Air Challenge this year was very encouraging. Utah businesses and their employees care about keeping our air clean and I commend the work of all participants in taking steps to improve the air we breathe and as a result, improve quality of life for all Utahns,” said Derek Miller, President and CEO of the Salt Lake Chamber.

Collectively, this year’s participants eliminated 84,421 trips, saved 1,244,624 miles, 359.8 tons of CO2 and $0.4 million, and burned 1.6 million calories in just 28 days.

“As I often say, in our efforts to clear the air there are no perfect answers, but there are practical solutions,” said Thom Carter, Executive Director of UCAIR. “With the completion of the 10th annual Clear the Air Challenge, we are pleased with how our business community continues to rally together to help their employees find the practical solution that works for them. The continued success of this program further shows that working together to find solutions is what makes Utah special. UCAIR is proud to partner with the Salt Lake Chamber and TravelWise on the Challenge.”

Top Large Teams:
Fidelity Investments
University of Utah
Utah Transit Authority
Goldman Sachs
Weber State University

Top Small Teams:
Utah Department of Environmental Quality
Enterprise Rent-A-Car
Weber-Morgan Health Department
Culinary Crafts
Dell EMC Utah

Top Participants:
Michael Bard, University of Utah
Meagan Price, Culinary Crafts
Clayton Price, Culinary Crafts
David Vasquez, Utah State Board of Education
Jessica Kent, University of Utah

2019 Clear the Air Challenge Kickoff

One month of driving less and smarter to help improve Utah’s Air

SALT LAKE CITY, UT (January 25, 2019) – Today the Salt Lake Chamber, along with its clean air partners UCAIR and TravelWise, kicked off the 10th Annual Clear the Air Challenge. The Challenge, issued by business, government and community leaders, is a month-long competition designed to encourage Utahns to reduce their vehicle emissions by choosing alternatives to driving alone.  

Transportation emissions are responsible for nearly fifty percent of the pollutants that make up our poor air quality. By reducing vehicle trips, we can protect our health, environment, economy and quality of life. That’s why participants of the Clear the Air Challenge use TravelWise strategies like carpooling, using public transit, teleworking, trip chaining, using electric vehicles, walking or riding their bike or scooter to reduce their emissions and help clear Utah’s air.

“While we can’t do much about our geography, we can control the choices we make to decrease the emissions that cause air pollution,” said Derek Miller, president and CEO of the Salt Lake Chamber and Downtown Alliance. “The Clear the Air Challenge shows us that small individual changes can, and do, make a difference to Utah’s air quality. And when we improve our air quality, we enhance the well-being of all Utahns and ensure our continued economic success.”

Since the Challenge started in 2009, participants have helped make a big difference in improving Utah’s air quality. In that time, more than a million trips have been eliminated, 15 million miles saved, 5,000 tons of emissions reduced and $6.5 million saved.

“As we all know, there are no perfect answers to solving Utah’s air quality problems, but there are practical solutions,” said Thom Carter, UCAIR executive director. “The Clear the Air Challenge is one way to engage the citizens of Utah in finding practical solutions that make a real difference in improving our air quality.”

Business and organization participation is a key component of the challenge. By encouraging employees to participate, businesses can create a team to make an even bigger impact.  

“Penna Powers is proud to have been a partner and a participant in the Clear the Air Challenge for the last 10 years,” said Dave Smith, president of Penna Powers. “We incentivize our employees to participate in the challenge by offering fare reimbursement for those who take public transit, flex schedules, teleworking options as well as encourage carpooling whenever possible. As a result, Penna Powers employees are proud to work for a business that cares about the environment as much as they do.”

Tracking your miles during the Clear the Air Challenge just got easier thanks to the new Commute Tracker app. Now participants can log their trips on the go. The Commute Tracker app allows Clear the Air Challenge participants to log their regular trips, like those from home to the office, automatically. It also allows users to manually log their trips from their phone throughout the challenge.

