New Hampshire the Beautiful offers recycling grants to schools

While New Hampshire the Beautiful (NHtB) has long given equipment grants to assist municipal transfer stations and recycling centers in buying equipment, signs and curbside recycling bins, the NHtB board voted recently to offer a new annual grant to schools with innovative waste reduction ideas or school recycling programs.

The grant stemmed from Campbell High School’s recycling group, Campbell Recycling Advocacy Program (C.R.A.P.), which received a grant to purchase a wire stripper to process donated copper wire for recycling, earning extra money for the school.

New Hampshire schools that want to improve their recycling programs can apply for grant funding. Applicants could be a school recycling club looking to make recycling more efficient or easier or an environmental or science club with a waste reduction idea that needs help getting off the ground.

Any school that currently has a recycling program or is trying to start one can apply by submitting an essay detailing the school’s current program and how it can be improved upon or built. Applications should include information on how winning the grant would benefit the program or group.

Grant funds in the amount of $500 will be awarded and made payable to the school/club/organization.

The grant will be awarded annually as part of a new award to be presented to the winning participant(s) at the Northeast Resource Recovery Association’s School Recycling Conference held each May, NHtB says. Essays should be submitted to NRRA’s School Recycling CLUB, http://www.schoolrecycling.net/grant-fundraiser-contest/nh-schools. Essay submissions will be reviewed, and one school/group winner will be chosen by NH the Beautiful board members prior to the conference. Winners will be notified prior to the conference, and attendance is not necessary but is strongly encouraged.

To read more about previously awarded grants visit www.nhthebeautiful.org/category/recycling-grants.

NHtB is a private nonprofit charitable trust founded in 1983 and supported by the soft drink, malt beverage and grocery industries of New Hampshire. It offers municipal recycling grants of more than $2.5 million to date, signs, anti-litter programs and technical assistance to recycling programs. The organization supports the NRRA’s School Recycling CLUB (the CLUB) and is administered by the Northeast Resource Recovery Association, Epsom, New Hampshire.