ACGA and Gardener's Supply Grant Program Application

Win $1000 for your established or developing community garden by applying for the Gardener's Supply Grant. You will need to submit an application, a budget, a description and photos of your project. Deadline is January 18, 2013.

Did You Know Funding is Available for Gardeners and Community Gardens?

Did You Know Funding is Available for Gardeners and Community Gardens? Get some green to green up and clean up the health of your community.

Why Are School Campus Exteriors So Boring?

This is my beloved old high school, Collinwood (Go Railroaders!). The 90+ year old building sits on eight acres of real estate, smack dab in the middle of a busy, high traffic urban neighborhood. I used to love to sit on the silver painted barriers featured here, under the shading of the trees. But isn't this a huge waste of green spaces? Grass, and a few typical shrubs. As a gardner, I turn up my nose to such lack of inspiration. Humpfh! The trees on the property save the day. I chose this site as my sustainable re-do project in the design class I took recently. I'm going to post more photos of the site as it exists and then I will post my site plan for the sustainable do-over and then we will learn more about an exciting educational concept called Power of Place based education and what we can do to encourage our school districts to adopt this style of curriculum. I sit on a green schools action circle at Cleveland chapter of the U S Green Building Council and I am taking on the Power of Place based section and green financing section of our toolkit. Today Cleveland...tomorrow, the world! LOL!

More Environmental Grants From The EPA

Are you looking to fund an enviromental education and awareness initiative? You have until December 15th, 2010 to apply for up to 100 grants from the EPA to finance your education project. Grants may be as large as $200,000, but will be more in the range of $25,000. Pass this on to a teacher or school administrator, if you are not directly seeking funding. One will find tips on applying for grants and a list of other EPA grant programs. Goodness knows, we could all benefit by learning more of the need for stewardship of this good earth.

EPA Showcases Communities Promoting Enviromental Justice

The EPA has decided to highlight and profile enviromental justice initiatives in 10 communities across the nation. If you are seeking to launch an environmental justice effort in your neighborhood, you may want to model yourselves after those in this report.

Enviromental Justice Grants for Non-Profits

The EPA anticipates awarding 40 grants of $25,000 each to non-profit agencies offering solutions to addressing enviromental justice and education issues in 2010. Click here for details.

Setting The Stage For A Greener Community

Last week, I attended the Ohio Planning Annual Conference, which had a theme around sustainability.Most in attendance were urban planners, engineers, architects and consultants. I was the only banker. Planners are professionals that develop long and short term plans for the use of land in a region. They factor the vision for the city, demographic trends, social, enviromental and economic goals into development a document called a comprehensive plan. I attended four workshops, 1) Visioning with Sustainability In Mind 2) City of Cleveland Vacant Land Reuse Plan 3) Historic Building Preservation is the New Green and 4) Engaging Citizens in the Comprehensive Planning Process. This is what I learned:

1) The principles of city planning and sustainability share many values

2) It is important to engage the community or stakeholders in setting the vision for the future

3) There are many approaches to implementing sustainability into your city's plan - the Marin County, CA comprehensive plan is the cadillac of these plans

4) Foreclosures and population declines allow cities an opportunity to re-green space, improve water resources and neighborhoods through land banking

5) Some cities offer residents an opportunity to acquire property for $1 after a period of demonstrated improvements on the land

6) Residents have opportunities to apply for grants to recreate and re-develop their neighborhoods on a micro level

7) Preserving an historic building can be a greener approach to new construction, lots of value stored in the building in the form of solid construction and energy already expended in its' construction

8) You have an opportunity to shape the future of your city, region and/or state through participation on community planning boards and open houses

9) Elected officials, zoning officials and private companies need to be educated on the benefits of sustainability, economic and social rewards

10) There are lots of loan programs, tax credits and grant programs available for small businesses in the area of sustainability and historic building preservation, but no simple way to access this information (I can assist you with this-email me at bn2g00@gmail.com)

11) Bio-waste is the new oil, companies and cities are looking for ways to sell their organic waste

So there you have it, as Gandhi stated "Be the change you want to see in the world". Start visualizing and brainstorming some great ways to productively use land and space in your community, call your council person or county executive and make it happen baby!

ARRA and a Green America: Understanding The Small Business Opportunity

ARRA and a Green America: Understanding The Small Business Opportunity Great list of resources for small business owners looking to go or build green.

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Grants Available To Provide Green Job Training for Women

Found this information while looking for some graduate school dollars. The Business and Professional Women's Foundation, with support from Wal-Mart, is looking to award $60,000 in grant money to four organizations to expand capacity to provide green job training. Click here for details. The foundation is also looking for green employers.