As always, you can track your trips saved from your mobile device or computer with the TravelWise Tracker. Once you register for the challenge at ClearTheAirChallenge.org you can enter in a starting and ending location and receive carpool options, transit routes, or biking and walking routes. The TravelWise tracker gives the amount of emissions you’ll save and the time it will take to make your trip.  

The Clear the Air Challenge starts February 1st.  Register your team of coworkers, family or friends at ClearTheAirChallenge.org and be part of the solution.

The Challenge would like to recognize community supporters: Cache Valley Chamber of Commerce, Cedar City Chamber of Commerce, Davis Chamber of Commerce, Downtown Alliance, Greater Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, Heber Valley Chamber, Holladay Chamber of Commerce, Hurricane Valley Chamber of Commerce, Moab Chamber of Commerce, Ogden-Weber Chamber of Commerce, Sandy Area Chamber of Commerce, South Jordan Chamber of Commerce, Tooele County Chamber of Commerce, Vernal Area Chamber of Commerce, West Jordan Chamber of Commerce, and Utah Valley Chamber of Commerce.

Additionally, the Challenge recognizes media partners: X96 KXRK, ABC4 Utah and Fox 13.

ABOUT THE CLEAR THE AIR CHALLENGE

The Clear the Air Challenge, issued by business, government and community leaders, is a month-long competition starting February 1st, that gives you the chance to reduce your vehicle emissions by choosing alternatives to driving alone. The Clear the Air Challenge is a partnership between TravelWise, UCAIR, Penna Powers and the Salt Lake Chamber.

ABOUT THE SALT LAKE CHAMBER

The Salt Lake Chamber is Utah’s largest and longest-standing business association. A statewide chamber of commerce with members in all 29 Utah counties, the Chamber represents the broad interests of the state’s 63,000- plus employers, which employ more than 1.4 million Utahns. This includes thousands of Chamber members and their employees. With roots that date back to 1887, the Chamber stands as the voice of business, supports its members’ success and champions community prosperity.

Clear the Air Challenge Winners Announced

SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH (March 16, 2018) – The 2018 Clear the Air Challenge has wrapped up and the first winter-time Challenge was a huge success. The Salt Lake Chamber, along with its partners TravelWise and UCAIR, are excited to release the final results of the 2018 Clear the Air Challenge.

The Clear the Air Challenge is a month-long initiative that encourages Utah residents to drive less and drive smarter during the month of February. Participants help improve air quality by avoiding trips alone in their car and using alternative modes of transportation such as carpooling, taking public transit, walking, biking or trip chaining.

For the first time in its 9-year history, the 2018 Challenge was held in the month of February to draw attention to individuals and teams who make a difference for our air by creating new commuting habits and changing their individual behavior during a time when air quality is visibly at its worst.

“The Clear the Air Challenge shows us that small individual changes can, and do, make a difference to Utah’s air quality,” said Lane Beattie, president and CEO of the Salt Lake Chamber. “Doing our part to clear the air isn’t just about our quality of life, it’s about the quality of life of our children and grandchildren. We are encouraged that so many businesses and individuals are taking responsibility and have taken actions towards clearing up our air and creating a better future for all Utahns.”

Collectively, this year’s participants eliminated 89,076 trips, saved 1,427,134 miles, 368.1 tons of CO2 and $423,388 dollars, and burned 2,120,838 calories in just 28 days.

“We at UCAIR continue to be optimistic with the way our business community comes together to find solutions related to air quality,” said Thom Carter, Executive Director of UCAIR. “With the amount of participation this year, it is clear that our business leaders are looking inward and finding ways to work within their organizations to have the best long term effect on our air. In our efforts to clear the air there are no perfect answers, but there are practical solutions; everyone that participated in the Clear the Air Challenge now knows how easy it is to find a practical solution that works for them.”

