Applications now accepted in City of Toronto program offering community grants for innovative ideas to reduce waste
Applications are now being accepted for the City of Toronto’s 2019 Waste Reduction Community Grants Program. Grants of up to $25,000 are available to support innovative community-based projects that reduce residential waste and/or increase participation in the City’s waste diversion programs.
“It’s very important that we engage residents in coming up with innovative solutions to reduce waste in their community,” said Councillor James Pasternak (Ward 6 York Centre), Chair of the Infrastructure and Environment Committee. “Sending less waste to landfill, especially from apartment buildings and condominiums, is a priority for the City and will help us to achieve the goals of the City’s Long Term Waste Management Strategy. Starting clothing or toy swap programs, creating a lending space, offering educational workshops or making zero waste guidelines and toolkits to give to your community are all great ideas that can help to reduce waste.”
The Waste Reduction Community Grants Program is part of the City’s Long Term Waste Management Strategy, which identifies the need to support grassroots initiatives that reduce waste. The program launched last year and awarded more than $116,000 toward ideas that included the development of signage and programing for tenants of a downtown building, establishment of a sharing library for special event materials for the community, educational training on reducing textile waste and making sustainable fashion choices, and a program aimed at reducing lunch packaging in schools.
Initiatives eligible for funding include those that promote waste reduction and reuse, increase waste management education and engagement, and align with the City’s Long Term Waste Management Strategy. Priority will be placed on initiatives that promote waste reduction in apartment buildings and condominiums, and involve multilingual communities, equity-seeking groups and Neighbourhood Improvement Areas.
Groups eligible to apply for funding include resident, tenant, neighbourhood and business associations, service clubs, community organizations, registered charitable organizations, environmental organizations and school groups, clubs and councils.
March 1 is the deadline to submit an expression of interest.
More information about the Waste Reduction Community Grants, the 2018 recipients and the application process is available at http://www.toronto.ca/wastegrants.
More information about the Long Term Waste Management Strategy is available at http://www.toronto.ca/wastestrategy.
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