Park City, UT
Home MenuPCMC Newsletter-November, 2011
Community E-Newsletter November, 2011
24 hours of community giving.
One incredible chance to shape our future.
On 11.11.11, the Park City community will come together for 24 hours of unprecedented nonprofit giving during the Live PC Give PC event. It’s our community’s biggest-ever day of giving, and it’s your chance make a real impact. All you have to do is commit to donating to your favorite Park City nonprofit on November 11 this year.
How will you invest in Park City’s future?
To decide who you’ll support and how much you’ll give, start by thinking about all the good things our local nonprofits make possible each and every day.
o Do you love your adopted dog?
o Do you ride or hike our awe-inspiring trails?
o Do you live by the daily avalanche report?
o Do you cherish summer concerts in the mountains?
o Do you believe in a community where every person matters?
o Do you want to live in a place where all children are safe and healthy?
If you live PC, then give PC.
Support the organizations that enrich our lives here in Park City. Find out more about Live PC Give PC—and commit to give on 11.11.11! Visit livepcgivepc.org today.
Bonanza Drive Tunnel and Roadwork Completion Celebrate Grand Opening
Ribbon cutting signals the end of the Bonanza Drive Tunnel |
Mural adorns Bonanza Drive Tunnel |
Park City Green Launches Low Carbon Diet Community Challenge
Join us on Thursday, December 1st, 7:00 p.m., at Temple Har Shalom, as we launch the Low Carbon Diet community challenge. The event is free and open to the public.
Park City has ambitious sustainability goals, but they won’t be accomplished without participation from citizens like you. Something special is about to launch….are you on board?!
Click here for complete Low Carbon Launch details at ParkCityGreen.org.
Food for Fines-November 1-30, 2011
The Park City Library will be accepting non-perishable food items for overdue book fines during the month of November. The Library will forgive $1 or part of a dollar for each non-perishable item that you bring to the Circulation Desk. The non-perishable goods must be undamaged and non-expired.
Park City Holiday is Looking for Volunteers
This year "A Park City Holiday" will be held on December 14, 5-7:00 p.m. at the Quinn's Ice Arena. This will be the 25th Anniversary of the event. We are looking for Santa's Helpers, folks to pass out cookies and hot chocolate to the kids, and other miscellaneous assistance. If you or anyone you know can help with the event, contact Denise via email, or call 615-5819. |
Park City Library Participating in Reading Marathon Park City Library is Participating inthe 19th annual Reading Marathon November 14th-December 3th. Pick up your reading log at the Park City Library or online. The program encourages families to spend quality time reading together. All children, preschool age and higher may participate. |
Emergency Management
The days of Civil Defense some 30 years ago were the early beginnings of modern emergency management, but it actually started in 1803. In the century that followed, ad hoc legislation was passed more than 100 times in response to natural disasters. This piecemeal approach to disaster assistance was problematic and prompted legislation that required greater cooperation between federal agencies and authorized the President to coordinate these activities.
President Carter's 1979 Executive Order merged many of the separate disaster-related responsibilities into the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Civil defense responsibilities were also transferred to the new agency. It is here that the emergency manager profession started to take shape. Emergency Managers are planning, responding, recovering and mitigating all hazards. The job is now a recognized profession with increasing visibility.
Library Features 2011 Future Monets, Manets and Mary Cassatts Exhibit
In partnership with the Traveling Exhibits Program made possible by the Utah Division of Arts & Museums, you are invited to stop by and see the “2011 Future Monets, Manets and Mary Cassatts” exhibit from November 14th to December 15th at the Park City Library. This exhibit will feature artwork by students from grade levels K – 8 and will represent schools across the state of Utah. The artwork is a product of carefully conceived lessons plans carried out by various teachers and arts specialists in Utah schools. More
Recreation News
Pass Sale: Through the month of November, purchase a one month pass to the Park City Racquet Club for $54 and receive the second month for free. Come in to 1255 Iron Horse Drive to take advantage of the best deal of the year.
Park City Municipal Recreation & Athletic Center (PC MARC) is scheduled to celebrate its grand opening on Friday, December 16th from 2:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. There will be give-a-ways, pass specials, kid’s games and fun activities. Come celebrate the opening of this great new community facility!!! Entrance into the PC MARC will be FREE from December 16th thru December 18th as we welcome the community back. Check here for additional information.
In October, City Council . . .
• Approved an Interlocal Employee Housing Agreement with Wasatch County
• Approved a Transportation Master Plan for Park City
• Adopted a resolution supporting the Regional Climate Adaptation Planning Alliance
• Appointed Election Judges for the Municipal General Election
News You Can Use . . . Boring, But Important!
The City is moving ahead to advertise the sale of 1450 & 1460 Park Avenue and request proposals on creating housing and restoring the old houses.
On October 28, the City hosted the Colorado Association of Ski Towns and had 30 representatives, mostly Mayors and City Managers, visit and learn about Park City successes, our green initiatives, an immigration discussion lead by a rep. from Mayor Bloomberg’s office of NYC, and hear about how to improve municipal operations through using comparison data with other cities.
On December 1st, City staff and Rocky Mountain Power will be talking to the City Council about electrical upgrades in the city to include potentially relocating the Bonanza Park substation and mitigating the new larger power poles (75 to 95 feet) that will replace existing transmission poles.
On December 8th, the Park City Council and Planning Commission will meet in a joint session to discuss redevelopment of the resort base near PCMR.
Green Your Routine-Turn Your Key, Be Idle-Free
It’s official - Salt Lake City has joined Park City as the 2nd community in Utah with an anti-idling ordinance! Help protect air quality, and conserve finite resources, by shutting off your vehicle when parked. It may seem like a small act, but vehicle idling in the U.S. adds up to two billion gallons of wasted fuel each year.
