Interesting in getting Generation Green grant in 2012?
This year the Generation Green granting will be done through Vancouver Foundation’s Youth Philanthropy Council. All the info about getting a grant is on their site. Grants will range $1,000 — $10,000, and the deadline for getting your idea in is February 24, 2012.
Thanks for your interest in Gen Green, and good luck!
It was supposed to be a one-time thing… but it was such a success we’re going to do it again. We’re pleased to announce that Vancouver Foundation will be continuing the Generation Green Awards in 2012. “Sustainable Food” projects will get the most funding, as a result of the Green Vote held in October 2011. Check back here for more details, or have our info come right to you: like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter.
We asked Gen Greeners what they thought of the Gen Green program. Here’s some of their feedback.
“You have a fabulous program that has made a concrete result in our school and it has really empowered our students. I want to say thank you on behalf of all the students who were able to participate in a greening project because of your vision with these grants.”
“Keep them up, I heard a lot of wonderful feedback from the community. Feature a follow-up article on the winners and where their projects are in a few weeks/months/years etc.”
“IT WAS AWESOME! THANK YOU SOOOOOO MUCH!!! 
Hope to connect with you guys in the future and show you the completed project! 
”
It was a great experience, our entire class had a blast working on the projects. We hope to keep in contact with the Vancouver foundation.
“I hope it continues in the future because it was a great eye opening experience to show me what I can do in my own community to make it better.”
“This project has been the highlight of my year and has given my collective a valuable project for decades to come. Thank you for helping bring this idea to life!”
“Thank you for the grant and letting us get the opportunity to make our garden at the college. This means a lot to us and the garden will be used and maintained through the tourism programs.”
“It’s the best opportunity I have gotten in my life, I appreciate the fact everyone was supportive and welcoming.”
“We think Generation Green was a great way to encourage young people to pursue their ideas to make the city a “greener” place. We’d love to see it happen again! Fund us again next year!”
“Thank you so much for your assistance! We loved this grant, and the opportunities it provided us with.”
“It was an awesome opportunity to take a leadership role in a green initiative in our school!”
“The Zero Waste Committee cannot thank Generation Green enough for the time and hard work they have put into every awarded project. Moreover, we truly appreciate Meriko’s patience, helpfulness, and hard work.”
“THANK YOU! It was awesome!!! ”
“It is a FANTASTIC opportunity that allows for young environmental entrepreneurs to get involved in their community and kick start their work in this field. There are very few projects of this kind that provide BOTH the financial and social support to ensure success of a project and is willing to invest in youth. We fully appreciate all the thought and intent invested into this awards program.”
Congrats to Meriko Kubota, who was the youth’s main contact at Vancouver Foundation. She clearly did an awesome job! And thanks to all the youth and their allies who also made these projects — and the Generation Green program — such a success.
Have 3 minutes? Get a speed tour of the 19 Gen Green projects and the cheery youth that made them happen. Fun!
The results are in!
We asked you to vote for what kinds of green projects YOU would like more of in YOUR neighbourhood… and the winner, by a resounding margin is Sustainable Food, followed by Gardening, Greening Energy, Restoring Land, then Composting and Recycling.
So Sustainable Food projects will get the most funding from the Generation Green Awards in 2012!
Sustainable food projects help people access healthy food with minimal environmental and social impact.
Generation Green Sustainable Food Projects in 2011 included Healthy Eaters & Leaders (HEAL) Garden Improvement · Food in Our Faces – Public Planters · Boulevard Veg! · Fruit Trees for the Future · Local Choice: a shift into sustainable eating & lower carbon footprints · Soup Cooking Contest: Alternatives for Shark Fin Soup
Thanks so much for your input!
With so many great images submitted for our Green Photo Contest, it was tough for our judges to narrow the field. To help them decide, the judges decided to favour images that reflected the idea of “taking green action.” So… the winners are:
6-12 Age Category
"Running Free" by Isaac McAllister
13-17 Age Category:
"Fluttering in the wind" by Bianca Lau
18-24 Age Category
"Organic Hi-rise" by Alex Fowler
Each winner got a gorgeous high-end camera donated by London Drugs or Olympus.
