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Green background with words Time is running out! Apply for a Green Grant before midnight, April 30; clock with legs running, KVB logo, tiny URL: https://tinyurl.com/2fxd59nf

$500 – $1,000 Grant Apply Through April 30

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Green background with words Time is running out! Apply for a Green Grant before midnight, April 30; clock with legs running, KVB logo, tiny URL: https://tinyurl.com/2fxd59nfWe know that YOU can do great things in your communities, and WE want to help!

We’re awarding $500, $750, and $1,000 Green Grants to groups to improve the natural and scenic environment of Virginia.  Since 2011, Keep Virginia Beautiful has provided $307,000 for 415 programs and projects throughout the state.  The program has been so successful because of the nonprofits, schools, faith-based organizations, civic leagues, “Friends of” groups, Scouts, and others who see a need where they live, and apply for a grant to get it accomplished.

You can apply for a Green Grant in any of the four categories:  Litter Prevention, Cigarette Litter Prevention, Community Beautification, and Recycling.  The applications are evaluated and scored by a panel of experts in their fields, and in June, one Green Grant award is announced one each day, until all thirty awards have been revealed.

The general Grant Application Guidelines should be read before an application is submitted. Click here to start a 2024 Green Grant Application.

Applications are due before midnight on Tuesday, April 30, 2024!

Here are some past awards for inspiration:

  • Friends of a city park installed cigarette butt receptacles in the parking lot and at entrances to the park, to eliminate cigarette butt litter that can clog storm drains and harm wildlife.
  • A church parish started a composting collection program, yielding an average of 50 pounds of food waste that would have been sent to the landfill, but is processed to create rich compost.
  • Classrooms at an elementary school are collecting markers and pens to be recycled through TerraCycle.
  • A neighborhood civic league used grant funds to purchase litter grabbers, safety vests, gloves, and florescent hats for the safety of volunteers during their roadside cleanups.
  • Invasive species were removed and native plants installed along a hiking trail.

Please see our Green Grants webpage for descriptions of the categories, read the general Grant Application Guidelines, and click here to start a 2024 Green Grant Application.

We are grateful to the sponsors of our 2024 Green Grants Program:  Altria, WestRock, and Village Bank!

Altria Logo        WestRock Logo             Logo for Village Bank

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Need a Little Seed Money?

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Jar of pennies with a young plant growing out of itOur 2024 Green Grant applications are now available on our Green Grant Program webpage!  Each year we award thirty grants for environmental projects and programs to groups and organizations in Virginia.  The Green Grants program empowers groups all across Virginia to make an environmental impact in their own communities.  This is one of the ways we can engage the people who live in Virginia to improve our natural and scenic environment.

Applications can be submitted between now and April 30, 2024.  Thirty awards will be announced, one each day, in June.  Grant awards are available for $500, $750, or $1,000 proposals. You can read the general Grant Application Guidelines for more information, and can apply in any of the four categories:  Litter Prevention, Recycling/Waste Reduction, Cigarette Litter Prevention, or Community Beautification.

There is so much we can do within our own communities, and we hope a little seed money can help you start or enhance a program or try a new method of living in a more sustainable way.

Here are some ideas for projects and programs that you may need to solve a need for

  • Install cigarette butt receptacles in a no-smoking area or parking lot in your;Green Grants Logo
  • Host a Fix-it Fair to keep items out of the landfill that will have life left in them after small repairs;
  • Purchase grabbers, safety vests, and gloves for volunteers to clean up roads and the landscape;
  • Start a composting program with produce that would be thrown away at a restaurant or at a farmers market, to reduce food waste;
  • Supply your classroom with re-usable lunch boxes, water bottles, storage bags, cloth napkins, and utensils to see how much less trash you create each day.

Thank you for caring about the natural and scenic environment in your community, I hope that you’ll apply for a Green Grant this year.  Please reach out to Beckey Watson at [email protected] if you have any questions about the program.

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Congratulations to all of the 2023 Green Grant Awardees!

