See what our 2020 Recycling Grant recipients are up to…

In 2020, the Nevada Division of Environmental Protection's (NDEP) Recycling Grant Program awarded $40,000 in grant funding available for projects to increase recycling, public awareness of the importance of conserving natural resources, and for the reduction, reuse and recycling of solid waste in Nevada. NDEP recieved many great applications and among the recipients were Keep Truckee Meadows Beautiful, the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe, and the greenUP! Green Dining District. Here's what they have been up to...

Keep Truckee Meadows Beautiful: 

Keep Truckee Meadows Beautiful has reached over 72,000 people about recycling thanks to the NDEP 2020 Recycling Grant that went towards their “Recycling Education Outreach to Hispanic Community” project. The purpose of this project was to educate the Spanish-speaking population of the Truckee Meadows on recycling within the community. KTMB was able to reach this many people through print, radio, social media, and television, as well as through 2 in-person events. Although the COVID-19 pandemic caused the last of their in-person events to be cancelled KTMB was able to teach over 200 people about recycling at the Día de Los Muertos and the Veterans E.S. events.  

Through the 2020 Grant Program Keep Truckee Meadows Beautiful was able to advance their efforts towards not only their commitment to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, but also environmental education, beautification and stewardship. While the focus was on enhanced recycling education towards the Spanish-speaking community of the Truckee Meadows, their outreach helps empower every member of the community to keep Truckee Meadows beautiful, and ultimately providing a cleaner, greener Nevada. 

Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe: 

The Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe has implemented a new water refill station thanks to a grant from the Nevada Department of Environmental Protection. This water bottle refill station was put into the Nixon Gym which will allow for 3 Tribal communities to utilize its services, and keep an estimated 340 pounds of plastic bottles out of the landfill from summer camps and open gym nights. Along with the fountain installation the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe also purchased water bottles to distribute to the summer youth camp, or at a recycling event in order to encourage reducing the use of single use plastic bottles. This implementation of the water fill station is just part of the Tribal Recycling Program that began in 2018.  

During the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe summer youth camp and open gym nights around 6,464 plastic water bottles would be provided to participants, but with the implementation of the water refill station as well as the promotion of the fountain and reusable water bottles to Tribal members, this high number of plastic water bottles will be eliminated. This successful project of the recycling plan will help provide clean water and a cleaner environment to many Tribe members for years to come. 

greenUP! Dining District:  

The greenUP! Dining District was one of the many businesses that had to pivot during the Covid19 pandemic, so with the grant funding from the Nevada Division of Environmental Protection their focus moved to educational outreach and program development efforts. The goal was to increase visibility of restaurants that were part of the Green Dining District. There were several ways that greenUP! achieved  its goal of educational outreach and promotion, such as the use of reusable utensils, a Plastic Free July campaign, as well as various social media promotions.  

The reusable utensil campaign of greenUP! was used to educate customers on the benefits of reuse while also drawing them to the restaurants of the Green Dining District. Customers were given a 5 question educational game that gave valuable knowledge on the history and impacts of plastic pollution, and they could win reusable utensils for playing. Also, greenUP! used the Plastic Free July campaign to develop educational materials on how to stop using single use plastics, and implemented those into the Green Dining District. Through these campaigns as well as the over 75 social media posts and the Green Dining District’s Feature in the Fall edition of Edible Reno-Tahoe, greenUP! was able to reduce waste by 50% at the restaurants they worked with, and plans to continue their waste reduction efforts within the Green Dining District.  

Thank you to these organizations for their continued hard work and dedication to help make Nevada a more sustainable state! Together, we can make sustainable attainable.