grant award

We’re awarding Green Grants of up to $1,000 to groups and organizations to carry out projects and programs that will improve Virginia’s natural and scenic environment!  There are four different categories to choose from, one of which is Recycling.

We want to get the word out that the idea of recycling can be more than tossing your water bottles in the familiar blue bin that gets picked up at your curb, or newspapers and cans that you take to your local transfer station.  There are many ways to recycle, up-cycle, reuse, and repurpose!  All of which keep items out of the landfill with just a little effort.

TerraCycle recycles many everyday items or connects you to companies that do, such as contact lenses, Burt’s Bees cosmetics, coffee pods, Colgate toothpaste tubes, and Gerber products, just to name a few.  Look them up, see which products you use that can do more than head to the landfill when the container is empty.  You could start a recycling program at your neighborhood, school, office, or library to collect many items that would otherwise be thrown in the trash.

As another example, last year the SOVA Botanical Gardens used funds from their Green Grant award to create a Music Garden area within their public garden.  Instruments were created and installed made from repurposed items.  There’s a metal xylophone made from reused metal pipes, a PVC pipe outdoor music wall, and a metal Drum Tree created from discarded guardrails.  Kids are free to touch and make noise in the Music Garden!

Another Recycling Category Green Grant award went to Soil Cycles for their innovative program that uses bicycles to collect usable kitchen waste from restaurants and residents.  In return, the participants either receive finished compost for their own gardens, or it can be donated to a local community garden.  And it’s all done with peddle power!

See what needs you have in your community, and how your organization can reduce, reuse, recycle, and educate others to do the same.  Then complete a short online Green Grant Recycling category application form (or any of the other categories if they better suit your needs), and submit it before April 30^th!