Click here for Park City’s ordinance language and a citizen reporting form for local idling violations.
Departments » Sustainability » For Homes
Cleaning Supplies
When looking for natural and non-toxic cleaning products, avoid anything with synthetic ingredients or fragrances, petrochemicals, VOCs, chlorine bleach, phthalates, formaldehydes and more. You should always read the labels of any product, and if a product does not have a label with ingredients then it almost surely has harmful chemicals inside. Look out for words like Caution, Warning, Notice and Danger, which could signal a potential harmful chemical. Learn more about healthy cleaning products here.
When purchasing natural cleaning products make sure they bottle includes a list of ingredients. You should be able to pronounce the names of all of them and should know exactly what each one is. The best kind of natural cleaning product you can buy should be made with simple ingredients that you could find in the store and make yourself.
Exposure to these toxins indoors can cause eye, nose, and throat irritation; headaches; loss of coordination; nausea; and damage to liver, kidney, and central nervous systems. And we certainly don't want ourselves, our family or our pets to come in contact with these toxins or experience any of these health problems. Children and pets are especially at risk because they experience a higher dose of toxins, not to mention their immune systems are still developing and not able to shed toxins from the bodies as quickly as adults.
There are three categories into which most of the hazardous ingredients in household cleaning products fall are:
1. Carcinogens – Carcinogens cause cancer and/or promote cancer’s growth.
2. Endocrine disruptors – Endocrine disruptors mimic human hormones, confusing the body with false signals. Exposure to endocrine disruptors can lead to numerous health concerns including reproductive, developmental, growth and behavior problems. Endocrine disruptors have been linked to reduced fertility, premature puberty, miscarriage, menstrual problems, challenged immune systems, abnormal prostate size, ADHD, non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and certain cancers.
3. Neurotoxins – Neurotoxins alter neurons, affecting brain activity, causing a range of problems from headaches to loss of intellect.
Here are some startling facts about the chemicals found in cleaning products.
- 17,000: the number of petrochemicals available for home use, only 30 percent of which have been tested for exposure to human health and the environment.
- 63: the number of synthetic chemical products found in the average American home, translating to roughly 10 gallons of harmful chemicals.
- 100: the number of times higher that indoor air pollution levels can be above outdoor air pollution levels, according to US EPA estimates.
- 275: the number of active ingredients in antimicrobials that the EPA classifies as pesticides because they are designed to kill microbes.
- 5 billion: the number of pounds of chemicals that the institutional cleaning industry uses each year.
- 23: the average gallons of chemicals (that's 87 liters) that a janitor uses each year, 25 percent of which are hazardous.
- White Vinegar
- Baking Soda
- Borax
- Hydrogen Peroxide (3% concentration)
- Club Soda (plain)
- Lemon Juice
- Liquid Castile Soap
- Corn Meal
- Olive Oil or Walnut Oil
- Toothpaste
- Pure Essential Oils - like lavender, lavender, peppermint, eucalyptus, lemongrass, and tea tree oils
With all of these ingredients you can make your own natural and non-toxic cleaning supplies, which cost a lot less as well.
- All-Purpose Cleaners: This cleaner can be used for just about every surface in your home, from kitchen counters and appliances to bathroom surfaces and walls.
- Carpet Cleaner: To clean and disinfect your carpet, blend 1/2 cup baking soda, 1 cup borax, and 1 cup cornmeal. Sprinkle mixture over rug and rub with a cloth. Let rest for several hours or overnight, then vacuum. An even simpler way to clean your carpet is to sprinkly plain baking soda on your carpet, let rest for an hour and then vacuum up. You can also add dry lavender buds to the baking soda for an extra fresh smell.
- Hard Floor Cleaner: This solution can be used for all hard floors (except when directed by the manufacturer to avoid even mild detergents): Combine 1/4 liquid castile soap, up to 1/2 cup white vinegar or lemon juice, and 2 gallons of warm water in a large plastic bucket. Use with a mop or sponge.
- Glass Cleaner: To make your windows shine, you can simply use club soda in a spray bottle. Add 1 tsp. of lemon juice to increase your window cleaner’s degreasing power. Leftover newspaper works very well to reduce streaks
- Bathroom Surface Cleaners: You can use the all-purpose cleaners recommended above or, for even simpler bathroom cleaning, use baking soda or borax as a scouring powder. For a softer scrub, combine 1/2 cup baking soda with enough liquid soap to achieve a frosting-like consistency. You may want to add 5-10 drops of an essential oil for fragrance. Club soda works wonders on plumbing fixtures.
- Toilet Cleaner: Sprinkle baking soda or borax, or pour white vinegar into the toilet, and let sit for a few minutes. Scrub with a good toilet brush.
- Oven Cleaner: Cover the oven floor with baking soda, spray with water until very damp, and let set overnight. Spray with water every few hours before you go to bed to keep damp. In the morning, clean out the baking soda, and the stuck-on gunk will be loosened and ready to scrub off.
- Drain Cleaner: Put two tablespoons of baking soda into/over the drain of your sink or tub. Then pour one cup of vinegar on the baking soda. This will begin to fizz a lot and is completely normal. Wait a few minutes, and then pour a kettle of boiling water over the soda/vinegar residue.
- Mold Remover: Combe 1/2 cup hydrogen peroxide or white vinegar with 1 cup water. Spray on mold and do not rinse. You can also treat mold with a spray mixture of 2 tsp. tea tree oil and 2 cups water.
- Wood Polish: To polish wood furniture, dab olive oil or walnut oil onto a soft cloth and rub.
- Silver Polish: Just put some toothpaste on an old toothbrush or wet cloth and go to town. When you’re done polishing, rinse the item well in warm water and then dry with a soft cloth.