reduce

August 22 2022

Back to School 3 R’s: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

Beckey Watson Uncategorized Back to School, college, DSW, recycle, reduce, reusable, reuse, Soles4Souls, tips

Have a Sustainable Back-to-school this year! There’s so much that can be done to stay environmentally conscious while preparing for in-person classes again. Here’s just a few ideas to consider.

Put a fun twist on the end-of-summer party by hosting a backyard school supply swap in your neighborhood! People can bring surplus inventory from their Costco pencil deal, and swap with all the extra packages of notebook paper you stockpiled in the back of the closet last year. Markers, glue sticks, gently used binders – all can be useful to others this school year.

Moms of younger kids could also have a clothes swap, while middle school girls might enjoy a pop-up backyard boutique featuring everyone’s outgrown clothes! Add a mirror and some charity shop accessories for fun. Teens might be better at buying (and selling!) clothes online – here’s an article with the scoop on the most popular websites to try.

Remember that DSW Shoes accepts gently used shoes. That will help you clean the excess out of your closet, plus you’ll earn 50 points as a VIP member. Best of all, you’ll be helping others through the Soles4Souls nonprofit.

Heading to college? Don’t just put everything in the trash can as you unpack. Find the recycling bins around campus for your collapsed cardboard boxes and many other products. Don’t see any? So now YOU can be the person who starts the effort to get recycling in place on campus!

Try using washable cotton rounds, complete with mini washing bag. They’re great for removing makeup and applying skincare items, and don’t end up in the landfill like the disposable ones.

Switch out disposable K-Cups for a refillable one. Or if you’re more likely to grab a cup of joe in the student center, take a reusable travel mug to fill instead of getting a disposable cup.

Here’s a tip that keeps on giving: rent or buy used textbooks. It reuses what’s already out there, saves money, and you can sell the purchased texts when you’re done with them.

There are a lot of ways to live more environmentally conscious, both at school and at home. Look for ideas on Pinterest, or for new products on Etsy. And it can be fun to challenge your friends and family to do the same!

June 21 2022

Gloucester Clean Community Bags a $1,000 Green Grant

Beckey Watson Uncategorized $1000, award, Gloucester, Gloucester Clean Community, Grant, Grants, Green Grants, plastic bags, recycle, reduce, reusable grocery bags, single use plastic

Gloucester Clean Community’s “Bag It Up” campaign was selected as one of the thirty Green Grant Awards we’re announcing each day in June. Their goal is to offer reusable grocery bags to consumers at the farmers’ market this summer to decrease the amount of single-use plastic bags used during food purchases.

Although plastic produce and shopping bags are popular with consumers because they’re lightweight, and a hygienic way of carrying food item, they can take their toll on the environment. Many plastic bags are sent to the landfill, fowl up recycling sorting equipment, or end up littering the landscape, becoming a hazard for farming and mowing equipment as well as wildlife.

Clean Community is aiming to help mitigate the use of single-use plastic bags in their community. Through a public outreach program, they plan to provide community members with reusable bags at farm stands in Gloucester. They want to educate and encourage residents and visitors to think before automatically picking up single-use plastic bags. They hope to enlist the help of the local 4-H, boy scouts or girl scouts to assist in enlightening the youth and the public by handing out reusable cloth bags at local farm stands.

Green Grant funds will be used to purchase reusable grocery bags to give away for free to the public.

Clean Community will measure how many bags are handed out throughout the summer. A short survey or outreach will be offered to people regarding their knowledge of plastic pollution and ask why they do or do not use reusable grocery bags. Any leftover reusable grocery bags will be used to hold our Clean Gloucester Day cleanup volunteers’ supplies for our Fall Cleanup.

Gloucester County Clean Community in Gloucester strives to help keep Gloucester County clean and green. They promote recycling and proper disposal of solid waste, facilitates group cleanups and beautification projects, as well as conduct community outreach and education programs for schools.

Way to keep your community clean Gloucester! Congratulations!

June 19 2022

$1,000 Green Grant Awarded to Upper Tennessee River Roundtable

Beckey Watson Uncategorized $1000, award, Fix-it-fair, Grant, Grants, Green Grants, recycle, recycling, reduce, repairs, reuse, Southwest Virginia, Upper Tennessee River Roundtable

In an effort to encourage reusing and fixing items that are owned, instead of throwing the item away, the Upper Tennessee River Roundtable will host a Fit-it-fair with funds awarded as part of our 12th Annual Green Grants Program.

The Upper Tennessee River Roundtable provides environmentally beneficial programs to a wide range of communities ranging from cities to rural counties. They will organize the Fix-it-fair in partnership with Keep Southwest Virginia and the Clinch Valley Soil and Water Conservation District at the local farmers’ market in Russell County.

