In 2010, the Education Advisory Board awarded 51 Mini-grants for projects meeting the grant criteria, as follows:

Grant #: 10-01, Glenview Elementary School, Garden at Glenview Elementary School, Oakland, West County, $1,500.00 - Grant funds will be used to purchase tools and equipment for the school garden compost education center.  The school will be constructing a demonstration and functioning compost bin.  A compost thermometer and an illustrated demonstration plaque that will showcase the basics of composting will also be purchased, along with outdoor kitchen supplies.   

Grant #: 10-02, Wee Poets, Recycle Recycle Recycle, Berkeley, West County, $3,000.00 - Wee Poets will produce four , 30 minute videotapes titled RECYCLE, RECYCLE, RECYCLE.  The videotapes will emphasize and promote source reduction, recycling, and purchase of recycled goods.   One videotape will be produced at a recycling site.

In 2009, the Education Advisory Board awarded 49 mini-grants for projects meeting the grant criteria, as follows:

Grant #: 09-01, Oakland Fine Arts Summer School, Greening the Arts Integration, Oakland, West County, $3,000.00 - Funds were used to integrate the theme of “recycle, reduce and reuse” into Oakland’s (four week) Fine Arts Summer School this summer. Included in the integration were “green” concepts, a composting program for lunch, recycled and reusable administrative supplies, and an orientation for all students to the theme “Where does my garbage go.”

Grant #: 09-02, Albany High School, The Connect Garden and Compost Project, Albany, West County, $3,000.00 - The Connect Garden and Compost Project has been designed as a teaching space to educate Albany High School students and the wider community about the cycle of seed to feed, to compost, and back to food again. The project will enhance the current functionality of green space on and near campus. It will equip the school for composting and move them toward a greener school community. The garden will serve as a model of ways food and garden “waste” can be converted to rich soil.

Grant #: 09-03, Wee Poets, Reducing our Discards, Berkeley, West County, $3,000.00 – grant funds will be used to produce (4), 30 minute videotapes titled “Reducing our Discards”. The videotapes will emphasize and promote source reduction, recycling, and purchase of recycled goods. Video tape will be produced at a recycling site.

Grant #: 09-04, Edison School, Reduce Lunch Waste Challenge, Alameda, West County, $1,000.00 – Edison Go Green has an ongoing goal of reducing waste from school lunches, and with the grant funds, will purchase waste-reducing products in bulk to sell to parents at lower than market rates. These products would include alternatives to Ziploc bags (Snack Taxis) and washable, reusable lunch boxes (Laptop Lunch Bento Boxes).

Grant #: 09-05, Livermore High School, Batteries for Recycling Truck, Livermore, East County, $3,000.00 – Replace batteries in electric Ford Ranger Pickup that is used to enhance the recycling materials on campus.

Grant #: 09-06, Livermore High School, Batteries for Recycling Truck, Livermore, East County, $1,488.00 – Replace batteries in electric Ford Ranger Pickup that is used to enhance the recycling materials on campus.

Grant #: 09-07, Livermore High School, Duplex Printing, Livermore, East County, $1,798.00 – Funds will be used to purchase a duplex printer that prints both front and back. This printer also has network capability and will be used by more than one person. Duplex printing will half the consumption of paper, and reduce the amount of paper needing to be recycled.

Grant #: 09-08, Livermore High School, Recharge-able Batteries, Livermore, East County, $1,097.00 – Replace classroom disposable batteries with rechargeable “green” batteries. As batteries wear out, school will dispose of alkaline batteries and only use nickel metal hydride batteries. This will reduce the number of batteries going to the landfill.

Grant #: 09-09, Glenview Elementary School, Waste Mapping, Oakland, West County, $3,000.00 – As part of a collaboration between Glenview Elementary School’s “Learning without Limits” after school program and UC Berkeley’s Lawrence Hall of Science, funding will be used to initiate a ten week (two, 2-hour sessions per week) waste reduction, mapping and assessment program as a central component of this after school science education program.

Grant #: 09-10, Chipman Middle School, Recycling Jump Start, Alameda, West County, $2,999.00 – The science department at Chipman Middle School is leading an effort with curriculum introduced at each grade level. Funds will be used to purchase five recycling stations to be placed in the science classrooms and common areas, as well as reusatate IWM students, Tssist in the sorting and storage for the school’s recyclable materials.

