Greensource Grants Make a Difference in Central Kentucky

EKU Solar Panels photo

Over the past three years, dozens of local governments, nonprofit organizations, and schools in Central Kentucky have implemented environmental education and improvement projects with the help of Bluegrass Greensource’s mini-grant program. Through a partnership with the Appalachian Regional Commission, Greensource was able to offer this grant program to seven counties in its service region – Clark, Estill, Garrard, Lincoln, Madison, Montgomery, and Powell. Since 2010, the mini-grant program has provided over $330,000 in funding for 61 projects, ranging from outdoor classrooms to cleanups to innovative demonstration projects. Unfortunately, funding for the grant program ended in August 2013, but Greensource has been able to fund some exciting projects in the past few years!

Madison County Conservation District constructed a fallen livestock composting pad at EKU’s Meadowbrook Farm. The composting facility is available for tours by student and professional groups, and its purpose is to provide farmers with an innovative, economical, and sustainable option for addressing the problem of fallen animal disposal.

Lower Howard’s Creek Nature and Heritage Preserve in Clark County cleared invasive plant species on a five acre section of the property and purchased signage in preparation for the opening of its first public nature trail. The 2.8 mile out-and-back John Holder Trail was dedicated in the spring of 2012.

Garrard County Fiscal Court developed a walking trail along Lancaster City Lake, and recently planted 900 native redbud and dogwood trees along the path.

Estill County Cooperative Extension District held a home composting workshop for 46 community members. Participants learned how to compost their kitchen and yard waste, and each household in attendance took home a free countertop compost bin.

EKU installed a 1.6 kWh expandable solar panel system on the roof of the New Science Building, along with a real-time energy production logging and display system that will allow students to monitor the system’s energy output.

Lincoln County 4H worked with Crab Orchard Elementary students to establish a garden behind the school. The garden club planted strawberries, tomatoes, peppers, beans, potatoes, corn, squash, and kiwi. The dedicated students met weekly over the summer to care for their plants and harvest their crops.

Some additional outcomes of the mini-grant program include:

  • Development of 12 outdoor classrooms, school gardens, rain gardens, and educational wetlands
  • Development of 1 city park on a former brownfield
  • Energy efficiency upgrades in 15 public buildings, including schools and a local recycling center
  • Installation of solar panels on 1 rural animal shelter
  • Execution of 5 environmental education workshops for educators
  • Cleanup and restoration of 1 illegal dumpsite
  • Installation of recycling infrastructure at 7 marinas on Herrington Lake
  • Purchase of materials for 1 local farmer’s market
  • Installation of 5 water bottle refilling stations at Eastern Kentucky University

Bluegrass Greensource is proud to have been able to support these projects and many others. These projects are wonderful examples of the efforts that communities in central Kentucky have made to reduce their environmental impact in recent years!

Grant funding through this program is currently unavailable. For more information on past mini-grant projects, please contact Sandy@bgGreensource.org.

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Seven Appalachian counties use mini-grants to think as green as some cities

When we think of sustainability in U.S. cities, we usually think first of innovative metropolitan areas like Portland and Chicago. Locally, we often look to Lexington and Louisville for exemplary green initiatives. Sometimes it can seem like larger cities are the only ones taking steps to reduce their environmental impact, but smaller cities and towns across the country are often implementing their own green programs.

For the past two and a half years, I’ve been administering Bluegrass Greensource’s environmental mini-grant program for seven Appalachian counties to the east and south of Lexington. I’ve been fortunate to work with local governments, nonprofit organizations and schools in these communities, providing them with funding to implement a variety of environmental improvement and education projects.

 
Eastern Kentucky University used a mini-grant from Greensource to install solar panels. (Photo provided)Since 2010, our mini-grant program has provided over $330,000 in funding for 61 projects, ranging from outdoor classrooms to cleanups to innovative demonstration projects. Unfortunately the grant program is currently wrapping up, but we have been able to fund some exciting projects in the past few years.

Madison County Conservation District constructed a fallen livestock composting pad at Eastern Kentucky University’s Meadowbrook Farm. The composting facility is available for tours by student and professional groups, and its purpose is to provide farmers with an innovative, economical and sustainable option for addressing the problem of fallen animal disposal.

Berea Community School saved an estimated $3,250 per year on their electric bill by updating classroom lighting in the middle and high school wing of the building. The classroom lights were previously controlled with outdated rocker switches which lit several rooms at once. The school installed a series of individual classroom light switches, timers and occupancy sensors which will significantly reduce energy use in the building.

Lower Howard’s Creek Nature and Heritage Preserve in Winchester cleared invasive plant species on a five-acre section of the property and purchased signage in preparation for the opening of its first public nature trail. The 2.8 mile out-and-back John Holder Trail was dedicated in the spring of 2012.