Congratulations to the winners, and thanks to everyone who entered! As our judges said,
“The winning images (indeed all the wonderful shots that were submitted), individually and collectively, tell the story of a generation that truly celebrates, and is living, green.”
October 12, 2011
Vancouver Foundation wants your vote
Go to Vancouver Foundation’s Generation Green website (www.vancouverfoundation.ca/awards) for more information. There, you can choose from six project themes:
- ecosystem restoration
- sustainable food
- green energy
- gardening
-composting
-recycling
Want more community gardens? Or clean energy? Or recycling in your neighbourhood?
A composter in every kitchen? Vegetables growing on the boulevard?
Vote for some great green ideas. Vote for your single favourite theme, or vote for all of them. You don’t need to register. You don’t need a ballot. You don’t need ID.
Just a keyboard, and two fingers.
Go to www.vancouverfoundation.ca/awards and vote.
Voting closes October 23 at midnight.
Results of the Generation Green Vote will be announced at the end of October.
The winning theme will receive funding from Vancouver Foundation to kick off next year’s Generation Green program.
Vancouver Foundation launched the Generation Green Awards last January, as part of its commitment to environmental initiatives, and to help celebrate the City of Vancouver’s 125th anniversary. Cash awards of up to $12,500 were offered for environmental projects created by young people aged six to 24. Nineteen projects were chosen by an independent panel of youth and environmental experts. The Generation Green Program also included an on-line green quiz and photo contest.
For more information:
Christine Faron Chan, Vancouver Foundation Communications
604-688-2204
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Check out the following ads that are appearing today in the Vancouver Sun and Province across British Columbia. They feature Generation Greener (and über-keener) Michelle Marcus, who got her neighbourhood gardening with her Boulevard Veg! project, and a few of our other Generation Green projects. Enjoy!
Eric Hamber Secondary School sits at one of the highest points in Vancouver, and is perfectly suited to using renewable solar energy. Our Generation Green Award will pay for half of the solar panels the school needs to get started. The students have also organized a 5Km walk/run fundraiser “Run for the Sun” to raise the other half of the funds.
Come out for a run to Riley Park from Hamber’s lower field and through Queen Elizabeth Park.
Kevin Milsip, the Vancouver School Board Sustainability Coordinator will also be in attendance, so come out for a quick run or an easy walk this Friday, May 27th at 10am.
Grade 7 student Melissa Ellingham wrote a successful application for her Trading Spaces for Greener Places project at Grandview/¿uuqinak’uuh Elementary School. Her school is receiving $12,500 from Vancouver Foundation for the Generation Green Awards Program.
Tonight, the school holds the Earth School launch event from 6-7:30pm.
Councillor Andrea Reimer and Vancouver School Board Superintendent Steve Cardwell are some of the speakers.
If you live in the Grandview/Woodland neighbourhood in Vancouver, then come out and join us in this launch!
*posted by Meriko Kubota, Manager of Partnerships & Public Engagement
Saturday May 7th, 2011 Generation Green Awards Program Launch Event announces the winning projects!
Trikes with cargo bins designed to provide courier services in downtown Vancouver. Kids on bikes picking up organic waste from local businesses to turn into compost for the community. Planting public vegetable gardens and fruit trees along boulevards and on school grounds. A new system to rate the sustainability of your lunch. A contest to reduce the consumption of shark fin soup. Solar panels on school rooftops.
These are a few of the 19 projects, created by children and youth, that won Generation Green Awards at a special event on Saturday May 7 hosted by Vancouver Foundation and attended by Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson.
“I’m very impressed by the wide range of projects and entrepreneurial energy,” said Mayor Robertson. “From delivering yard waste and parcels on trikes or bikes, to bringing solar panels to schools, to thinking differently about what we eat at restaurants – these projects demonstrate an incredible level of innovation and creativity.”
The Generation Green Awards is a Vancouver Foundation project that challenged young people, aged 6 to 24, to come up with their best idea for how they would make Vancouver neighbourhoods greener.
“The Foundation wanted to find a special way to celebrate the city’s 125th anniversary,” noted Gord MacDougall, Chair of Vancouver Foundation. “So we decided to do a unique project that engages youth and also helps the city achieve its green goals. What better way to accomplish both goals than by encouraging our young people to let their imaginations go green, and then provide them with funding to implement their idea.”
