Students seeking free funding for their youth-led green projects take note. The Carmel Green Teen Micro-Grant Program is now offering its final round of youth environmental grants. See CarmelGreenTeen.org for details and to download an application. Interested youth groups must submit applications by the February 28, 2011 deadline for youth-led projects that reduce pollution, conserve natural resources, or save energy. Grant money will be awarded in mid-March, in plenty of time for April Arbor Day or Earth Day projects. Since its inception in 2009, the Carmel Green Teen Micro-Grant Program has funded eleven projects, including organic community gardens, butterfly bush, wildflower, and tree-planting projects, reusable shopping bag and CFL bulb promotion, and disposable water bottle reduction projects. So far these projects have:
* Directly involved over 200 young people
* Benefited well over 5,000 people in our community
* Planted 1075 trees and numerous butterfly bushes and wildflowers
* Saved 29000 plastic bags and hundreds of plastic water bottles annually
* Provided 105 CFL bulbs to people from 44 different neighborhoods, saving $2100 in electricity bills annually
* Reduced carbon emissions by 590 tons
* Provided over 1000 tomatoes, 50 buckets of beans, and over 650 other vegetables, all locally- and organically-grown, to local needy families. This will continue annually.
* Involved projects within six elementary schools, one special-needs school, two middle schools, a church, our high school, and numerous Boy and Girl Scout groups
* Created sustainable new animal habitats with plants and trees native to Indiana
* Fostered a greater sense of community
Lauren Gibson, Carmel Green Teen coordinator and CHS student, noted, “This truly has been a community effort – working together to help empower kids to make Carmel a greener community, one youth project at a time.” Visit CarmelGreenTeen.org for photos, project ideas, and details.