Top Large Teams:

  1. University of Utah
  2. Utah Transit Authority
  3. Fidelity Investments
  4. Salt Lake City Corporation
  5. Weber-Morgan Residents

Top Small Teams

  1. Enterprise Rent-A-Car
  2. Utah Department of Environmental Quality
  3. Weber-Morgan Health Department
  4. Management & Training Corporation
  5. HEAL Utah

Top Users

  1. Clayton Price
  2. Soren Simonsen
  3. Megan Price
  4. Spencer Hancock
  5. Stephen Rufus

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ABOUT THE CLEAR THE AIR CHALLENGE

The Clear the Air Challenge, issued by business, government and community leaders, is a month-long competition that gives you the chance to reduce your vehicle emissions by choosing alternatives to driving alone. The Clear the Air Challenge is a partnership between TravelWise, UCAIR and the Salt Lake Chamber.

ABOUT THE SALT LAKE CHAMBER

The Salt Lake Chamber is Utah’s largest and longest-standing business association. A statewide chamber of commerce with members in all 29 Utah counties, the Chamber represents the broad interests of the state’s 63,000- plus employers, which employ more than 1.4 million Utahns. This includes thousands of Chamber members and their employees. With roots that date back to 1887, the Chamber stands as the voice of business, supports its members’ success and champions community prosperity.

CONTACT
Salt Lake Chamber
Kimberly Flores
(801) 328-5089
kflores@slchamber.com

2018 Team Story: Salt Lake City Corp.

Salt Lake City Corp. ramped up our game in 2018 for the Clear the Air Challenge. As Utah’s capital city, we understand how important it is to “walk our talk” on air quality and reducing our own emissions. The Challenge is a fun way to engage employees on commuting behaviors and to bring more awareness to the power and choices we all have to make a difference.

This year SLC ran an “internal bracket” between departments for four weeks. We paired each of our 16 departments against another to see who won based on different metrics each week (trips saved per capita, total trips saved, most improved, etc). There were no departments eliminated in the bracket, but the department with the most “wins” received the Mayor’s Clear the Air Challenge Cup. Participating employees from the winning department also received a lunch gift certificate from the Mayor’s Office.

This strategy significantly increased SLC Corp’s competitive spirit (friendly “trash talk” abounded) and upped participation. We were pleased to finish in the top 5 on the overall leaderboard in 2018! We also saw bigger departments running their own competition between their divisions. Here are some strategies from the Department of Community & Neighborhoods which finished 20th overall statewide. They:

  • Created little competitions within our team to personalize the Challenge
  • Mentioned the competition and how we were doing multiple times a week to keep up momentum
  • Used each week as a chance to beat another department.
  • Weekly updates in our intra department newsletter.

The Clear the Air Challenge works however you can make it fun and competitive for your organization. We can’t wait to see what more we can do next year!

2018 Team Story: Culinary Crafts

Culinary Crafts loved participating in the Clear the Air Challenge this year! We’ve participated for the past 3 years, but 2018 was our best yet! When you cater for thousands of people each year, you see the environmental impact of large-scale events up-close and personal. That’s why our goal is always to make our carbon footprint as small as possible. We embraced that goal in this years challenge! We put fliers to remind our staff to log their trips all over the office (including the bathrooms). We also had a milk and cookies kick-off event where our employees ate car shaped cookies. We even put a bike in our front office for employees to use instead of driving!

Our favorite way to reduce emissions (and something we rocked at during this year’s challenge) is van-pooling! Culinary Crafts offers bonuses to team members who van-pool, but that’s not why we do it. Not only does van-pooling help the environment, it also builds team relationships. Those van rides are a highlight of the job!

Culinary Craft’s efforts to improve air quality in Utah are ongoing. We will continue to do our best for Utah and are already looking forward to next year’s challenge!

