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Arrowhead Elementary School school logo with a drawn arrowhead shape and the word "Chiefs"

$1000 Green Grant Awarded to Arrowhead Elementary

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Arrowhead Elementary School school logo with a drawn arrowhead shape and the word "Chiefs"Arrowhead Elementary School in Virginia Beach is awarded a $1,000 Green Grant in the Recycling and Waste Reduction category as part of Keep Virginia Beautiful’s 15th 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 & Waste Reduction, Cigarette Litter Prevention & Recycling, or Community Beautification. 

Arrowhead Elementary School opened in 1964, just a year after the City of Virginia Beach was created. The school established itself not only as a leader in education but as a center for community activities. The school involves families in the education of their children. The fully accredited school currently serves a diverse group of 500 young learners in grades pre-K through five. 

Photo of children peeling potatoes at schoolThe Virginia Beach City Public Schools Sustainable Schools Committee invited Arrowhead Elementary to participate in the Zero Waste Challenge, a student-led design initiative aimed at reducing waste in school cafeterias and classrooms. The Zero Waste Challenge is a dynamic, hands-on program where students work together to design and implement strategies to reduce waste at school. From cafeteria practices to classroom materials, students will explore creative ways to cut down on waste, reuse resources, and promote recycling. Students have already explored options such as reducing single-use plastics, encouraging reusable containers, and designing recycling stations. Arrowhead has teamed up with the Garden Club to lead the student design.  

Two solutions have been identified:  a 64-gallon toter Compost Kiosk from Tidewater Compost with weekly bin pick-up for composting and Terracycle recycling collection and processing for common lunchroom packaging. Grant funds will support these solutions.

Once students better understand ways they might Refuse, Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, and Regenerate in their own daily life, they will also see opportunities for the school to improve processes and help them reduce waste as well. Students will be leading by example and spreading these good habits to other students, staff, and family members. 

2024 Green Grants Award #16: Winchester Area Temporary Thermal Shelter

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Winchester Area Temporary Thermal Shelter logo with a drawing of hands holding a heartCongratulations to the Winchester Area Temporary Thermal Shelter (WATTS) for their $1,000 Green Grants award to improve Cigarette Litter Prevention at their facility!

WATTS began serving adult men and women whom other homeless organizations have refused shelter fourteen years ago. This Evening Shelter program is operated from November through March and primarily serves Winchester, Frederick, and Clarke Counties and secondly, surrounding Northern Virginia counties.

Beginning in 2020, WATTS added a new initiative, the Daytime Shelter program, consisting of Warming and Cooling Centers. They operate from December through March, July and August. Located at a church in the Winchester area, guests can get a reprieve from the harsh Virginia winter and summer temps and access the WATTS counseling staff that provides necessary resources and support to achieve self-sufficiency.

WATTS submitted a proposal for the Green Grants category of  Cigarette Litter Prevention Program (CLPP). The smoking area at the Daytime Shelter is used by smokers and by the counseling staff, to meet with guests.

Area near brick church building that will hold benches and cigarette butt receptaclesThe WATTS Daytime Shelters are a daytime, cold, and hot weather facility that operates when precipitation, wind, temperature, and wind chill or heat become dangerously extreme. Its primary goal is preventing death and injury from exposure to these weather conditions, reducing the population of homeless individuals who are left outside during extreme temperatures.  The program hopes that fewer urgent care or emergency room visits are required.  Its secondary goal is to connect individuals with transitional support to break the cycle of homelessness.  The estimated attendance for this year is 350 guests

The Cigarette Litter Prevention Program will give homeless individuals a place to go and sit, to enjoy being both indoors and outdoors– with no judgment. Often, they are discouraged from sitting in public parks and public buildings based solely on what they look like. Specifically, the outdoor smoking area at the WATTS Daytime Shelter will allow them space and time to reap the benefits of spending time in nature.

Grant funds will be used to purchase two Smoker’s Outpost receptacles to collect cigarette butts safely, and two six-foot outdoor park benches from Global Industrial to provide seating for smokers.

The project makes a big difference to the local homeless community for the 350 adult men and women attending the WATTS Daytime Shelters this year, as well as reducing the amount of cigarette butts left on the ground.  WATTS will start recycling cigarette butts with TerraCycle waste management company.

