Sustainability | Cottonwood Heights, UT

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City Sustainability Efforts

Since Cottonwood Heights incorporated as a city in 2005, sustainability has been an important focus. Through ongoing efforts, Cottonwood Heights continues to strive toward a more sustainable future for generations of community members to come. Read about some of these sustainability efforts here:

Sustainability Plans

PLAN	Description
Interlocal Sustainability Action Plan	This plan outlines sustainability goals for Cottonwood Heights, Holladay, and Millcreek. Each respective city council adopted the plan in 2021, and it has received two awards for its unique scope and approach.
Open Space Master Plan \| Interactive map	This adopted plan establishes goals, recommendations, and priorities for maintaining and improving Cottonwood Heights parks, trails, and open spaces. It will be used as a long-range tool to direct future related projects and priorities.
Cottonwood Heights General Plan	The General Plan is a guiding document for the city's future and was written in 2005 when the city was incorporated. This plan features various sustainability elements, including: The Urban Trails Element, Chapter V The Parks and Open Space Element, Chapter IV The Natural Environment Element, Chapter IX We are currently updating it, so visit the General Plan page for more updates.

PLAN

Description

Interlocal Sustainability Action Plan

This plan outlines sustainability goals for Cottonwood Heights, Holladay, and Millcreek. Each respective city council adopted the plan in 2021, and it has received two awards for its unique scope and approach.

Open Space Master Plan | Interactive map

This adopted plan establishes goals, recommendations, and priorities for maintaining and improving Cottonwood Heights parks, trails, and open spaces. It will be used as a long-range tool to direct future related projects and priorities.

Cottonwood Heights General Plan

The General Plan is a guiding document for the city's future and was written in 2005 when the city was incorporated. This plan features various sustainability elements, including:

We are currently updating it, so visit the General Plan page for more updates.

Sustainability Resolutions and Ordinances

Water Conservation

In 2021, the city council adopted a water conservation landscaping ordinance that encourages water conservation landscaping for any yard project and requires it as part of new construction.

In addition to promoting water savings, this ordinance allows Cottonwood Heights residents to continue to be eligible for the Flip Your Strip and Localscapes Rewards incentive programs. To learn more about these incentives, visit the Utah Water Savers website.

City Hall Solar

Through a generous grant provided by Rocky Mountain Power's Blue Sky Grant Program, Cottonwood Heights has installed a solar array on the City Hall roof. This array is designed to offset approximately 60% of the building's electricity use, resulting in reduced emissions from fossil fuel energy, as well as monetary savings on facility electricity bills.

View the solar array production by visiting the online monitoring website.

City Hall Electric Vehicle Chargers

Made possible through grant funding from Rocky Mountain Power and the Utah Department of Environmental Quality, Cottonwood Heights has installed an electric vehicle charger at City Hall at the east end of the main parking lot. This Level II charger can serve two vehicles at a time.

There is no cost to use the charger, but charging time is limited to two hours at a time. Vehicles may only park in the designated stalls if they are actively charging.

Tri-City Emissions Baselining Study

In 2021, Cottonwood Heights participated in the Tri-City Emissions Baselining Project. Funded through a Utah Clean Air Partnership (UCAIR) Grant, this project outlines the current emissions impact of city facilities and fleets across the tri-city region of Cottonwood Heights, Holladay, and Millcreek.

Understanding our current emissions output is an important step in considering ways to reduce harmful emissions moving forward. Read the final report on city facilities and the report on city fleets.

Thank you to UCAIR, Utah Clean Cities, Utah Clean Energy, and the Salt Lake Community College Energy Institute for your partnership on this project!

Community Renewable Energy Program

The Community Renewable Energy Program is a unique partnership between Utah communities and Rocky Mountain Power. Made possible through legislation passed in 2019, this partnership is working to set up a new Rocky Mountain Power electricity program that runs off of net-100% renewable electricity.

In 2019, the city council passed Resolution 2019-66, which sets the goal of providing the option of net-100% renewable electricity for community members by 2030. This program creates a pathway for Cottonwood Heights to reach this goal, with the program slated to run on net-100% renewable electricity by 2030.

Cottonwood Heights has been a key collaborator in this program since its beginning and is an active member of the Community Renewable Energy Agency, a cooperative of 18 Utah communities directing the program design in collaboration with Rocky Mountain Power and state regulators. To learn more about the agency and the program it guides, visit the Utah 100 Communities site.

Glass Recycling

If you don't want to add curbside glass recycling to your waste management service, Cottonwood Heights has partnered with Wasatch Front Waste and Recycling to offer a glass recycling drop-off dumpster for public use.

The glass recycling dumpster provided by Wasatch Front Waste and Recycling has moved. It is now located in the rear parking lot at Whitmore Library along Fort Union Blvd. It is periodically taken away to be emptied, so if you find no bin at the site, please try again a short time later.

Wasatch Front Waste and Recycling also facilitates a curbside glass recycling service to residents of the city. For more information on this option, and for more information on glass recycling generally, please visit this link.

Holiday Hours Notice

City Sustainability Efforts