Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer alongside Citizens Committee for New York City (CCNYC) and the Manhattan Solid Waste Advisory Board (MSWAB) this week announced that applications are now being accepted for the third year of the innovative “Reduce, Reuse and Repair” grant program.
The grant aims to support local efforts to reduce consumption and waste generation and to reuse, repair, refurbish or upcycle discarded items to ensure they do not end up in landfills or incinerators. The grant is part of the city’s Zero Waste initiative and is open to community-based organizations, individual researchers and small businesses based in the five boroughs.
“The environment can use all the help it can get right now, and New York City is once again stepping up to the plate. The Reuse and Repair grants allow New Yorkers to find creative ways to turn their ‘trash’ into treasure and it’s my hope that all residents use this opportunity to brainstorm and come up with new ways to ensure that less items end up in landfills,” said Brewer.
In the first two years of the grant program, 33 projects received awards totaling $50,576. Since 2017, 16 groups that received funding in the grant’s first year have successfully diverted nearly 10,000 pounds of discarded items from landfills, repairing items such as bikes, clothing, electronics and household items while engaging 1,200 volunteer New Yorkers in the process.
For the third consecutive year, grants of up to $2,000 will be awarded to start new “reduce, reuse or repair” projects to address environmental sustainability and zero waste at the neighborhood level.
“The average citizen is responsible for generating over four pounds of trash and waste every single day, more than half of which ends up in our landfills. We must take immediate steps as a city to dramatically reduce the shocking amount of trash we create as a society. This grant allows New Yorkers to take action locally by identifying ways to reuse items and reduce our impact on the planet,” said Peter H. Kostmayer, Chief Executive Officer of Citizens Committee for New York City.
Individuals and groups eligible for this grant include community and neighborhood associations, nonprofits, small businesses, schools, and professors, researchers and students at educational institutions. Projects must be located within the five boroughs of New York City to be considered.
Projects that will be considered for funding include, but are not limited to, sustainable small appliance and household goods repair groups, repair training centers and workshops, research projects on shifting our culture towards less consumption and reusing materials in curbside waste, methods for creating replicable programs across the city, art projects using discarded materials, and more.
“The quality and nature of the applicants’ projects that we have seen during the first two years demonstrates the opportunity to position reuse and repair to a contemporary society. We are especially proud to be able to help lead the way to rejuvenate reuse and repair given their potential contribution to reducing climate emissions associated with the consumption of consumer goods,” said Jacquelyn Ottman, Chair, Manhattan Solid Waste Advisory Board.
Deadline to Submit Application is September 16th, 2019. To apply, click here.
For more information, please contact Citizens Committee program coordinator Katie Grassle at kgrassle@citizensnyc.org or (212) 822-9567.