Grant #: 09-11, Otis Elementary School, Reusable Dishware and Utensils, Alameda, West County, $500.00 – Funds were used to purchase reusable dishware and utensils to be used at numerous events throughout the school year that involve food, snacks and drinks. A sign out/reservation sheet will be available and school will keep track of the use, calculate the avoided waste, and advertise the reduced impact to the environment.

Grant #: 09-12, Marin Elementary School, ROT – Garden Compost, Albany, West County, $3,000.00 – Marin Elementary School has a small volunteer run gardening program. New space on campus recently opened up and the new space will be used to expand the garden program so they can demonstrate the food cycle: planting, harvesting, composting, to planting. The expansion will contain a seedling greenhouse, 11 planting beds and a composting area. The new garden area will be used to teach children about the food cycle and how to reduce our waste and improve our soil through composting.

Grant #: 09-13, Total Recycling Associates (TRA), Recycling Spokespersons: A New Role for high School and College Students, Oakland, West County, $2,500.00 – Funds will be used to hire five (5) more young people who will represent organizations displaying goods and services at the 2009 Alameda County Fair. TRA will provide interview and project development costs at no cost to the project. Through contacts with the San Jose State IWM students, TRA expects to hire more minorities this year for this program.

Grant #: 09-14, Total Recycling Associates (TRA), Booth Rental Spaces at the Alameda County Fair’s LIVING GREEN VILLAGE, Oakland, West County, $3,000.00 – Using EAB funds, TRA will again recruit exhibitors to the LIVING GREEN VILLAGE and use the funds received in this grant to pay those organization’s booth space rental fees. TRA expects the fairgrounds will donate booth spaces so that smaller firms and non-profits with an interest in waste reduction and recycling can afford to exhibit at the fair. We expect to have the Chabot Space and Science Center as an exhibitor with it’s “speed sorting of recyclables” game.

Grant #: 09-15, Total Recycling Associates (TRA), Compendium/Directory of Audio-Visuals in Recycling, Oakland, West County, $2,500.00 – Create a useable template for describing each identified resource and to scour the locations of available resources for copies of audio, visual, and print materials (larger than leaflets) that should be in the kit bag of any recycling coordinator. Document will be created on-line and advertised through a variety of the list-serves available to working recyclers.

Grant #: 09-16, Total Recycling Associates (TRA), Faster Better Trash Sorting at the Alameda County Fair, Oakland, West County, $2,500.00 – Continue to improve trash sorting at the Alameda County Fair.

Grant #: 09-17, Farallones Marine Sanctuary Association, Gulf of the Farallones Visitor Center: Solar Powered Water Cooler and Reusable Cups for the Public, San Francisco, West County, $3,000.00 – Replace the sale of plastic water bottles with a solar-powered water cooler and reusable cups. This will greatly reduce the amount of disposable waste generated by visitors, students, and teachers.

Grant #: 09-27, Bay Farm Elementary School, Re-Usable Party Ware, Alameda, West County, $840.00 – As part of the effort to encourage zero waste and support the goals of Green School Challenge, Bay Farm Elementary Go Green Committee is seeking funding for re-usable party ware for each classroom at Bay Farm School.

Grant #: 09-29, North Oakland Community Charter School, Conserving and Composting, Oakland, West County, $1,400.00 – This grant will be used to expand the lunch food waste sorting program, and also setting up recyclable bins at Linden Park which the school has adopted.

Grant #: 09-30; Altamont Creek School, Greening at Altamont Creek: Composting Shed, Livermore, East County, $2,500.00 – Grant funds will be used to purchase and set up a garden storage shed and shade structure.

Grant #: 09-31, Altamont Creek School, Greening at Altamont Creek: REUSE Shed, Livermore, East County, $2,822.00 - The grant will be used to purchase of a REUSE storage shed and bins to collect, store and access the recyclables that are being collected for school projects. Bins will be labeled with bright, printed label and will be stacked on shelving inside our school garden area.

Grant #: 09-32, Alameda County Fair, Equipment needed at the Alameda County Fair, Pleasanton, East County, $3,000.00 - Funds will be used to purchase a 25 cubic yard steel roll-off box for recycling and containment of glass until it can be hauled by an on demand contract roll-off trucker.