2018 Team Story: Weber-Morgan Health Department

Walking meetings and walking breaks are a big part of the Weber-Morgan Health Department‘s Worksites Empowered project to encourage local businesses and agencies to implement worksite wellness programs. Our health promotion employees try to embody the concepts they teach as they walk to meet with community partners or plan for their upcoming workshops. In bad weather, they carpool and others skipped a trip to try out some of the in-office workout techniques rather than going off site to the gym.

Interested in learning more about the Worksites Empowered Project?

Join the Weber-Morgan Health Department for a lunch and learn on March 22. To register or more information: Click Here. Cost is $15 and includes lunch and a walking tour of actual healthy worksite ideas. Presentations will be focused on resources available in Weber County but HR and Wellness professionals from anywhere are invited to attend.

Downtown SLC Free Fare Zone

Many Utahns who live outside of downtown Salt Lake City may be surprised to find out that there is an entire section of the downtown area where bus and TRAX travel is completely free.

The next time you want to come to downtown Salt Lake City, consider taking the FrontRunner from your area to downtown. Then utilize the free fare zone to get where you need to go.

Learn more on the UTA website.

How each of us makes a difference for clean air quality

Originally published by Good4Utah on February 5, 2017.

2/5/2018 – SALT LAKE CITY, UT – The Salt Lake Chamber and its clean air partners kick off the 9th Annual Clear the Air Challenge. The Challenge, issued by business, government and community leaders, is a month-long competition designed to encourage Utahns to reduce their vehicle emissions by choosing alternatives to driving alone. Kimberly Flores, Director of Public Relations and Communication for the Salt Lake Chamber shared the main goal of the challenge and how we can all individually be responsible.

And for the first time, the Clear the Air Challenge will be held during the month of February, when our air quality is visibly at its worst.

“There is no greater health threat to our community than poor air quality,” said Lane Beattie, president and CEO of the Salt Lake Chamber. “Doing our part to clear the air isn’t just about our quality of life, it’s about the quality of life for our children and grandchildren. It’s also an economic issue. In order to attract and retain the kind of talent we need to further our state’s economy, we have to protect our unparalleled quality of life. This is everyone’s responsibility. The Clear the Air Challenge shows us that small individual changes can, and do, make a difference to Utah’s air quality.”

Transportation emissions are responsible for nearly fifty percent of the pollutants that make up our poor air quality. By reducing vehicle trips, we can protect our health, environment, economy and quality of life. That’s why participants of the Clear the Air Challenge use TravelWise strategies like carpooling, using public transit, teleworking, trip chaining, walking or riding their bike, and, new this year, using electric vehicles, to reduce their emissions and help clear up Utah’s air.

“As we all know, there are no perfect answers to solving Utah’s air quality problems, but there are practical solutions,” said Thom Carter, UCAIR executive director. “The Clear the Air Challenge is one way to engage the citizens of Utah in finding practical solutions that make a real difference in improving our air quality.”

Since the Challenge started in 2009, participants have helped make a big difference in improving Utah’s air quality. In that time, almost a million trips have been eliminated, 13.6 million miles were saved, 4,700 tons of emissions were reduced and more than $6 million was saved.

“While many seemingly small individual behaviors contribute to the problem, it is also small changes on each of our parts which can make the biggest difference,” said Michael Shea, senior policy associate with HEAL Utah. “This is why the Clear the Air Challenge is such a great event. It creates a coordinated framework to show Utahns how easy it is to make difference and how big of an impact they can make.”

Business and organization participation is a key component of the challenge. By encouraging employees to participate, businesses can create a team to make an even bigger impact. Employees from last year’s winner, Fidelity Investments, prevented 492 tons of emissions from entering the air.

“Fidelity Investments has participated in the Clear the Air Challenge for the past seven years. The pride of being a responsible corporate citizen motivates our employees tremendously,” said Carly Seely, head of Fidelity’s Sustainability Committee. “Environmental sustainability has long been a part of Fidelity’s commitment to our community and participating in the Challenge is a tangible way to really make an impact.”

