Wednesday, August 4, 2010

Tax workers 'Clear the Air'

Your friendly public servants here at the Tax Commission will be basking in Clear the Air glory come Saturday morning.
We, like 351 other agencies and companies, participated in the statewide Clear the Air campaign. Clear the Air is the only issue - other than Mother’s Day and apple pie - that Gov. Herbert, Mayor Corroon and Mayor Becker agree.
But when Mayor Becker issued the Clear the Air Challenge earlier this summer, all three were in the same ship. They encouraged their employees and people across the Beehive State to join the fun.
Throughout July a competition was held to reduce vehicle emissions by choosing walking, biking, taking public transportation, riding in a car pool and stringing errand trips together.
Nearly 90 Tax Commission employees participated in the event and recorded trips saved. Here’s our final tally:
Miles saved - 48,762 (That’s twice around the earth)
Trips saved - 3,393 (A weekly trip to the grocery store for 65 years)
Pounds of emissions eliminated - 81,720 (The weight of 9 average African elephants)
Dollars saved - $27,354 (Should cover this year’s Christmas bonus)
Gallons of gas saved - 2,212 (At 3 bucks a gallon, who’s complaining?)
At the Farmer’s Market on Saturday we will receive the team award for “Best Integration of TravelWise Strategies.” I’m unsure what the exactly means, but it sounds impressive. Hopefully we have done our small part to improve air quality, reduce traffic congestion and conserve energy in Utah.
Peace, love and all that Jazz, Charlie