From more than 110 submissions, the top 19 projects (8 small and 11 big projects) were picked by a jury of youth and environmental experts. Small projects received $1,250 and big projects were awarded up to $12,500. The funds are designed to help the youth implement their ideas.
(A list of the winning projects, with short descriptions of each, is attached at the end of this release.)
Winners will have until October 2011 to complete their project, at which time citizens of Vancouver will be invited to review and select projects they would like to see more of in their neighbourhood.
Mayor Robertson closed the event by challenging the young people in the crowd. “Every generation has its own name. We have had the baby boomers; Generation X and Generation Y. And I am hopeful the youth of today, and particularly the youth of Vancouver, will truly become known as Generation Green. It’s inspiring to see the work they’re putting forward with the Generation Green projects.”
Twitter: www.twitter.com/VanFdnGreen
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/VanFdnGreen
www.vancouverfoundation.ca/awards
Vancouver Foundation helps build more vibrant and resilient communities in BC. We do this by harnessing the gifts of energy, ideas, time, and money of caring citizens to make meaningful and lasting impacts. We are Canada’s largest community foundation and we’ve been investing in communities since 1943.
For more information:
Catherine Clement,
Vice President Communications
Vancouver Foundation
604.688.2204
Project Descriptions
Age Group: 18 to 24 Award Amount: $12,500
Shift Delivery Co-op
Thousands of small deliveries from coffee to catering to office supplies are made in Vancouver’s downtown core every day often using cars and vans. Five students have created the Shift Delivery Co-op, which will offer greener courier alternatives. They will use trikes outfitted with cargo bins to deliver packages in and around downtown, decreasing carbon emissions and pollution, while also shifting perceptions about sustainable transportation.
Food to Plate: a Shift into Sustainable Eating + Lower Carbon Footprints
For some time there has been “Ocean Wise,” a designation program that enables the public and restaurant patrons to select sustainable seafood. But what about all the other food on the menu? How can diners assess the actual sustainability of their meal? Samantha’s “Food to Plate” rating system will rate restaurants according to their use of local, seasonal, low carbon, organic and certified produce, as well as their affordability, healthiness and labour practices. Restaurants can then use a symbol on their menu to identify their level of sustainability. The project will empower restaurant-goers and provide incentives for sustainable practices.
Urban Food Forest and Remediation
Although there’s a lot of land in the Strathcona neighbourhood that could be used to grow food, much of it has been contaminated through industrial use. A group of youth supported by the Purple Thistle Centre will remediate an unused piece of industrial land and then plant a food forest. They will encourage native species, plant fruit and nut trees and grow medicinal herbs. The project will showcase what is possible in industrial Strathcona.
First Nations Ethno-cultural Garden Revival
Traditionally, local First Nations had an intimate understanding of native plants and their uses. However, today few First Nations youth have the same level of knowledge. Five students at the Native Education College in Vancouver plan to revitalize the ethno-cultural garden surrounding the college (it was last planted in 1985). They plan to install a water system, enhance soil, add plants and mount plaques that identify the plants and their traditional uses. The garden also aims to help the surrounding community understand more about Aboriginal culture and alleviate stereotypes.
Soup Cooking Contest: Alternatives for Shark Fin Soup
About 38 million sharks are killed each year for shark fin soup. Vancouver has the second largest Chinese restaurant industry (by volume) in North America. Claudia Li’s contest will challenge chefs to create shark fin soup alternatives for Chinese banquets. Both a media event and a cooking competition, the contest’s goal is to raise awareness and encourage the significant and historically segregated Chinese-Canadian community to take positive action around shark fin soup and broader environmental issues.
Age Group: 18 to 24 Award Amount: $1,250
Healthy Eaters and Leaders (HEAL) Garden Improvement
At HEAL summer camp, kids help grow food and then incorporate it into their meals. In the process, they learn about healthy eating, food security and environmental stewardship. But usually the garden doesn’t get started until the camp starts, which limits how much they can grow and eat. This award will help the camp coordinator, Anja, start the camp garden early, so kids will get to learn more about gardening and will be able to incorporate more of their own food into their daily snacks and meals.