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Green Grants LogoWe continue to be impressed by the plans and ideas that organizations want to put into action with a Green Grant award.  The judging panel has such a challenging task to evaluate and score all the grant applications.  We sincerely appreciate the work they do, both in their professional fields, and as a volunteer for our organization.  Thank you Green Grant judges!

Thank you to everyone who submitted an application. We wish we could fund them all!  We’re encouraged by the work of volunteers at civic groups, nonprofits, faith-based communities, and others that are striving to improve the natural and scenic environment of the Commonwealth.

And of course the program wouldn’t be possible without the funding and support of our sponsors:  Altria, WestRock, and Village Bank!  We are very grateful for their generous and continued support!

Altria Logo         WestRock Logo      Logo for Village Bank

Below we’ve listed the organizations that were awarded a 2023 Green Grant, along with the category of their project or program, the award amount, and the region of the state where their work will be done.  You can click on the organization’s name to link to our website’s blog announcement.  We hope you’ll visit the announcements of this year’s awards, you’re sure to be inspired!

6/1/2023 Social Music LLC Cigarette Litter Prevention $1,000 Hampton Roads
6/2/2023 Art Guild of Greene Recycling $1,000 Central Virginia
6/3/2023 Pulaski County Litter $1,000 Southwest Virginia
6/4/2023 Verdant Richmond for Maymont Community Garden Community Beautification $1,000 Central Virginia
6/5/2023 Work of Life at Handley High School Recycling $1,000 Shenandoah Mtns/Valley
6/6/2023 Eastern Shore of Virginia Waste Watchers Litter $500 Eastern Shore
6/7/2023 Hanover Master Gardeners Association Community Beautification $750 Central Virginia
6/8/2023 Wakefield Country Day School’s Leo Club Litter $500 Central Virginia
6/9/2023 Clean Essex Committee Cigarette Litter Prevention $500 Central Virginia
6/10/2023 Fairview Farm and Homestead Foundation Community Beautification $500 Southwest Virginia
6/11/2023 Church of the Holy Family Recycling $750 Hampton Roads
6/12/2023 Bay School Community Arts Center Community Beautification $1,000 Central Virginia
6/13/2023 Town of St. Paul Cigarette Litter Prevention $500 Southwest Virginia
6/14/2023 Lake Anna Business Partnership Litter $1,000 Central Virginia
6/15/2023 Department of Military Affairs / Fort Barfoot Recycling $1,000 Central Virginia
6/16/2023 The Greater Scotts Addition Association Litter $1,000 Central Virginia
6/17/2023 City of Salem Community Beautification $1,000 Shenandoah Mtns/Valley
6/18/2023 Lynnhaven River NOW Litter $1,000 Hampton Roads
6/19/2023 The City of Newport News Cigarette Litter Prevention $1,000 Hampton Roads
6/20/2023 Carroll County Recycling $500 Southwest Virginia
6/21/2023 Friends of the Middle River Litter $500 Shenandoah Mtns/Valley
6/22/2023 Piedmont Arts Community Beautification $1,000 Southwest Virginia
6/23/2023 City of Manassas Park Cigarette Litter Prevention $500 Northern Virginia
6/24/2023 Kiptopeke State Park Litter $1,000 Eastern Shore
6/25/2023 Keep Middlesex Beautiful Recycling $1,000 Hampton Roads
6/26/2023 The Mariners’ Museum and Park Community Beautification $1,000 Hampton Roads
6/27/2023 Friends of Leesylvania State Park Litter $1,000 Northern Virginia
6/28/2023 Page County Solid Waste & Recycling Cigarette Litter Prevention $1,000 Shenandoah Mtns/Valley
6/29/2023 RVA Rapid Transit Litter $750 Central Virginia
6/30/2023 Town of Independence Community Beautification $750 Southwest Virginia
City of Manassas Park, Virginia Logo

City of Manassas Park Awarded Green Grant

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City of Manassas Park, Virginia LogoThe City of Manassas Park is awarded a $500 Green Grant for their Cigarette Litter Prevention efforts, as part of our 13th Annual Green Grants Program.

