Park City Community Foundation Announces First Park City Climate Fund Grantees

Recycle Utah, TreeUtah, and Utah Clean Energy Receive Grants to Implement High-Impact Climate Solutions

Park City, UT – February 18, 2020 – Park City Community Foundation is excited to announce the first round of grants from its Park City Climate Fund. Three local climate change projects are being funded for a total of $175,000. The grant recipients are Recycle Utah, TreeUtah, and Utah Clean Energy.

The Park City Climate Fund was established by Park City Community Foundation in October 2019 to provide seed capital to innovative projects that help address climate change. The fund engages people and entities in greater Park City to implement local climate solutions that are proven to have great impact on greenhouse gas emissions and/or carbon sequestration, and have the potential to be effective in other mountain communities.

“We want to be a leader and model for other communities, and right here in Park City we can scale climate projects that have been proven to support the drawdown of factors contributing to global warming,” says Katie Wright, Executive Director of Park City Community Foundation.

“These new grants represent a significant step in advancing our shared responsibility to take climate action,” continues Wright. “Through these funded projects, we believe Park City can reap a host of economic, health, and quality of life benefits for all residents.”

The projects proposed by the first grantees cover an array of issues involving public policy, community and youth engagement, practical emissions reductions, and carbon sequestration.

With its $50,000 grant, Recycle Utah will launch a two-year community education program to promote reaching zero waste by 2030. This will include both residential and commercial goals in diverting waste through recycling, food/green waste through composting, and more. The goal is to educate the community and generate policy change to divert waste from the landfill, thereby extending the life of the landfill and reducing the release of methane into the atmosphere.

With its $50,000 grant, TreeUtah will host educational community events to plant trees that in turn sequester carbon in the soil. They will host at least six educational events throughout Summit County engaging 4,000 volunteers. By planting 2,000 native trees in restoration sites and 40 large caliper trees in public schoolyards and parks, 2,310 lbs. of atmospheric carbon will be sequestered per tree over the next 50 years.

With its $75,000 grant, Utah Clean Energy will facilitate the community’s carbon neutral electricity supply and prioritize climate strategies in the building sector. Utah Clean Energy will work through the regulatory processes to enable successful implementation of the Community Renewable Energy Act which enables municipalities served by Rocky Mountain Power to achieve net-100% renewable electricity by 2030. They will also work to accelerate net-zero construction, retrofitting residential and commercial buildings, beneficial electrification, and finance strategies, targeting building codes at the local and state levels.

An additional applicant to the Park City Climate Fund, the Park City High School Earth Club, received a $6,000 grant from the KTC Fund of Park City Community Foundation. Their project aims to establish a school composting program, reduce the amount of Styrofoam used in the cafeteria, and provide educational resources related to sustainable best practices such as encouraging carpooling and using refillable water bottles rather than single-use plastic.

The first call for grant proposals to the Park City Climate Fund was announced at the Mountain Towns 2030 Net Zero Summit in October 2019 by Park City Community Foundation. 36 applications for grants were received with eight semifinalists selected to present to the grants committee, resulting in the four funded projects—including one funded by the KTC Fund.

Many donors have contributed to the fund and donations are still being accepted in order to provide more grants in the future. For more information about Park City Climate Fund, please visit: https://parkcitycf.org/climatefund/

About Park City Community Foundation: Park City Community Foundation plays a vital role in solving the most challenging problems in Park City. We care for and invest in our people, place, and culture by bringing together local nonprofits, donors, and community leaders to contribute financial resources and innovative ideas to benefit all the people of Park City—now and in the future. As the home of Live PC Give PC, Women’s Giving Fund, Solomon Fund, and other important initiatives, the Community Foundation has brought millions of dollars to the greater Park City community and Summit County. Learn more about donating, volunteering, fundraising and getting involved in the generosity of Park City at parkcitycf.org.

Media Contact: Christine Coleman, Communications and Marketing Director, christine@parkcitycf.org or 435-731-4252