Grant #: 09-33, Alameda County Fair, Equipment needed at the Alameda County Fair-Additional toters, Pleasanton, East County, $3,000.00 – Purchase sixty, 65 gallon plastic carts in appropriate colors to manage the trash, recyclables and compostables from the numerous stable staff.

Grant #: 09-34, Total Recycling Associates, Support for Students attending the National Recycling Conference, Oakland, West County, $3,000.00 – Funds will be used to make it possible for (6) students to attend the National Recycling Coalition annual congress.

Grant #: 09-35, Franklin Elementary School, Environmental Justice Peacemakers, Oakland, West County, $1,250.00 – The project will assist in maintaining the Ecology Club at Franklin Elementary School. Funding will also assist with providing incentives for the students, pizza parties, purchase recyclable food scrap bins for the cafeteria and classrooms, and purchase bins for batteries.

Grant #: 09-36, Marin Elementary School, ROT-Garden Compost, Albany, West County, $3,000.00 – Purchase picnic tables, made of recycled plastic, to be used in the outdoor classroom and also serve as an example of what can be created from recycling

Grant #: 09-37, City of Dublin, City Parks Recycling, Dublin, East County, $2,946.00 – Increase recycling visibility and accessibility in the City’s parks. Project will be implemented at 11 City parks, with a total of 30 additional recycling containers. The goal of the project is to increase the recycling capacity and participation at the City’s parks which will also prevent waste and divert more materials from the City’s waste stream.

Grant #: 09-38, Chabot Space and Science Center, Enviro Camp, Oakland, West County, $3,000.00 – Enviro Camp will be comprised of two (2) one-week summer institutes for 7th and 8th grade students. Funding would help to provide stipends for (2) college interns to work with Chabot staff to prepare curriculum and activities for, and to deliver, two weeks of Enviro Camp.

Grant #: 09-39,Glenview Elementary, Sustainability of Food Scraps/Composting Program, Oakland, West County, $3,000.00 - Funds from this grant will be used to host a forum including stakeholders from other schools and Glenview who are in the process of setting up their program, with the goal being to share knowledge and experiences, improve ecological sustainability education for Glenview students, and replace the posts and signage of the 4 indoor and outdoor recycling/composting trash stations with more durable waterproof ones.

Grant #: 09-40, Canyon School, Community Service & Recycling Leadership Project: Ecology in Action, Canyon, West County, $3,000.00 – Sixth, seventh, and eight grade students will deepen their understanding of the importance of recycling and composting, and will provide leadership and role modeling in instituting a consistent recycling and composting program for the school and community.

Grant #: 09-41, Cleveland Elementary School, Cleveland Recycling Program, Oakland, West County, $2,886.00 – Cleveland does not currently have a system to sort school garden compostables or municipal compostables and the paper/container recycling program needs to be expanded. Funds from this grant will create and implement a school wide recycling/composting program.

Grant #: 09-42, Glenview Elementary School, Bag it! Tag It! Book and book bag dedication program, Oakland, West County, $3,000.00 - replace plastic bags currently in use, with canvas, reusable book bags. Canvas bags are larger and can hold more books, also increasing the number of books children can take home.

Grant #: 09-43, Logan High School, Logan Recycling Stations, Union City, West County, $1,900.00 – this project will serve 4100 students, 200 staff members, and over 18 years and numerous community event attendees of all ages. Students will be collecting recyclables every week as part of their curriculum. Students can earn community service for teaching/monitoring the recycling stations during lunches and events. Bins will also aid in campus cleanliness.

Grant #: 09-44 through 09-49, Logan High School, Logan Recycling Stations, Union City, West County, 6 mini-grants @ $3,000.00 each for a total of $18,000.00 – this project will serve 4100 students, 200 staff members, and over 18 years and numerous community event attendees of all ages. Students will be collecting recyclables every week as part of their curriculum. Students can earn community service for teaching/monitoring the recycling stations during lunches and events. Bins will also aid in campus cleanliness.

The total 2009 Expenditure Plan budget of $100,000 for mini-grants was approved by the Board along with the option to expend any remaining carryover mini-grant funds in 2010 from prior years. A total of $98,906.00 in mini-grants was awarded from the 2009 mini-grant funds. This distribution of mini-grant funds has left a remaining balance of $1,094.00 for mini-grant funding. The Board has reissued the mini-grant application announcement and will entertain applications for mini-grants throughout the year.

