$1,000 Award Goes to the Children’s Museum of Richmond

Congratulations to the Children’s Museum of Richmond for their Green Grant award of $1,000 in the Recycling Category!  By installing a water refilling station at their downtown location, they will offer families the opportunity to refill water bottles brought from home.

Community volunteers created the Children’s Museum of Richmond in 1981, with the goal of designing a place to inspire young children to develop their imaginations.  Their mission is to inspire growth in all children by engaging families in learning through play.

Through its 40+ year history, the museum dedicated its efforts toward further serving our local communities by bringing even more opportunities to learn and play closer to where our visitors work and live.

The Children’s Museum of Richmond’s Downtown location currently has several water fountain areas for families to use during their visit. However, they do not have a place for families to refill water bottles that they bring with them. The Museum does offer individual plastic bottles of water for sale at the front desk. The water refilling station will help the Children’s Museum reduce its own waste footprint by limiting the number of plastic bottles sold.

The Children’s Museum serves children 0-8 years old and their families. As an educational institution, they know the importance of teaching foundational skills and knowledge to the youngest citizens. Funds received from the Green Grant will be used to purchase a water refilling station.  This will allow the Museum to expand its environmental education by talking about the water refilling station and the benefits that it provides. Information and signs at the  refilling stations, along with parent-led and teacher-led prompts, will explain the impact of plastic on Richmond, Virginia, the United States, and the world at large.  This will be a practical addition to the Museum as an educational tool for those that visit.

The hope is that by setting the example of refilling water bottles, rather than depending on single use bottles of water, it will introduce good habits at an early age.  Providing children with a strong sense of environmental ethics while they’re young will make eco-friendliness second nature to them as they grow up.