Thank you WATTS, for the work you’re doing in the community, and for caring about cigarette butt litter.  You can learn more about the free and easy recycling programs offered by TerraCycle here.

Sunset on a beach with words Keep Middlesex Beautiful

2024 Green Grants Award #2: Keep Middlesex Beautiful

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Sunset on a beach with words Keep Middlesex BeautifulCongratulations to Keep Middlesex Beautiful for their $750 grant award for Cigarette Litter Prevention!

Located on the Middle Peninsula, Middlesex County is well known as a destination for camping, boating, and the Oyster Festival.  But all the beautiful and scenic environment they offer doesn’t just happen on its own!  Keep Middlesex Beautiful! (KMB) is a volunteer committee chartered and sponsored by the Middlesex County Board of Supervisors established to serve, support and inspire a litter-free and beautiful Middlesex County.

Cigarette litter in Middlesex (as in Virginia, the USA, and globally) continues to represent the largest single contributor (by number) of litter in the County. Whether it is roadside butts, or butts flicked at entrances of our parks, trails and public area, Middlesex County and Keep Middlesex Beautiful aim to reduce, if not eliminate, cigarette butt litter through the strategic placement of free standing cigarette butt receptacles in key public points throughout the county including: Middlesex County Dog Park; Old County Courthouse, Woodward Building, Heritage Trail, Canoe House Beach Park, Middlesex County Skate Park, Deltaville Community Association Center, Middlesex County Museum, Mill Creek Boat Ramp.

Green Grant funds will be used to purchase and place free-standing cigarette butt receptacles at transition areas at these locations, where cigarette butt litter most often occurs.  These efforts will further reinforce anti-littering messaging and activities throughout the County. Coupled with their Great Middlesex Green Up, and Middlesex Recycles! Program, this No Butts About It! initiative will enhance their overall mission.

Many people may not realize that cigarette butts are recyclable! Terracycle offers Cigarette Waste Free Recycling program where participants collect butts, download a free shipping label, and send it to Terracycle to recycle.  They are given a second life when they’re made into picnic tables, outdoor chairs, and other useful items.

Thank you Keep Middlesex Beautiful for caring about cigarette butt litter in the landscape and waters of our Commonwealth!

 

 

Man unloading a large dumpster

Free Use of a Dumpster for Your Cleanup

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Man unloading a large dumpsterWe’re still celebrating our 70th Anniversary of our organization with 35 Green Gifts for you!  We want to give you access to the tools needed to get out there and improve the natural and scenic environment of Virginia!

Sometimes you need more than buckets or trash bags to tackle large jobs.  We’re grateful for support from Dumpsters.com to help you tackle that project!  They will provide free delivery and use of a roll off dumpster, which is a large, open-top waste container.  The containers also have a swing door allows the user easier access to load large or heavy items from the ground, instead of throwing them in from the top.

Dumpsters are ideal for large projects, such as:

      • Items from illegal dumping sights
      • Trail clearing of large branches, debris, and invasive species
      • Clearing debris from an abandoned house

Please be mindful not to include items that can be repurposed, donated, or recycled, including cardboard or metal that may have scrap value, to keep those types of items out of the landfill.

If this sounds like something your group is ready to tackle, please apply for a Green Gift from Dumpsters.com before October 15, 2023.  Please see the guidelines on our website.

We have other Green Gifts were giving away too!

On the opposite side of large-scale cleanups is small – very small litter.  Did you know that nine out of ten pieces of litter on the ground in the U.S. were under four inches in size, and cigarette butts continue to be the single most littered item in America (Keep America Beautiful 2021 Litter Study).  In case you need to explain it to people who think that cigarette butts decompose, you can tell them that cigarette butt filters are made of cellulose acetate, a man-made plastic material that contains hundreds of toxic chemicals that are dangerous to wildlife and waterways.Cigarette Butt Cup Ashtray, Wall-mounted Receptacle, and Pouch

One other category of Green Gifts that we’re giving away is for those of you who are concerned about cigarette butt litter.  We’d like to help restaurants, businesses, libraries, municipalities, and others start a Cigarette Litter Prevention Program.  We will give away the needed supplies, including a mounted receptacle, 10 car cup ashtrays, and 50 pocket ashtrays, to encourage others to collect cigarette butts, along with our support for your program.