In 2008, the Education Advisory Board awarded 24 mini-grants for projects meeting the grant criteria, as follows:

Crocker Highlands Elementary School, 08-01, Zero Waste Lunch, Oakland, West County - $2500.00 to promote Zero Waste Lunch by compensating the custodian for additional work (sorting trash), and involve students by appointing monitors, and offering prizes.

Village High School, 08-02, Re-Vitalization, Pleasanton, East County - $2830.00 for the re-vitalization of school greenhouse and the creation of school gardens.

Village High School, 08-03, Bulletin Board, Pleasanton, East County - $375.00 to purchase a glass faced bulletin board to display all recycling and environmental events and activities to school district and community.

Walnut Grove Elementary School, 08-04, Environmental Outdoor Education, Pleasanton, East County - $2500.00 to support three school wide environmental programs that will impact a large target population of students, staff and community.  Education to pocus on four key area, waste management, solar and renewable energy education, responsible resource management, and building connections with the natural world and learning about healthy ecosystems.

Valley Elementary School, 08-05, Go Green Garden, Danville, East County - $3000.00 to expand the “green” aspects of school garden. The area dedicated to school garden is large, but is underutilized and uninspired.  Grant will be used to improve pathways in the garden by installing crushed granite.  Also develop part of the garden into a permanent native plants garden including a composter and worm bin. Garden will have a solar powered water fountain.  Grant will also be used to purchase benches and an outdoor board so that the garden can serve as an outdoor classroom for everyone.

Tri-Valley ROP @ Livermore High School, 08-06, Biodiesel Fuel, Livermore, East County - $3000.00 the grant would allow the addition of another class unit on the benefits of bio-diesel and with the addition of the Fuel Master II; students would actually make bio-diesel fuel.

Tri-Valley ROP @ Livermore High School, 08-07, Demand Water Heaters, Livermore, East County - $2450.00 the Alternative and Renewable Energy class will be a new course offering for Tri-Valley ROP beginning in the fall of 2008.  The curricula of this course is centered on alternative methods of creating energy such as wind, solar, geothermal and water power as well as alternative or more efficient ways of consuming energy such as solar hot water heating replacing or augmenting gas or electricity.  One of the learning modules for this class will be to demonstrate the use of demand water heaters in combination with solar preheating as a replacement for traditional tank type residential water heaters.

Country Club School, 08-08, Cougars Care, San Ramon, East County - $3000.00 Campus wide “green” initiative incorporates educational component and lifelong practices of ecology.

Wee Poets, 08-09, Recycling our Throwaways, Berkeley, West County - $3000.00 to produce 4, 30 minute, videotapes titled RECYCLING OUR THROWAWAYS.  Videos will emphasize and promote source reduction, recycling, and purchase of recycled goods.  One video tape will be produced at a recycling site, three videos will be produced in the TV studio.

Northern California Recycling Association, 08-10, Filming the 14^th Annual Recycling update, Oakland, West County - $3000.00 the event known as the RECYCLING UPDATE will be filmed and a 30-35 minute DVD will be produced containing visuals of talking head speakers and useful points patched in from their power point presentations.   Approximately 200 copies will be made and distributed to major city recycling offices, state recycling program offices, state recycling associations, national trade associations, recycling policy leaders throughout the USA, and to UC and CSU libraries. 

Altamont Creek School, 08-11, Greening @ Altamont Creek: Project 1 Resource Library, Livermore, East County - $3000.00 “Project 1” involves creating a collection of books and DVDs/videos in the school library around the Waste Prevention theme in the bigger picture of sustainability.

Northern California Recycling Association, 08-21, Further Education about Recyclables, Berkeley, West County - $750.00 NCRA members will staff a booth at the Living Green Village at the 2008 Alameda County Fair.  NCRA will answer questions from the general public, and attempt to inform the public about current legislation being considered in Sacramento, all while encouraging zero waste behaviors from all who come into the NCRA booth.

Total Recycling Associates, 08-22, The Fifth R-REFUSE, Oakland, West County - $1050.00 Total Recycling Associates (TRA) will secure a space in the Living Green Village at the 2008 Alameda County Fair where funded educators will work during the first three days of the fair.  TRA will prepare handout materials on the “refuse” theme as its own time and expense.  Space will also feature exhibits of non-recyclable packaging.