Every year, government, non-profit, civic, and service organizations in Virginia are invited to apply for grants ranging from $500 to $1,000 that will help address an environmental concern in their community. Grants must focus on one of the following priorities: Litter Prevention, Recycling, Cigarette Litter Prevention, or Community Beautification.

The City of Manassas Park, located just southwest of Washington, DC, has a newly built complex that includes City Hall, a public library, three restaurant spaces, and a plaza. Many residents and guests visit the plaza, and improperly discarded cigarette butts can be a problem if littered on the ground.

With funds provided by this grant award, they will purchase and install cigarette butt receptacles in the needed locations. After receptacles are installed, the City’s Public Works staff will remove the waste, weigh it and send it to Terracycle for recycling.

According to Keep America Beautiful’s 2020 nationwide Litter Study, cigarette butts account for 88% of litter 4″ or smaller.  Cigarette filters don’t break down naturally and will persist in our environment when littered. Removing this litter from our communities through organized cleanups is just the beginning of keeping cigarette butts out of our retail areas and waterways. After hosting a cleanup, collecting them at home, or with a cigarette receptacle, cigarettes butts can be sent to TerraCycle to be recycled using a free shipping label.   Want to learn more about recycling cigarette butts and other items?  Visit TerraCycle for more information.

Thank you Manassas Park, for tackling the cigarette butt litter problem!  We look forward to your results.

Volunteers cleaning up litter from the Middle River

Friends of the Middle River Awarded Green Grant for Litter Prevention

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Volunteers cleaning up litter from the Middle RiverFriends of the Middle River is awarded a $500 Green Grant in the Litter Prevention Category as part of our 13th Annual Green Grants Program!

Friends of the Middle River (FOMR), in Verona, promotes the stewardship and enjoyment of the Middle River Watershed through volunteer action, education, science, and outreach.  Litter hurts the river and her wild residents.  Tires that sit in the river for decades slowly disintegrate and release chemical pollutants into the water. Seeing ongoing litter in the river de-sensitizes residents to its unsightliness, implies that the community doesn’t care about where they live, and sends the message that littering will be tolerated.

Funds provided through the Green Grants program will be used to pay for dumpster rental for ten days during their Annual Middle River Cleanup. For the past seven years they have organized up to 75-100 volunteers per year into teams assigned to clean different sections of the Middle River. FOMR’s cleanup week is in August when the water is low (so you can see the trash) and the temperatures are still warm.

Volunteers clean up by walking in the River pulling a canoe behind them which acts as a barge for the trash collected. Each team of volunteers cleans a mile or two of the River. Other volunteers act as land crew and help unload, sort, or inventory the trash. Then the trash is transferred to a dumpster.

The Middle River is one of the headwaters of the Shenandoah River, whose waters flow all the way to the Chesapeake Bay. Membership in FOMR is free and open to everyone.

We appreciate the work of so many volunteers to keep our waterways clean — thank you!

 

Logo for Carroll County, Virginia

Carroll County Awarded a $500 Recycling Green Grant

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Logo for Carroll County, VirginiaCarroll County is awarded a $500 Green Grant in the Recycling Category as part of our 13th Annual Green Grants Program.0

Every year, government, non-profit, civic, and service organizations in Virginia are invited to apply for grants ranging from $500 to $1,000 that will help address an environmental concern in their community. Grants must focus on one of the following priorities: Litter Prevention, Recycling, Cigarette Litter Prevention, or Community Beautification.

Carroll County is a local government organization located in the heart of Virginia’s Blue Ridge Mountains in far Southwest Virginia.  The County offers an array of activities, scenery, and has deeply rooted Appalachian culture. Their recreation department offers programs and facilities to improve the quality of life for all citizens of Carroll County along with our visitors.

