$350 Mini Grants for Energy Themed Green Service & Learning Projects

I am getting very excited about the upcoming 4th annual Green Apple Day of Service (GADOS) event, which is kicking off on Saturday, September 26th. This international Day of Service, organized by the Center for Green Schools at the US Green Building Council (USGBC), is an opportunity to bring recognition to “where we learn matters” and engage schools all across the globe in service & learning projects to make the building a little greener and a little healthier, while at the same time educating folks on environmental and sustainability topics. This little video with Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan, summarizes the event and what projects can look like.

Our goal at BPS is to host 20 unique projects at our school sites that help to save energy, resources and make the school and it’s grounds healthier and more inviting for students and staff. In the past we’ve had students, staff and parents conduct a recycling and trash waste audit, build garden beds, install rain barrels to capture rain water to water the gardens, outfit a computer lab with smart power strips, and even host a free climate change assembly with our local partner, Alliance for Climate Education. It’s a great time of year for schools to kick off their green team, host lessons in class about recycling or talk to staff about ways to make sure the building is maintained as a healthy learning space. All these efforts count as a Green Apple project!

Many schools seek grant funds or donations to make their projects possible and this year thanks to the US Green Building Council MA Chapter, schools in the Eversource and NGRID electric and gas territories (that’s all BPS schools)

are eligible to apply for a $350 mini-grant to host an ENERGY EFFICIENCY OR CONSERVATION project.  Energy project applications for the mini grant program are being accepted on a rolling basis through mid September. The sooner you get your application in though, the more likely you will be to receive funds.  Wondering what an energy efficiency or conservation project could look like in your school? Check out this list of project ideas to get you started.

Keep in mind that projects can happen anytime in September or October and you don’t have to apply for a mini-grant to host a project. You can be inspired by other  project ideas, and when you are ready, you can register your project online with the Center for Green Schools to get it on the international map of projects and receive helpful project planning resources.

We know that by working together, we can make this Green Apple Day the biggest yet and raise the importance of having green, healthy schools for ALL children!

Contact me, Phoebe Beierle, BPS Sustainability Manager at pbeierle@bostonpublicschools.org or 617-635-9138 with any questions about Green Apple or to share project ideas. I am willing to register your project for you on the map if you can just email me what your school is doing and how many people will be impacted.