Total Recycling Associates, 08-23, Upholstered Furniture Dismantling @ the Living Green Village, Oakland, West County - $750.00 Total Recycling Associates (TRA) will secure a space in the Living Green Village at the 2008 Alameda County Fair and hire an employee who will dismantle couches and mattresses during the event.

Total Recycling Associates, 08-24, Sorting Your Trash, Oakland, West County - $1000.00 Total Recycling Associates (TRA) will secure a space at the Living Green Village at the 2008 Alameda County Fair where Mr. Boone and his staff will sort sample bags of trash from fair site to show observers that most of what’s in the trash is in fact recyclable, the universe of items that are not recyclable is limited and can be resolved by specific legislation and directives that would control the use of these products, such as many communities now banning Styrofoam in food packaging.

Total Recycling Associates, 08-25, Plastics Recycling in Alameda County, Oakland, West County - $2350.00 Total Recycling Associates (TRA) will secure a space in the Living Green Village at the 2008 Alameda County Fair where Mr. Boone will prepare a handout including the location and services provided by several firms in Alameda County regarding recycling.  Samples will be secured from each firm about what comes in and what goes out from their operations.

Total Recycling Associates/Chabot Space and Science Center, 08-26, Speed Sorting Recyclables, Oakland, West County - $3000.00 funds will be used to design a game, similar to Whack-a-Mole, where items are to be placed in baskets for composting, recycling or garbage.  Baskets are then checked for accuracy and prizes awarded.  Game will be played during the 2008 Alameda County Fair.

Montevideo Elementary School, 08-27, Save Our Planet (Pitch In), San Ramon, East County - $900.00 Create a contest at school, were children submit art  work, which is later chosen and turned into labels to be placed on containers for each classroom to recycle. Each week containers would be emptied and taken to a local recycling station.

Northern California Recycling Association, 08-28, In-Depth Zero Waste by NCRA News, Berkeley, West County - $3000.00 to fund In-Depth coverage beyond mainstream media of Zero Waste planning and program implementation in Alameda County communities and widespread dissemination to public libraries, environmental educators, elected officials, recycling and waste management professionals, businesses and citizens who have become interested in this most important subject manner.

Total Recycling Associates, 08-29, On-Line Publication of GHG’s and Recycling Webinars, Oakland, West County - $3000.00 produce an on-line publication of GHG’s and Recycling Webinars.

North Oakland Community Charter School, 08-30, Composting and Recycling throughout our school year, Oakland, West County - $2400.00 students will continue setting up and maintaining a composting program aimed at diverting snack food waste from landfills.  Compostable snack food scraps from morning and lunch recess as well as the after school program will be sorted and prepared by students from composting.  In addition, worm bins will be set up in classrooms and students will learn worm composting through a mini-unit vermicomposting.

Alisal Elementary School, 08-31, Alisal Elementary’s Outdoor Classroom/Garden, Pleasanton, East County - $3000.00 the Outdoor Classroom will allow school to focus on conservation and preservation of natural resources.  School would also like to grow their own resources in the garden and start a composting component where compost is generated from food scraps generated during daily lunch.

John Green Elementary School, 08-32, John Green Elementary Food Waste Program, Dublin, East County - $2643.00 John Green Elementary is in the process of implementing a comprehensive campus wide recycling program that we hope will serve as a model for other schools in the Dublin School District. In addition to recycling mixed paper, John Green Elementary would like to implement a pilot cafeteria food waste recycling program, as well as a bottle and can fundraiser program.

Crocker Highlands Elementary School, 08-33, Recycling Management, Oakland, West County - $3000.00 instill a culture of “zero waste” by actively monitoring and promoting the schools recycling program.

A total of $55,498.00 was awarded from the mini-grant total funding allocation of $60,000.  Leaving a balance of $4,502.00.  This combined with the fund balance from the prior four fiscal years totals $48,575.52. The Board has reissued the mini-grant application announcement and will entertain applications for mini-grants throughout the year.  Funds remaining from the 2008 mini-grant allocation can be used for mini-grants awarded in 2009.