The event would have “fixers” for mending, furniture repair, small appliance repair, electronic repair, bike repair, handyman, and jewelry repair. Community members will sign up for time slots online and bring their items in during that time on the day of the event. Repairs will be made at no cost to the residents.

Green Grant funds will be used to offer a small stipend to those who are repairing items, as well as costs of signage and repair supplies.

Repairing items gives people a chance to hold on to items that have sentimental value, or ones that have a second life in them, and it avoids those items being added unnecessarily to the landfill. The area in Southwest Virginia has a strong community with a love for things with historical significance and fixing things in creative ways so, it is expected that the community would celebrate this event wholeheartedly.

We look forward to seeing how many items can be saved by skilled “fixers” and hope to share pictures of this great community event! Congratulations and good luck!

June 17 2022

$1,000 Green Grant Award for Dorey Park Farmers Market

Beckey Watson Uncategorized $1000, award, Dorey Park Farmers Market, Eagle Scout, Farmer's Market, Green Grants, recycle, recycling, reduce, Scouts

Congratulations to The Dorey Park Farmers Market is a collaboration between Henrico County Recreation and Parks and Dorey Farmers Market, Inc., a nonprofit organization. The market is a producer-only market, meaning that vendors must grow or produce their wares, which include vegetables, honey, meat, pork, fermented foods, and dairy products.

Although Henrico County has an active recycle collection program, it is not widely adopted in some of the rural areas such as around Dorey Park Farmers Market. At the market itself, there are recycle containers available. However, they are usually so mistakenly filled with trash that they are nearly useless for recycling.

By initiating an active and effective recycling and composting program at the Farmers Market, it will improve the cleanliness and appearance at the park, as well as increase the recycling effectiveness. They also hope that by educating the public about the proper collection of recyclable products, it will influence families to be better at recycling at home.

A local Boy Scout will use his Eagle Scout project to create a large recycle, compost, and trash stand that will be located near the center of the market. It will be easily seen and accessed from anywhere in the market for patrons to find and use, and also allow easy access to recover the recycled and composted material. The stand will be large enough to draw market patron’s attention and substantial enough to last for many seasons.

Green Grant funds will be used for materials to construct the recycle/compost/trash stand, signage, and other costs of the project.

One or two high school-aged students will stay by the recycling stand to assist and educated patrons which of the marked bins is best for the materials they’re disposing. The Dorey Park Farmers Market is partnering with Varina High School to have its Science National Honor Society students assist as guides at the stand, and also lead classes and discussions about best recycling and composting practices.

June 19 2021

$1,000 Grant for Friends of Bellemeade Park

Beckey Watson 30 in 30 Green Grants, Uncategorized cleanup, Green Grants, litter, Litter Prevention, reduce, Richmond, School, waterway

Congratulations to today’s award of our 2021 Green Grants: Friends of Bellemeade Park, in Richmond, will receive a grant award of $1000 for its Litter Prevention project! We’ll be announcing one Green Grants award each day during the month of June.

Friends of Bellemeade Park was formed to develop a piece of land adjoining Bellemeade Elementary School into a viable outdoor space for the children of the school and surrounding community. The six-acre park had been overgrown, a dumping ground for household furnishings and tires, and was bisected by a creek full of trash and assorted debris. Friends of Bellemeade Park cleaned up the area and now plans to establish a learning campus with programming to provide hands-on environmental education for the children and community.

Friends of Bellemeade Park will use their grant funds to install a stream buffer to manage erosion and litter in the creek, as well as wheelbarrows, litter grabbers, and other supplies and tools for volunteers to use during cleanups.

Every year, government, non-profit, civic and service organizations in Virginia were invited to apply for grants for $500 to $1,000 describing how they plan to tackle an environmental concern in their community regarding Litter Prevention, Recycling, Cigarette Litter Prevention, or Community Beautification. Since 2011, Keep Virginia Beautiful has provided $254,500 for 320 different environmental programs and projects all across the Commonwealth, due to the generosity of their partnership with Altria, as well as additional support from Coca-Cola, WestRock and Keep America Beautiful.

June 18 2021

16 Frogs Awarded Green Grant!

Beckey Watson 30 in 30 Green Grants, Uncategorized award, ghost streams, Grant, green, Green Grants, plastic bags, recycle, reduce, reuse, waterways

It’s easy being green, says the 16 Frogs Citizens Panel, in Blacksburg, who will receive a grant award of $1000 for its Recycling program!

The 16 Frogs Citizen Panel is a public arts project with an environmental conscience. Sixteen bronze frog statues are placed strategically through the Town of Blacksburg to call attention to the freshwater under and around the streets and buildings. Most are resting above “ghost streams,” and each has a story to tell.