Ultimately, we all breathe the same air and want it to be healthy. By working together, we can continue to make progress in cleaning up Utah’s air. That’s why this year Mark Miller Subaru is also participating in the Clear the Air Challenge.

“As a Certified Eco-Friendly Subaru retailer in our beautiful state, we take environmental sustainability very seriously,” said Jeff Miller, General Manager of Mark Miller Subaru.  “It’s during days of poor air-quality that I ask myself, my team, and members of our community, ‘What can we do differently?’ While it seems antithetical for a car dealer to suggest public transportation, biking and other alternatives to driving, our way of life and the air we breathe far exceeds all else.  Our team at Mark Miller Subaru is looking forward to participating in the Clear the Air Challenge to make steps in improving Utah’s air quality”.

Tracking your miles during the Clear the Air Challenge from your mobile device or computer is easy thanks to the TravelWise Tracker. Once you register for the challenge at ClearTheAirChallenge.org you can enter in a starting and ending location and receive carpool options, transit routes, or biking and walking routes. The TravelWise tracker gives the amount of emissions you’ll save and the time it will take to make your trip.

The Clear the Air Challenge starts February 1st.  Register your team of coworkers, family or friends at ClearTheAirChallenge.org and be part of the solution.

About the Clear the Air Challenge

The Clear the Air Challenge, issued by business, government and community leaders, is a month-long competition starting February 1st, that gives you the chance to reduce your vehicle emissions by choosing alternatives to driving alone. The Clear the Air Challenge is a partnership between TravelWise, UCAIR, Penna Powers and the Salt Lake Chamber.

Simple ways you can help clean up Utah’s air for the 9th Annual Clear the Air Challenge

Originally published by Good4Utah on February 1, 2018.

Today kicks off the 9th Annual Clear the Air Challenge. The goal for the movement is simple: clean up Utah’s dirty air. Lara Fritts, Director of the Salt Lake Department of Economic Development, and Vicki Bennett, the city’s Director of Sustainability, joined Brian Carlson to talk about how it works.

The Challenge is a month-long competition designed to encourage Utahns to reduce their vehicle emissions by choosing alternatives to driving alone. For the first time, the Clear the Air Challenge will be held during the month of February, when our air quality is visibly at its worst.

The Clear the Air Challenge has helped make a big difference in improving Utah’s air. But we need to stay on it. Here is the main goal for this year’s challenge:

  • Eliminate 300,000 single-occupant trips to save 2 million miles

In order to do this, at least 10,000 Utahns will need to engage and register at ClearTheAirChallenge.org. Clear the Air Challenge is a great event, because it creates a coordinated framework to show Utahns how easy it is to make difference. Visit the website to see the impact and get stats of last year’s challenge.

Fidelity Investments in downtown SLC won last year’s team competition, followed closely by University of Utah and L3 Technologies. Fidelity’s team efforts alone prevented 492 tons of emissions from entering the air last year. When you register at ClearTheAirChallenge.org, it’s quick and easy to create or join a team.

Teams can be anything: companies, departments, neighbors, or friends. Salt Lake City Economic Development has challenged the city’s Finance Department this year. In fact, every city department is getting involved. All 3000 of the city’s staff members are encouraged to participate in the challenge.

Fritts and Bennett say it starts from the top, usually with your company’s CEO recognizing it’s importance.

A good place to start planning your commute and finding options can start with the Travel Wise Tracker. It’s a free, easy tool you are able to use anytime. Simply find your route, then enter beginning and ending destination. It will show you all of the alternatives to driving your car. It will even show you carpools that are available.

Doing our part to clear the air isn’t just about our quality of life, it’s also an economic issue. In order to attract and retain the kind of talent needed to further our state’s economy, we have to protect our unparalleled quality of life, and they say this is everyone’s responsibility.

There are no perfect answers but there are practical solutions. The Clear the Air Challenge shows us that small individual changes can, and do, make a difference to Utah’s air quality.

Visit ClearTheAirChallenge.org now to join and make a difference.