Food In Our Faces – Public Planters
How can I grow my own food? Fifty planter boxes in high-traffic locations, filled with low-maintenance food-crops, will answer that question for passers-by. The boxes will display information about their contents, uses and maintainance. They will also invite those who pass by to pick, sample, and munch, as well as water, weed, and care for the plants. The boxes will teach about urban farming and the importance of fresh, local, and organic produce.
Age Group: 13 to 17 Award Amount: $12,500
BioCYCLE
Students at David Thompson Secondary are already avid composters. Now they want to get the neighbourhood composting too. Members of the school’s Green Team will pick up compost materials from local restaurants and grocery stores via bicycle, produce compost at the school, and then use it at the school garden and gardens at nearby BC Housing sites.
Run for Sun
Eric Hamber Secondary School sits at one of the highest points in Vancouver, and is perfectly suited to using renewable solar energy. The award will pay for half of the solar panels the school needs to get started. The students also have organized a five km fundraising “Run for Sun” to raise the other half of the funds needed to provide their school with renewable energy.
John Oliver Secondary Community Garden
John Oliver is in a neighbourhood that historically hasn’t had many green initiatives. But six John Oliver students aim to change that by leading their school in building a community garden, greenhouse and farmers’ market, which will help supply the school cafeteria. They will also engage the community by providing space for neighbours to compost and grow their own food.
Age Group: 13 to 17 Award Amount: $1,250
Tupper GreenWay Compost & Recycling
Every day, an enormous amount of food scraps from the Tupper Secondary School cafeteria goes to the landfill. With this award, three Grade 11 students will initiate a composting project at their school. The compost produced will be used to fertilize the local greenway and garden areas, and will be sold to generate ongoing funding for the project. The students will also educate peers, staff, parents and neighbours about composting and recycling, and will involve their neighbourhood by placing and maintaining recycling bins along the Tupper Neighbourhood Greenway.
Zero Waste Committee Windermere
The students on Windermere Secondary’s Zero Waste Committee are aiming for a school that produces zero waste. They are also ambitiously targeting their entire neighbourhood to reduce waste. After they supply all the school’s classrooms with a compost bin, the Grade 8-12 students will coordinate bicycle pick up of community compost material from nearby elementary schools, community centres, restaurants, and coffee shops for composting in the school’s industrial-sized compost bin. The goal is to decrease waste in the community and creating compost for school gardens.
Boulevard Veg!
Michelle has a great recipe for encouraging local food security and building community: take 16 planter boxes,
plant them with onions, carrots, beets, bush beans and radishes, add urban farming information signage and distribute the boxes on local boulevards. For dessert: a harvest celebration with neighbours
Age Group: 6 to 12 Award Amount: $12,500
Operation Organics
To teach schoolmates and neighbours about waste reduction and organic food production, a Grade 6/7 class at Elsie Roy Elementary School (and their teacher) will grow an organic vegetable and herb garden, initiate a compost program at their school, and create an urban agriculture display for the Roundhouse Community Centre.
Livingstone Green
David Livingston Elementary and the local neighbourhood haven’t had facilities that make it easy to go green. So a group of Grade 5 students will create a recycling center, compost center and garden for both the school and the surrounding community. Then they will be able to recycle food scraps from their hot lunch program, and use money from recycling bottles to fund school projects.
Trading Spaces for Greener Places
Eleven Grade 6 and 7 students at Grandview/¿uuqinak’uuh Elementary Earth School will lead their school in planting an urban orchard and an aboriginal ethno-botanical garden, installing a worm farm and neighbourhood composting station. They will also plant a giant pumpkin patch for a fall harvest celebration.
Age Group: 6 to 12 Award Amount: $1,250
Fruit Trees for the Future
Many kids are disconnected from the process of growing food. Ten-year-old Keegan and 15 neighbourhood families with young children want to learn about growing their own food and pass their knowledge on to other families. They will plant and maintain four to six fruit trees in their local park, and, of course, help eat and preserve the fruit produced! They will also share what they have learned with other park users.
