Friends of Norfolk’s Environment Receives $1,000 Green Grant Award

To help better address litter in Lafayette Park, Friends of Norfolk’s Environment (FONE) has been awarded a $1,000 grant to continue work on the campaign “Love our City, Litter Free Lafayette Park” initiative, as part of our 12th Annual Green Grants Program.

FONE is an all-volunteer nonprofit organization focused on citizen-based initiatives that build stronger more resilient neighborhoods in Norfolk through environmental stewardship.  It works with community partners to facilitate greening initiatives like strengthening Norfolk’s tree canopy, assisting with litter abatement, and recycling projects.

Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, like most areas Norfolk faced a severe increase in litter at the same time there was a sharp decrease in the number of litter cleanup volunteers. To further exacerbate the issue, restless residents began to utilize parks and beaches and gathered outdoors in record numbers. Unfortunately, that led to a rise in litter.

Friends of Norfolk’s Environment will work on a joint project with Keep Norfolk Beautiful and Norfolk Parks and Recreation to pilot a series of litter abatement strategies at Lafayette Park that will identify practical approaches to be scaled up in other public spaces.  Strategies include installing cigarette and trash bag receptacles in five picnic shelters, providing a litter kit to patrons using the shelters, anti-littering signage, pet waste stations, and sidewalk stickers.

Funds from the Green Grant award will be used to purchase lids for trash bins located adjacent to picnic shelters. Current receptacles are open and encourage flyaway trash and animal foraging, leading to litter and an ongoing safety issue for the park’s visitors, as well as animals at the nearby Virginia Zoo and the Lafayette River.