To kick off Earth Week LFUCG awarded 24 neighborhood associations a total of $50,000 to do environment minded projects in their areas. From cleaning up illegal dumpsites, to community gardens, stream clearings and tree planting the $600 to $2,500 grants are about more than a warm feeling according to Cheryl Taylor, LFUCG's commissioner of the Department of Environmental Quality.
"If you look at the diversity of the projects that we are awarding there is a range of benefits, because the environment is not one medium," she said. "Tree planting, obviously that's offsetting the carbon footprint which everybody knows about, but trees also do a really good job of absorbing water.
"In a lot of cases the trees are going to help us with the water quality. If you spend a little bit of money now, that tree may offset maintenance issues, it may offset having to build extra drainage pipes, so that's a good thing," she said.
In total 39 applications were received for grants that were funded by the city's recycling program. This is the first year for the program, which Taylor said will continue with more recycling revenue as well and funds collected from the proposed storm water runoff fee.
Recipients were selected by the amount of community collaboration tied into their application. Some applications, according to Taylor, were for the same project on the same piece of land but by different groups. As this program continues those groups will be encouraged to work together in order to receive funds. Those type of situations were not awarded with grants this time around, she said.
The following is a list of the neighborhood associations awarded grants, the amount of the grant and for what cause:
Martin Luther King Neighborhood Association, $1,800 for a community composting project.
Northside - Coolivan Neighborhood Association, $1,130 for a community garden.
William Wells Brown Neighborhood, $2,500 for the removal of old trees and planting of new ones.
Gratz Park Neighborhood Association, $1,600 for tree survey and replacement.
Historic Western Suburb Neighborhood, $1,350 for rain barrels.
Northeast - Winburn, $2,500 for a community garden.
Meadowthorpe Neighborhood, $2,500 for tree planting.
McConnell Trace Neighborhood Association, $1,150 for tree planting.
Columbia Heights Neighborhood Association, $2,280 for tree planting.
Mentelle Neighborhood Association, $2,500 for a rain garden.
Seven Parks Neighborhood Association, $2,500 for a community garden demonstration.
Aylesford Place Neighborhood Association, $2,475 for tree planting.
Lansdowne Neighborhood Association, $1,232 for stream cleaning.
Chevy Chase Neighborhood Association, $2,500 for Lily rain barrels.
Fairway Neighborhood Association, $600 for tree planting.
Shriner's Neighborhood Association, $2,383 for tree planting.
Hamburg Homeowners Association, $2,500 for a rain garden.
Eastland Parkway Neighborhood Association, $2,500 for stream cleanup.
Picadome Neighborhood Association, $1,500 for stream cleaning and vegetative habitat restoration.
Beaumont Residential Association, $2,500 to install waste receptacles for litter prevention.
Spicewood Neighborhood Association, $2,500 for rain barrels and tree planting.
Port Royal Neighborhood Association, $2,500 to install a stream vegetative buffer along Roanoke Drive.
Gleneagles Homeowners Association, $2,500 to plant a riparian buffer on each side of the stream.
Spindletop Community Association, $2,500 to cleanup the old construction demolition debris dump.