Green Communities offers two national rounds per year. Grant funds up to $50,000 per project will be available beginning August 5th for developers committed to providing green affordable housing. Applications must be received online by September 18th. Awards are expected to be made by the first week of November.
Click here for more details on the planning and construction grants.
Grants for up to $5,000 to assist housing developers with integrating green building systems in their developments and engage in a serious discussion of green design possibilities. Green Communities will award planning grants to affordable housing developers to coordinate a green design charrette.
Click here for more details on the charrette grants.
The grants are open to 501(c)(3) nonprofits; public housing authorities; tribally designated housing entities; for-profit entities; and for-profit entities participating through joint ventures with qualified organizations. The applicant and the development team must demonstrate their qualifications to successfully carry out the proposed development.
If you require assistance with the application for a planning and construction grant and/or charrette grant, and/or would like us to work with you in forming a development team, please contact us.
Electronic Waste (e-waste)
Electronics have revolutionized our lifestyle. Telephones, radios, TVs, computers and cell phones are items we use daily. These items make up the bulk of electronics that threaten the environment, because of their hazardous ingredients.Electronic waste, or e-waste, accounts for 70 percent of the overall toxic waste that you currently find in landfills. In addition to valuable metals like aluminum, electronics often contain hazardous materials like lead and mercury. When placed in a landfill, these materials (even in small doses) can contaminate soil as well as drinking water.
Reuse and proper recycling prevents e-waste from reaching landfills, provides usable items to organizations that need them and recaptures valuable resources.
As new products hit the market, relevant information and resources are necessary to ensure old items are properly discarded. So, next time you upgrade that cell phone, or get the latest video game system, think twice about what happens to the old gadget:
- Donate it. Either give it to a friend or family member that could benefit from a change. Old to you, is new to someone else. There are also organizations that collect old electronics and resell them for profit.
- Consider renting or leasing electronics. If you’re going to upgrade in a year anyway, why waste the money?
- If you do buy, buy green! With the ever changing and growing field of technology, companies make better devices that are more aware of their environmental impact. Research a product before you purchase it and support businesses that are doing their part.
The Freecycle Network™
If you just want to give something away, like your old laptop, you have any number of outlets. Your local newspaper probably has a free section in the classifieds; you can post it on Craig's List; you can drop it off at a thrift store or donate it to a charity that will refurbish and resell it. But if you want to give away your old laptop and be part of a potential revolution in the process, you might turn to Freecycle.org. The Freecycle Network hopes to encourage a "worldwide gift economy" – one old laptop, bottle of nail polish, gas stove or People magazine at a time.The Freecycle Network (often abbreviated TFN or just known as Freecycle) is a non-profit organization registered in the state of Arizona, and separately registered as a UK charity, that organizes a worldwide network of "gifting" groups, aiming to divert reusable goods from landfill. It provides a worldwide online registry, and coordinates the creation of local groups and forums for individuals and non-profits to offer and receive free items for reuse or recycling, promoting gift economics as a motivating cultural outlook. "Changing the world one gift at a time" is The Freecycle Network's official tagline.
TFN's Mission Statement is "Our mission is to build a worldwide gifting movement that reduces waste, saves precious resources & eases the burden on our landfills while enabling our members to benefit from the strength of a larger community."
Each local group currently exists as a Yahoo! Groups mailing list run by volunteer moderators. Visit TFN’s web site to find the nearest group to you.
Turning Old Gadgets into Cash
The buyback movement is gaining ground among tech consumers.Even in this tough economy, consumers persist in indulging their lust for electroncs. In fact, U.S. technology buyers are expected to purchase more than 500 million new gadgets this year, according to the Consumer Electronics Association. While this may keep the economy chugging along, it will also add to the growing pile of discarded cell phones, MP3 players and laptops accumulating in homes across the country.
Though many early adopters and small businesses turn to the Internet to dispose of their old wares – $5.8 million and $4.2 billion worth of consumer electronics and computers, respectively, were auctioned on eBay in the first quarter of 2008 alone – there's still a large portion of people who simply stash away their old gadgets after purchasing new ones.
In an attempt to relieve consumers of the clutter in their junk drawers and storage closets, as well as give them a little more money in times of possible recession, some companies are buying back and recycling unwanted devices.
Since fall 2006, California-based TechForward has offered a guaranteed buyback plan that lets consumers lock in a trade-in rate if they replace their gadget within two years. TechForward accepts laptops, desktops, and DVD and MP3 players, among other items. Retail partners include independent West Coast electronics shops, though anyone can purchase a buyback plan through Techforward's Web site or Amazon.
Another company offering buybacks is ecoNEW, a fledgling program rolled out this spring by extended service plan provider NEW. In the case of ecoNEW, however, there is no fee. To trade in a gadget, consumers go to a participating retailer's Web site, such as Sam's Club, register their products, and send them in to receive store credit.
Both companies appeal to the "tech leasers", or people who trade in electronics frequently when the next generations are released. Jade van Doren, TechForward's CEO, says that his customers (about 12 percent of buyers at the retail stores) arc Gen X and Gen Y early adopters. Of all TechForward consumers, approximately 70 percent return their gadgets for buyback dollars, he says. It seems that the remaining 30 percent, in spite of haying bought the plan, still can't bear to part with their devices until they break or become obsolete.
Heather Eng
AUGUST 2008 PC MAGAZINE
Links to Information on Electronics Recycling
Click on the links below for more information on how you can recycle or donate electronic equipment.The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) web site on eCycling
The Consumer Reports' Electronics Reuse & Recycling Center
