On November 12, 2009, the youth-driven Carmel Green Teen Micro-Grant Program awarded checks totalling $2,950 of its $10,000 in grant money to five local youth groups to fund their volunteer eco-friendly, green projects. At the ceremony, Carmel Mayor Jim Brainard congratulated the participants and supported their commitment to community service and to the environment.

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Woodbrook Elementary School Cub Scout Pack 198 celebrate receiving their $300 check for funding their River Trail Native Wildflower Conservation Project. The check presenting ceremony took place November 12, 2009 at Carmel Civic Center.

“It’s exciting to see all these young people involved in projects like this,” he said. “I think it’s a great program, taking this $10,000 and splitting it up into a lot of different projects, because that gives everybody the opportunity to come up with more ideas about how to make Carmel more green. I thank everybody for what you’re doing. It’s important. You’re making a difference.”

Carmel Green Teen Micro-Grant youth leader and CHS student Lauren Gibson said, “We wanted to give different youth groups around the community a chance to start their own projects. That way we could spread the wealth and spread awareness. This truly has been a community effort – working together to help empower kids to make Carmel a greener community, one youth project at a time.”

The goal of the Carmel Green Teen Micro-Grant Program, funded by Green Works natural cleaners, is to challenge area youth to use their skills, creativity and energy to help make Carmel/Clay Township in Indiana a greener community by funding 22 youth-inspired environmental projects.

The ceremony marked the first micro-grants awarded through this program. Projects receiving funding are listed below. Additional project applications will be accepted through February 28, 2010. Details and applications are available at CarmelGreenTeen.org.

River Trail Native Wildflower Conservation Project
Woodbrook Elementary Webelo Scout Pack 198 will seed the River Trail pedestrian and bike path in the spring of 2010 with native Indiana wildflowers to address a need to restore plant, insect, and animal biodiversity to the area. The scouts will work with the Carmel Clay Parks and Recreation department throughout this project. Grant award: $300.

“Our group hopes to show that through teamwork, important environmental projects can be accomplished,” said Brandon Fischer of Woodbrook Cub Scout Pack 198.

Green Lights
The Carmel High School student Green Lights Club will distribute compact fluorescent yard light (CFL) bulbs and educational materials on the cost savings and energy benefits of using CFLs. Often neighborhoods require yard lights to run dusk-to-dawn, which adds up to 4250 hours a year, so a simple switch from incandescent to CFL bulbs can save each homeowner $20 and 400 lbs of carbon yearly. Grant award: $500.

“We want to get CFLs to people who don’t use them currently…and distribute educational materials to them as well so they are encouraged to switch their other lights,” said Ben Webb of Carmel High School’s Green Lights Club.

Increasing Organic Produce Yield for Distribution to Food Pantries
Boy Scout Troop 132, Venture Crew 132 and St Christopher’s Youth Group will be building raised garden beds for the organic garden ministry at St. Christopher’s Episcopal Church. The ministry plants a variety of crops that are raised organically, harvested, and then distributed to food pantries throughout the Indianapolis metropolitan area. Raised beds require less water and substantially increase crop yields without the need to resort to chemical fertilizers and pesticides. They will encourage the community to use the sustainable practices used in the garden in their own yards. Grant award: $1,000.

“I was looking for an Eagle project idea and couldn’t think of anything,” said David Atkinson of Boy Scout Troop 132. “About that time, I started hearing …on the [CHS] morning announcements about Stickman Steve and the Carmel Green Teen Micro-Grant Program, and thought I’d give it a shot.”

Scout’s Environmental Protection Project
Prairie Trace Elementary Cub Scout Pack 197 will be promoting the use of eco-friendly reusable shopping bags through a school-wide educational campaign that includes providing a specially designed reusable shopping bag to each Prairie Trace Elementary School family. If each student’s family replaces a plastic or paper shopping bag once a week, the scouts will keep 39,000 plastic or paper bags from being used each year. The scouts hope to teach the community that that even kids can make a big impact. Grant award: $650.

“A small change made by small people can make a big difference,” said Sam Whittman, Prairie Trace Cub Scout Pack 197. “My Webelo’s patrol will use this grant to buy 525 eco-reusable shopping bags and give one to each Prairie Trace Elementary family.”

Carmel Middle School Tree Planting Project
As part of a multi-faceted educational campaign, the students of the Carmel Middle School Green Team will provide 1000 native species tree seedlings to Carmel Middle School students and staff to commemorate Arbor Day 2010. Seedlings will be distributed at the spring performing arts presentations, which will have a “green” theme. The trees will reduce the amount of carbon dioxide in the air, increase the quantity of available oxygen, curb climate change, give birds and small mammals habitat, and beautify our community. Grant award: $500.

“The Carmel Middle School green team is excited to make Carmel a greener place,” said Carmel Middle School Green Team member Lexi Johnson.

The Carmel Green Teen Micro-Grant Program is administered by a committee of teens from Carmel Area Roots & Shoots (CAR&S) and adults from Carmel Green Initiative, with staff from United Way of Central Indiana’s Youth as Resources providing organizational support. CAR&S, a local youth group of about a dozen Carmel High School students, is one of over 8,000 worldwide Jane Goodall’s Roots & Shoots groups that encourage youth to make positive changes that demonstrate compassion for people, animals, and the environment.