Brick wall construction of restroom facilities at Carroll County Splash Pad Recreational ParkThe focus of their Green Grant application was to reduce the number of single-use plastic bottles of water used at the new Carroll County Splash Pad / Recreational Park. With many citizens visiting the park daily, they will install a water refilling station and encourage guests to bring reusable water bottles. Funds from the Green Grant award will be used toward the purchase and installation of a water refill station near the restrooms.

Congratulations Carroll County!  Thank you for tackling the statewide concern of over-use and improperly disposal of single-use plastics.  Offering a bottle refill stations gives residents and guests at the Splash Pad an opportunity to get needed summer hydration in a responsible way!

Railroad bridge in St. Paul, Virginia

Town of St. Paul Awarded $500 Green Grant

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Railroad bridge in St. Paul, VirginiaThe Town of St. Paul is awarded a $500 Green Grant in the Cigarette Litter Prevention as part of our 13th Annual Green Grants Program.

Every year, government, non-profit, civic, and service organizations in Virginia are invited to apply for grants ranging from $500 to $1,000 that will help address an environmental concern in their community. Grants must focus on one of the following priorities: Litter Prevention, Recycling, Cigarette Litter Prevention, or Community Beautification.

Founded in 1911, the Town of St. Paul it is one of the smallest of the six towns in Wise County. Many people visit the town of St. Paul because of their location and the many natural resources of the area.

With cigarette butts being the number one most littered item in Virginia, the Town of St. Paul wants to reduce the amount of cigarette butts littered on the ground. Although they have multiple cigarette butt receptacles throughout Town, there is a need to place more outside of local downtown businesses and in the park. Funds provided by the Green Grants Program will be used to purchase and install three permanent cigarette butt receptacles.

The mission at Keep Virginia Beautiful is to engage and unite Virginians to improve the natural and scenic environment.  Since 2011, the Green Grants Program has provided $282,000 for 385 programs and projects throughout the state.  Funding is made possible through generous support from  Altria, as well as additional sponsorships from WestRock and Village Bank.

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Time to Apply for a Green Grant

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Jar with pennies and a plant growingOur spring Green Grants Program is ready for your application!

The Green Grants program empowers groups all across Virginia to make an environmental impact in their own communities.  This is one of the ways we can engage the people who live in Virginia to improve our natural and scenic environment. We believe in a shared responsibility to end littering, improve recycling and beautify communities, and we know with your determination and our support, much can be accomplished!

Grant applications will be accepted from March 1 through April 30, 2023.

The applications are evaluated and scored by a panel of experts in their fields.  In June, one Green Grant award is announced one each day. The grants are awarded to schools, parks, counties and towns, environmental groups, associations, nonprofits, service organizations, and other groups.  Individuals are not eligible.

Here are the general Grant Application Guidelines. You should apply for the category that matches the project or program you plan to put in place:  Litter Prevention, Cigarette Litter Prevention, Community Beautification, or  Recycling.  Please see the Green Grant Program webpage for more information on how to submit an application.

Here are some past awards to inspire you!

Students with litter grabbers The “Litter Critter Project” at DuPont Elementary School has positively impacted Dupont and our school community by using litter grabbers and other cleanup equipment we purchased through a Green Grant. Students have been learning about various ways to help take care of the environment and are inspiring others by encouraging them to not litter!

water bottle filling station

The Children’s Museum of Richmond now offers refillable water stations to visitors! Through the Green Grant Award, upgraded the water fountain to include a state-of-the-art refillable water bottle stations in effort to help reduce the amount of single use plastic that ends up in landfills. By encouraging visitors to reduce their use of plastic and reuse their bottles for water consumption, the Children’s Museum of Richmond hopes to help reduce their carbon footprint and raise awareness about the importance of reducing use of plastic materials.

Recycling, compost, and trash binDorey Park Farmers Market partnered with Troop 501 Boy Scouts to design and build a three-compartment recycle, compost, and trash bin for use at the Saturday morning farmers market.  The recycle and compost bin will be used for many market seasons. It will serve to educate the community about good environmental practices.