Beaver Lake Boggers
The “secret bog” near Beaver Lake in Stanley Park home to sundew plants and salamanders is under threat from invasive species, among other issues. A group of youth led by 12-year old Maja will map the sensitive area, remove invasive species, and plant native bog plants. They will also educate the public by producing and distributing a poster, creating a blog called “The Bogger,” developing an ID card of the plants and animals, and hosting a “bog walk” led by kids for kids.
Henderson Spirit Garden
Henderson Elementary School is part of a culturally diverse neighbourhood, so students wanted an environmental project that would bring together students, parents and grandparents from all the diverse backgrounds. Their Henderson Spirit Garden will produce berry bushes, sunflowers, carrots, beans, lettuce, corn and squash, while also growing community spirit.
The Generation Green application jury is a mix of youth from Vancouver Foundation’s Youth Philanthropy Council and adult allies with environmental expertise.
Youth Jury
Sunny Johal is a 2nd year pharmacy student at UBC. Born and raised in Vancouver, BC, Sunny enjoys going for long runs, playing tennis, kayaking, sailing, and snowboarding.
Laura Finkler-Kemeny is a high school student in Vancouver, BC, an environmentalist and a keen mountaineer and climber. Her other interests include cello, scrapbooking and skiing.
Diego Cardona Ospina was born in Colombia and came to Canada in 2005. He’s in grade 9 at Sir Winston Churchill Secondary in Vancouver, where he is a member of the model UN club, the debate club, and many other activities.
Bacilia Ramirez is a member of the Crowessess Nation in Saskatchewan and proud mom to 7 year old daughter Tikiya. She helped produce and film Residential Truth–Unified Future, a documentary on the impact of residential schools. She received the Award of Excellence in Youth Leadership in 2008.
Kim Webber is from the Nuxalk Nation. Using video and film Kim has helped raise awareness about the legacy of Indian Residential Schools and the experience of youth who grew up in foster care. She’s the mother of Lucius and a full-time student.
Saveneet Sandhu — bio to come.
Angela Yang — bio to come.
Colin Siu — bio to come.
Kayla Sui— bio to come.
Adult Allies
Lindsay Cole is the Greenest City Planner at the City of Vancouver. She is responsible for facilitating the development of the Greenest City 2020 Action Plan, as well as ensuring that there is creative and rigourous public dialogue that informs the development and implementation of the plan. Lindsay has been working on sustainability initiatives for the last 14 years as an activist, student, teacher, co-op member, consultant, and civil servant.
Ryan Kadowaki is the Senior Coordinator for the Climate Change and Clean Energy program at the David Suzuki Foundation. He is a graduate of the University of Victoria and will begin his Master’s in Environment and Management at Royal Roads University this fall. Ryan is also a presenter with The Climate Project Canada and delivers educational talks focused on climate solutions to the public.
Denise Philippe has more than 20 years experience working with environmental and community development not-for-profits and recently joined Metro Vancouver as a sustainability advisor. Denise has worked on issues ranging from green space planning, protection and restoration to waste management, multiculturalism, public health and public art.
Ajay Puri volunteers, works and provides important scientific research to improve the lives of many marginalized populations including at-risk youth, visible minorities, sex workers, and people suffering from mental health and addictions. He has co-founded and continues to co-lead many initiatives including Bridge to a Cool Planet, Rangi Changi Roots, Coop Culture, and East Of Main.
Mike Weinmaster sees vertical gardens as the ideal way to bring nature back into urban centres and create living works of art for the public to enjoy. Together with his partner, Patrick Poiraud, he created the company Green over Grey – Living Walls and Design Inc. He has a Bachelor of Environmental Science and a Master of Science in Environmental Engineering and Sustainable Infrastructure.
Frequently Asked Questions
As the deadline approaches we are getting lots of questions from people working on the their Generation Green application. Here are some of the most common ones coming in. Have a look at our FAQ
Feel free to contact us if your question isn’t listed here. 604.688.2204 or awards@vancouverfoundation.ca
Information Sessions
Our Youth Philanthropy Council members are hosting two meetings for the Generation Green Awards. Young people, parents, teacher or non-profits can come to learn more about the awards, the application and ask questions. February 17 and 19. More info
How green is your brain? Check out our green quiz, new questions posted each week. Green Quiz
Vancouver Foundation launches Generation Green Awards!
Read our news release.