Sierra Club praises LDS Church

As the Deseret News reported today, the LDS Church has received recognition for the City Creek Center in the first national report by the Sierra Club on communities of faith entitled “Faith in Action: Communities of Faith Bring Hope for the Planet.”

“The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) is helping revitalize downtown Salt Lake City, and it’s doing so in a green manner. City Creek Reserve, Inc. (CCRI), a real estate development arm of the church, is directing the construction of a transit-oriented, 20-acre mixed use project which will include residential, retail and office space. The results from this smart growth strategy will greatly reduce Salt Lake City's dependence on the automobile.”



Apparently more than half of the demolition debris is being recycled and only native plant species will be used for landscaping. But here is the money quote that has given me a huge permagrin today:

“The decision to pursue LEED certification was a natural outflow of the values of the LDS faith. CCRI Director of Architecture and Engineering Bill Williams says long term sustainability is central to the project. ‘As you look at the tenets of our religion, there is a notion that we must be good stewards in all that we do,’ explains Williams. ‘It is our hope that this project will be prosperous, while standing true to our values of wise stewardship and giving back to the community.’ Williams and the CCRI designers hope this project will be a catalyst for further neighborhood redevelopment, noting that it allows residents and visitors to celebrate the unique natural beauty and rich history of Salt Lake City.”


Bill Williams

It is enormously refreshing to hear the director of the Church Architecture and Engineering department speak in terms of stewardship, values, community, and sustainability. This is a great day for Mormon environmentalists everywhere.

Every state is represented, so check out the full report and see what religious groups in your state are doing to help protect and preserve the environment.
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Highlighted Environmental Artist: Chris Jordan

Paper Bags, 2007
60x80"
Depicts 1.14 million brown paper supermarket bags, the number used in the US every hour.


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Detail at actual print size:



Running the Numbers
An American Self-Portrait

"This series looks at contemporary American culture through the austere lens of statistics. Each image portrays a specific quantity of something…My hope is that images representing these quantities might have a different effect than the raw numbers alone, such as we find daily in articles and books…This project visually examines these vast and bizarre measures of our society, in large intricately detailed prints assembled from thousands of smaller photographs. The underlying desire is to emphasize the role of the individual in a society that is increasingly enormous, incomprehensible, and overwhelming."


Cans Seurat, 2007
60x92"
Depicts 106,000 aluminum cans, the number used in the US every thirty seconds.


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Detail at actual size:



Plastic Cups, 2008
60x90"
Depicts one million plastic cups, the number used on airline flights in the US every six hours.


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Detail at actual size:


"My only caveat about this series is that the prints must be seen in person to be experienced the way they are intended. As with any large artwork, their scale carries a vital part of their substance which is lost in these little web images. Hopefully the JPEGs displayed here might be enough to arouse your curiosity to attend an exhibition, or to arrange one if you are in a position to do so. The series is a work in progress, and new images will be posted as they are completed, so please stay tuned."

~chris jordan, Seattle, 2007
http://www.chrisjordan.com/
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America’s 50 Greenest Cities (and Salt Lake made the list!)

Last month Popular Science ranked all US cities over 100,000 people. The intent was to highlight those cities who are 'anxiously engaged' rather than waiting to be compelled by the Federal Government. Coming in at #36 is Salt Lake City, Utah; just ahead of Pasadena, California and just behind Kansas City, Missouri.

#36 Salt Lake City, Utah - 13.5
Electricity – 3.6
Transportation – 4.1
Green Living – 2.3
Recycling/Perspective – 3.5

"In everything from emissions control to environmental stewardship, cities across the country are far ahead of the federal government, and they’re achieving their successes with ready-made technology." (source) Three of the top seven cities are in the Bay Area of California. Additionally, three of the top eight cities are in the Pacific Northwest. About half of the Top 50 cities are in the Western US.

Looking at Salt Lake’s scores as a percentage tells us Salt Lake is scoring weakest in the area of Renewable Energy sources and strongest in recycling and environmental awareness.
Electricity – 3.6/10.0 = .36
Transportation – 4.1/10.0 = .41
Green Living – 2.3/5.0 = .46
Recycling/Perspective – 3.5/5.0 = .70

Scoring was lumped into four broad categories:
Electricity (E; 10 points): Cities score points for drawing their energy from renewable sources such as wind, solar, biomass and hydroelectric power, as well as for offering incentives for residents to invest in their own power sources, like roof-mounted solar panels.
Transportation (T; 10 points): High scores go to cities whose commuters take public transportation or carpool. Air quality also plays a role.
Green living (G; 5 points): Cities earn points for the number of buildings certified by the U.S. Green Building Council, as well as for devoting area to green space, such as public parks and nature preserves.
Recycling and green perspective (R; 5 points): This measures how comprehensive a city’s recycling program is (if the city collects old electronics, for example) and how important its citizens consider environmental issues.

Other cities of interest scoring a perfect score in the main categories:
Electricity – Eugene, OR 10.0
Transportation – New York, NY 10.0
Green Living – Chicago, IL 5.0
Recycling/Perspective – Lexington, KY 5.0
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