The Green Ideas Challenge 2015
ANNOUNCING THE WINNERS OF THE GREEN IDEAS CHALLENGE:
- Public Education About the Water Cycle and The Benefit of Rain Gardens: Community Member, Susan H.
- Cora Kelly Creates with UpCycle: Community Member, Kelley O.
- Jefferson-Houston's Children Garden: Community Member: Wendy S.
- Support Environmental 'STEAM' Learning at Jefferson Houston School: Community Member: Eliza E.
CONGRATULATIONS! Winners will be recognized at the Alexandria Earth Day Celebration on Saturday, April 25 at Ben Brenman Park between 12:15-12:45pm. Thank you to everyone who submitted ideas for this year's Green Ideas Challenge, and a special thank you to the Dominion Foundation, for making all of these green projects possible.
Starting on March 2, ACTion Alexandria, an initiative of ACT for Alexandria, is asking for your ideas for making Alexandria a greener, more sustainable place to live, work, and play. A total of $5000, generously provided by The Dominion Foundation, will be awarded. Submitted ideas will be reviewed by a panel of judges, and the winning ideas will be awarded up to $2000 each.
(Past Winners: Four Mile Run Tree Planting, Huntley Meadows Art & Nature Classes, 2014 Award Winners)
What: Your ideas for making Alexandria greener!
When: Submit your ideas from March 2 to April 3. Then tell your friends to support your idea from April 4-April 12! (The number of supports an idea receives is only one of the factors considered by the judging panel, and decisions will not be made solely based on supports). Winners will be recognized at the Alexandria Earth Celebration on Saturday, April 25.
Where: Click on Add Idea to submit your idea!
How: Submit your idea to be reviewed by a panel of judges. Winning ideas will receive up to $2000 each in grant money from the Dominion Foundation.
Why: Together, we can make Alexandria an even better place to live, work, and play!
Click here to view past green ideas.
The best ideas will:
- Take $2,000 or less to implement
- Be implemented in Alexandria and be community or neighborhood focused
- Not require City resources to implement
- Be submitted by a nonprofit organization or include a nonprofit or city partner.
- Special consideration will be given to ideas that target and/or incorporate youth
- (The number of supports an idea receives is only one of the factors considered by the judging panel).
Please include the following in your idea:
- A description of the project, including location and resources needed.
- The estimated cost of the project.
- How long the project would take to be implemented.
- Who the beneficiaries of the project will be.
Questions? Call 703-739-7778 or email kerrin.epstein@actforalexandria.org
Thank you!
Ideas
Mount Vernon Community School PTA proposes to create and install a sign or series of signs to educate the public about the water cycle, how it relates to the health of our environment and how they can help keep our groundwater clean. The sign(s) will be placed on school property along Mount...
How can 70 kids and 10 teachers learn and create with trash? At UpCycle, we develop creative minds by reusing materials. Our green idea is to demonstrate that waste materials can be a resource for scientific investigations and artistic expression by implementing an...
Jefferson-Houston's Children’s Garden Proposal Prior to the demolition of the old Jefferson-Houston Elementary and the construction of the new building, there was a Children’s Garden located on the school grounds. This garden was one of 15 Children’s Gardens throughout ACPS and was used by...
I am a 20-year park naturalist and illustrator at Huntley Meadows Park in Alexandria. I have had a long relationship with Cara Chirilagua as an art and nature teacher for the Kids' Club after school program and the adult-child Mentor program. I would like to request $1,500 to fund four Art&...
WoodWorks is the title because it is incorporating the use of mainly wood and natural resources to create a Wooden Oasis. The idea is to get as many schools involved as possible. An area on or near school grounds will be picked by administrators and students for this project. Many schools lack...
Painted mural of a Community Garden on the North wall of VeloCity Bicycle Co-op (2111 Mt. Vernon Avenue) where a living wall would be built (real planter boxes would be attached to the wall). The planter boxes ...
Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathmatics or 'STEM' learning is a focus at the new Jefferson Houston (JH) School (PreK-8). Using the environment to help teach these concepts is one of the goals of...
Build storm drain rain gardens to reduce storm water runoff. This will reduce surface flooding and divert stormwater runoff from the sewer system and ultimately our waterways.This is accomplished by using absorbent materials in conjunction with storm drains. The absorbed water is filtered by the...
Alexandria, and especially its Old Town, is beautiful! Its biggest advantage other than its gorgeous old houses, its strategic location, its easy navigability, etc, is its walkability. My ideas revolve around this great advantage and they seek to emphasize it in all parts of...
Admit it. You have seen plastic bags tumbling in the wind down a street alley. Or floating on the banks of the Potomac. I personally have seen for over two weeks not one but two plastic bags caught in the branches of a tree outside my apartment building. It's...
I am a 20-year park naturalist and illustrator at Huntley Meadows Park in Alexandria. I have had a long relationship with Cara Chirilagua as an art and nature teacher for the Kids' Club after school program and the adult-child Mentor program. I would like to request $1,500 to fund four Art&...
Provide "low waste" dining by awarding restaurants with door or window stickers who use durable tableware for most of their in-house meal service.Promote "low waste" by accessing a fee for disposable dinnerware. As with all sales tax, these costs should be itemized. This can be...
Build storm drain rain gardens to reduce storm water runoff. This will reduce surface flooding and divert stormwater runoff from the sewer system and ultimately our waterways.This is accomplished by using absorbent materials in conjunction with storm drains. The absorbed water is filtered by the...
How it works:
- Coffee Shops collect their used coffee grounds (used paper coffee filters, too!). And reduce their trash.
- ...
WoodWorks is the title because it is incorporating the use of mainly wood and natural resources to create a Wooden Oasis. The idea is to get as many schools involved as possible. An area on or near school grounds will be picked by administrators and students for this project. Many schools lack...
Jefferson-Houston's Children’s Garden Proposal Prior to the demolition of the old Jefferson-Houston Elementary and the construction of the new building, there was a Children’s Garden located on the school grounds. This garden was one of 15 Children’s Gardens throughout ACPS and was used by...
Alexandria, and especially its Old Town, is beautiful! Its biggest advantage other than its gorgeous old houses, its strategic location, its easy navigability, etc, is its walkability. My ideas revolve around this great advantage and they seek to emphasize it in all parts of...
If you plant a garden, you may wind up with more fresh produce and herbs than you or your family (or friends and neighbors) will ever consume. Many Alexandrians are not as lucky and do not have access to fresh fruit, vegetables and herbs. An estimated 100 billion pounds of food--enough to...
Admit it. You have seen plastic bags tumbling in the wind down a street alley. Or floating on the banks of the Potomac. I personally have seen for over two weeks not one but two plastic bags caught in the branches of a tree outside my apartment building. It's...
Painted mural of a Community Garden on the North wall of VeloCity Bicycle Co-op (2111 Mt. Vernon Avenue) where a living wall would be built (real planter boxes would be attached to the wall). The planter boxes ...