Garrard County Fiscal Court developed a walking trail along Lancaster City Lake, and recently planted 900 native redbud and dogwood trees along the path.

Estill County Cooperative Extension District held a home composting workshop for 46 community members. Participants learned how to compost their kitchen and yard waste, and each household in attendance took home a countertop compost bin.

EKU installed a 1.6 kWh expandable solar panel system on the roof of the New Science Building, along with a real-time energy production logging and display system that will allow students to monitor the system’s energy output.

Lincoln County 4H worked with Crab Orchard Elementary students this spring to establish a garden behind the school. The garden club planted strawberries, tomatoes, peppers, beans, potatoes, corn, squash and kiwi. The dedicated students have been meeting weekly this summer to care for their plants and harvest their crops.

These projects are wonderful examples of the efforts that small communities across Kentucky and beyond are making to reduce their environmental impact. Sustainability in cities is about shrinking our environmental footprint through energy conservation, habitat protection, waste reduction, alternative transportation and more; but, it’s also about improving quality of life for local residents.

Clean water, public green space and trails, accessible recycling programs, and outdoor classrooms benefit everyone and make our local communities even better places to live. I’m thrilled to see that projects like these are taking place in Central Kentucky communities.

Sandy Bottoms joined Bluegrass PRIDE, now Bluegrass Greensource, in 2011 in the role of Grants Administrator. She is originally from Mount Washington and holds a bachelor’s degree in geography from the University of Kentucky, as well as a master’s in urban and environmental planning from the University of Virginia. Before joining, she worked with the Tennessee Department of Transportation. Contact Sandy at sandy@bgGreensource.org.

This article appeared in KY Forward on July 19, 2013.

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New name, new look, but same mission – to teach and encourage green living

Bluegrass PRIDE is now Bluegrass Greensource. We’ve updated our social media accounts, launched our new website and got new business cards and email addresses. But now what?

Amy Sohner, executive director of Bluegrass Greensource, took a moment to reflect on our accomplishments in the last 12 years and expressed her desires for the future.

“Since I’ve been around from the beginning, I have really enjoyed seeing a shift in the understanding of what it means to be green. And with our new name, new brand, we want to continue this momentum,” she said.

BGGS_Color_Logo_Stacked

Our environmental educators have worked with students in over 230 schools. “On any given day, they may be knee-deep in a stream showing kids how to test water quality or up to their elbows in classroom trash as they complete a dumpster dive.” Amy reminisced.

We also work with teachers on how they can use the environment to teach across all disciplines. We have taken science, social studies and English teachers in a coal mine and to solar farms to help them teach about energy.

PRIDE’s outreach specialists stay busy reaching out to Central Kentucky’s adult population and educating them on waste reduction, water quality and energy efficiency issues. This year alone, our staff assisted with home energy audits, partnered with community organizations to stencil storm drains and completed waste analyses for area businesses helping them recycle almost 1500 tons each year.

Our grant programs have helped Lower Howard’s Creek Nature and Heritage Preserve remove invasive plants and open its first public hiking trail. Eastern Kentucky University installed five reusable water bottle filling stations in campus buildings, saving tens of thousands of plastic water bottles from the landfill. Madison County Conservation District developed a fallen animal composting pad to use for education and demonstration purposes. Herrington Lake Conservation League cleaned up the lake, filling 19 commercial dumpsters with litter and manmade debris from the lake, while establishing a recycling and litter reduction program at several marinas.

We also provide resources to community groups for litter removal along roads and streams and have removed more than 150,000 bags of trash from local roadways and stream banks. To help promote our message across the region, we have assisted in making events throughout Central Kentucky both litter and waste free!

Over time, we became THE SOURCE for green education in Central Kentucky. With that said, we wanted our name to better reflect our mission and the fact that we are the green source for this area. As we begin this new chapter, we want to continue our outreach in the schools, building on the programs we provide in our region.

We want to continue our outreach in homes, encouraging small changes that make a big impact not only to our local environment, but also to our wallets and our health.

We want to continue building our partnerships with more than 600 business and apartment complexes, assisting them in all of their green needs and helping them get recognition for being environmentally responsible.

With this said, we need your help spreading the word. Same important mission, just a new name. Please share with your friends and your community.
Chris Clabes photo

Chris Clabes is the Development and PR Coordinator at Bluegrass Greensource.  Before joining BG Greensource, Chris worked as a consultant for numerous nonprofit organizations across the state, including the formation of Kentucky Philanthropy Initiative and Governor Beshear’s Commission on Philanthropy.  She was KY 4-H Foundation’s executive director and served as the Director of Finance for the National Association of Home Builders’ Political Action Committee in DC. She received her BA at the University of Kentucky.

This article appeared in KY Forward on July 4, 2013.

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