Reusing, reducing and recycling are at the heart of the 16 Frogs message because every single person, group or business can take part in protecting shared water resources. The Panel will use grant funds for design work, screen printing, and packaging of branded, reusable flatware packs, and reusable produce bags to promote environmentally healthy habits by reducing the use of disposable products.

June 13 2021

Parish Day School Awarded $1,000 Grant!

Beckey Watson 30 in 30 Green Grants, Uncategorized Grants, Green Grants, Pre-school, recycle, recycling, reduce, reuse, School

Congratulations to Parish Day School, in Virginia Beach, for their award of $1000 for their Recycling program! We’ll be announcing one each day during the month of June.

Parish Day School of Eastern Shore Chapel is a preschool in the Hilltop area of Virginia Beach, providing children ages 2-5 with an accredited and high quality preschool education. Parish Day School will implement a broad-reaching recycling program to encourage teachers, students, and families to reduce their waste stream. They will recycle classroom supplies; repurpose items such as paper towel rolls, shoeboxes and wine corks for art projects; and serve as a drop off location for difficult to recycle items, such as coffee pods, that will be processed through Terracycle.

Grant funds will be used to purchase a small compost bin for the kitchen staff, recycling bins for classrooms, and boxes required for processing items through Terracycle.

June 10 2021

Warm Hearth Foundation Bags $500 Grant!

Beckey Watson 30 in 30 Green Grants, Uncategorized bags, Litter Prevention, reduce, retirement, retirement community, senior citizens

Warm Hearth Foundation is today’s 2021 Green Grants award, who will receive $500 for its Litter Prevention project to incorporate reusable grocery bags for its residence. We’ll continue to announce one award each day during the month of June.

The Warm Hearth Foundation supports the residents at Warm Hearth Village, a nonprofit retirement community located in Blacksburg. Warm Hearth Village is home to 570 residents who require a range of care options including independent living, assisted living, long-term care, and memory care.

The Warm Hearth Foundation operates several programs that provide assistance to the 150 seniors living in the HUD-subsidized apartments with deliveries of shelf-stable groceries, prepared meals, and personal care items. Currently, these items are delivered to residents in plastic or paper grocery shopping bags. Funds from the Green Grants award will be used to purchase reusable, washable shopping bags, significantly reducing waste from plastic and paper grocery shopping bags that are disposed of by residents after deliveries.

June 8 2021

Green Grants Award Salutes Tech for Troops!

Beckey Watson 30 in 30 Green Grants, Uncategorized e-waste, Grant, Grants, laptops, recycle, recycling, reduce, reuse, veterans

Congratulations to today’s award of our 2021 Green Grants: Tech for Troops in Richmond will receive $1000 for its Recycling program. We’ll be announcing one each day during the month of June.

Today, recognition is given to Tech for Troops (T4T), a veteran-focused non-profit whose mission is to prevent homelessness and poverty among veterans and transitioning active-duty military personnel by providing those in need with the technology, career, and life skills needed to successfully join the civilian workforce.

T4T’s e-waste recycling program hosts community e-waste drives throughout the year. The public is invited to drop off their unused tech equipment at partnering companies in several different communities for safe and sustainable recycling. Funds will be used to pay for truck rentals and gas needed to collect and transport donated technology during two e-waste drives this year.

June 3 2021

$1,000 Grant Goes to Chancellor Elementary PTA

Beckey Watson 30 in 30 Green Grants, Uncategorized awards, environment, Grant, Grants, green, Green Grants, recycle, recycling, reduce, reuse, School

We’re excited to announce that today’s award of our 2021 Green Grants goes to the Chancellor Elementary Parent-Teacher Association in Spotsylvania County, who will receive $1000 for its Recycling project. We’ll be announcing one each day during the month of June.

The Chancellor Elementary PTA will use their grant funds to install water bottle refill stations. This will encourage students to use refillable water bottles to safely meet their hydration needs because the school’s water fountains were closed due to COVID restrictions. Currently, single-use plastic bottles are the only way for children to access drinking water. The plastic bottles are being thrown away, and if even a fourth of the students fill their water bottle once each school day, a refill station will prevent over 2,400 plastic water bottles from being sent to the landfill every month!

The school system’s county maintenance will install the retrofit kit to the water fountain therefore eliminating installation costs.

The mission at Keep Virginia Beautiful is to engage and unite Virginians to improve the natural and scenic environment. Since 2011, Keep Virginia Beautiful has provided $254,500 for 320 different environmental programs and projects all across the Commonwealth, due to the generosity of their partnership with Altria, as well as additional support from Coca-Cola, WestRock and Keep America Beautiful.