Lady with cigarette butt receptacle near park benchDickenson County Chamber of Commerce placed 18 cigarette receptacles throughout the county, and distributed pocket ashtrays to smokers during this grant period.  The town employees and county workers at the park had been picking up cigarette butts that were littered, but as time goes on there are more and more in the receptacles instead of on the ground.

To see all of the 2022 Green Grant Awards, follow THIS LINK!

To learn more about this year’s application process, please visit the Green Grants Program webpage.

For questions about the Green Grants Program or the application, please contact Beckey Watson [email protected].

Since 2011, Keep Virginia Beautiful has provided $282,000 for 385 programs and projects throughout the state.  We are grateful to the 2022 sponsors of our Green Grants program:

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WestRock LogoLogo for Village Bank

Cville TimeBank Logo

Cville TimeBank receives $500 Green Grant for Repair Café

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Cville TimeBank LogoWe’re about a week away from announcing the last of the thirty grants in June as part of our 12th Annual “Green Grants” Program!

To help repair broken items, the Cville Timebank has been awarded a $500 grant for its Repair Café initiative.

The Cville Timebank is an organized exchange system through which members earn Time Dollars for time spent helping other members. One hour of service earns one Time Dollar, and everyone’s time and service are valued equally. Cville TimeBank keeps track of service offers, requests, exchanges, and Time Dollars.  Some recent examples are learning how to make sushi, one member repairing an heirloom quilt for another member.  And a request to dig four post holes was answered by a member who had that ability and time to offer that service!

At a Repair Café event, hosted by Cville Timebank, folks bring their broken stuff to be repaired by volunteers for free. It’s a fun, friendly way to keep perfectly good stuff out of the landfill and spend some quality time together as a community.

Funds awarded by the Green Grant will go towards putting on the Repair Café and purchasing supplies needed for repairs, such as replacement electrical cords and plugs, assorted sewing supplies, bulbs, batteries, tape, glue, and gloves.  Cville Timebank expects about 50-75 attendees, each allowed to bring in up to three items for free repair.  All those items will be put back into service and kept out of the landfill!

What a great way to reuse what we already have – congratulations Cville Timebank!

Duck swimming in littered water

$500 Green Grant Award Goes to Keep Suffolk Beautiful

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Duck swimming in littered waterCongratulations to Keep Suffolk Beautiful for their Litter Prevention Award of $500!

Litter that is left in the landscape often washes into storm drains and waterways, causing clogged waterways and potential harm to aquatic wildlife and waterfowl.  In an effort to combat the problem, Keep Suffolk Beautiful will pilot a marine litter collection program that targets creeks in the City of Suffolk.  The creeks feed the Nansemond River, which subsequently flows into the James River, and then the Chesapeake Bay.

With the help of City Stormwater Specialists, the pilot program involves installing litter collecting booms across several sections of the Shingle Creek and Cedar Hill Creek. The creeks are both in the densely populated Downtown Suffolk, and installations will be located at sites that are on public land and placed close to urban drainage areas.

Waterway Boom Litter Collectors will skim the water and trap litter to one side while allowing the creek to flow naturally. Public Works employees will remove the litter on a regular schedule and record the data.  A digital record will be kept of the installation of the booms and the amount of litter collected.

Green Grant funds will be used to purchase 100 feet of boom, signage for each location, and other supplies needed for installation of the Waterway Boom Litter Collectors.

Keep Suffolk Beautiful LogoAfter the trial period, Keep Suffolk Beautiful plans to expand the program to more locations and partner with community organizations to help monitor and remove the trash.

Litter will be retrieved from the Boom Litter Collectors on a weekly or bi-weekly basis, depending on the flow and amounts of litter gathered by the collectors.  Measurements will be made, and the contents examined to determine the categories and possible sources of the litter that is collected.  This will provide vital information that can be used to disperse resources and plan future projects.

Thank you Keep Suffolk Beautiful, for the work you’re doing to improve our natural and scenic environment!

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