Then the next step after collecting them is to send the cigarette butts (at no cost) to TerraCycle, a company dedicated to recycling the hard-to-recycle items.  The process the cellulose acetate plastic in cigarette filters into pellets, and create new items, like sturdy benches for your public spaces.

If this sounds like something your group is ready to tackle, please apply for a Cigarette Litter Prevention  Green Gift before October 15, 2023.  Please see the guidelines on our website.

Become a Trash Trooper Logo

Clean Essex Committee Awarded Green Grant

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Become a Trash Trooper LogoClean Essex Committee is awarded a $500 Green Grant in Cigarette Litter Prevention to introduce and prove the efficacy of cigarette butt receptacles 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 Clean Essex Committee was created in 2019, led by the deputy Essex County administrator and made up of volunteers and County leaders. This committee has regularly held successful semi-annual countywide cleanups in Essex County. The goal of the Clean Essex Committee is to introduce a program which will clean Essex County grounds of cigarette butts.People wearing safety vests, picking up litter on the road

With funds provided by the Green Grants Program, the Clean Essex Committee will pilot an effort to reduce cigarette butt litter by purchasing and installing cigarette butt receptacles at the “transition point” entrances at County Offices and other areas identified.  They also aim to increase awareness of the harm caused by cigarette butt litter, and they will recycle the butts collected through a free recycling program offered by TerraCycle. The County offices are in the Town of Tappahannock where there is a significant opportunity for expanding the program.

Congratulations Clean Essex Committee, we appreciate the work you’re doing!

06-01-23 Social Music

Social Music LLC Awarded $1,000 Green Grant

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Social Music LLC is the opening act as the first award announced for the 2023 Green Grants! They will receive a $1,000 Green Grant in Cigarette Litter Prevention as part of Keep Virginia Beautiful’s 13th Annual Green Grants Program. It’s the first of thirty grants that will be awarded in June.

Social Music LLC is a veteran-owned small business that coordinates one of the largest independent music festivals in the United States promoting Ska music, which originates in Jamaica.   The location of their first summer event will be the Supernova Ska Festival at Fort Monroe in Hampton, Virginia.  They’re keenly aware of the impact that a large crowd attending the music festival can have on the shore of the Chesapeake Bay.

They will use Green Grants funds to purchase cigarette butt receptacles for their “Keep Our Festival Butt-free” event. They’ll also partner with the Hampton Clean City Commission to provide volunteers to make the festival a litter-free event, in part by providing water bottle refill stations to guests and serving beer in cans instead of plastic cups.  The goal of Social Music LLC is for guests to understand their commitment to the environment and be a partner in keeping it clean.

Fort Monroe Authority is a non-profit partner who has agreed to provide year-round storage of the cigarette butt receptacles, which will be used for other events after the music festival.  Volunteers will clean up the park before and during the event.  They’ll collect cigarettes butts in the park and will promote the importance of recycling cigarette butts through the TerraCycle program.

Each year Social Music LLC hopes to reduce our festival impact on our community and the natural environment surrounding the SuperNova Festival.  They anticipate that guests will understand their commitment to the environment and be a partner in keeping it clean.

We’ll continue to announce the 2023 Green Grants Awards, one each day during the month of June!

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University of Lynchburg has the Write Stuff

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The University of Lynchburg is awarded a Green Grant of $500 for their Recycling project.

Founded in 1903, University of Lynchburg established an Environmental Sustainability Society on campus to find new and innovative ways to promote sustainability in their community. As a collaboration between the English Department and Environmental Science and Sustainability Department, the “Writers Recycle” program will encourage students, faculty, and staff to recycle their writing instruments, which otherwise would be contributing to landfills. They will use their grant to purchase TerraCycle Zero Waste Boxes, one of the few companies that accepts pens, pencils, and markers.

The Zero Waste Boxes will be placed around campus, including high traffic areas like the English Department, the Writing Center, and the Library.  Once collected and sent to TerraCycle, the writing instruments are separated by material composition, cleaned and melted into hard plastic that can be remolded to make new recycled products.

We look forward to seeing how many pounds of writing utensils you’ll keep out of the landfill!  Congratulations!