In 2007 the Education Advisory Board awarded 17 mini-grants for projects meeting the grant criteria, as follows:

Marylin Avenue Elementary School, Livermore, East County - $2,444.00 to continue revitalization of the science and environmental education curricular emphasis, with focus on waste prevention and reduction.

Marylin Avenue Elementary School, Livermore, East County - $2,500.00 to get teaching resources needed to meet CA State Standards for each classroom in the school as a 4-Rs and Ecology resource section.

Harvest Park Middle School, Pleasanton, East County - $2,500.00 the school was chosen to receive solar panels as part of an agreement with the PUSD, to achieve the task the school is building an Alternative Energy Learning Lab, were the school Ecology Club will monitor energy consumption on campus and train our target group (the student body, staff and community) regarding energy conservation and alternative energy sources.

Sound Advice, Inc., Respect our Earth, Oakland, West County - $2,500.00 to provide Livermore, Castro Valley and Dublin elementary schools with ecology software called “Respect our Earth.”

Lydiksen Elementary School, Pleasanton, East County - $2,500.00 to create new gardens and revitalize old gardens on campus.

Total Recycling Associates, Discouraging Non-Recyclables at the Alameda County Fair, Oakland, West County - $2,500.00 to make the 2007 Alameda County Fair a zero waste event, everything possible will be done at this event to discourage and prevent materials from going to the landfill.

Total Recycling Associates, Sorting Station Operations at the Alameda County Fair, Oakland, West County - $2,500.00 for Total Recycling Associate to oversee the design, construction and operation of the sorting station and the waste reduction and recycling work at the fair

Total Recycling Associates, Couch dismantling at the Alameda County Fair, Oakland, West County - $2,500.00 to operate a couch dismantling operation, on a small scale, at the Alameda County Fair

Altamont Creek School, Livermore, East County - $2,500.00 infuse Life Lab to improve the school garden with a focus on “accessibility” and safety in the garden area for people of differing abilities and physical challenges

Total Recycling Associates, Environmental Spokespersons, Oakland, West County - $2,500.00 to provide assistance to two publicly owned environmental organizations to hire and train Tri-Valley high school students who will work as spokespersons for the organizations during the Alameda County Fair 

Total Recycling Associates, Center for Recycling Research, Oakland, West County - $1,300.00 to start the Center for Recycling Research project,  and construct a website that would offer on-line consultation to students seeking to gain access to informed practitioners and difficult to find data on recycling related topics 

Walnut Grove Elementary School, Pleasanton, East County - $2,500.00 to support three school wide environmental programs and focus on the four key areas of waste management, solar and renewable energy education, responsible resource management and building connections with the natural world and healthy ecosystems.

Le Conte Elementary School, Berkeley, West County - $2,197.48 to get students to explore new ways to reduce waste by learning about the properties of common materials found tin the landfill, alternative materials and how to reuse materials in new ways.

Wee Poets, Berkeley, West County - $2,500.00 to produce 4, 30 minute videos to promote and emphasize source reduction, recycling and the use of recycled wood.

Total Recycling Associates, Upholstered Furniture Dismantling, Oakland, West County - $2,500.00 to re-establish an upholstered furniture salvage operation in Alameda County to receive and manage roughly 4,000 couch units and 8,000 upholstered chair units disposed of in Alameda County landfills each month.

Harvest Park Middle School, Pleasanton, East County - $2,500.00 building of an Alternative Energy Learning Lab Teaching Greenhouse, as an extension of the Harvest Park Garden of Character.

Altamont Creek School, Livermore, East County -$2,500.00 create a student Green Team that includes students with special needs, establish a composting system for food and green waste, and work with custodial staff to expand and improve waste reduction efforts. 

A total of $40,941.48 was awarded from the mini-grant total funding allocation of $20,000 (including a $65,015.00 fund balance from the prior three fiscal years) leaving a fund balance of $44,073.52. The Board has reissued the mini-grant application announcement and will entertain applications for mini-grants throughout the year. In 2006, the funding cap for mini-grants of $2,500 increased the popularity of the mini-grants over prior years. The 2008 Expenditure Plan recommends allocating $60,000 in new funding for the mini-grant program, as well as raising the funding cap to $3,000.00.  Funds remaining from the 2007 mini-grant allocation can be used for mini-grants awarded in 2008.