With $20,000 I would reach out to my neighbors to create a community garden right across our front lawns! I’d expect to get 15 families to participate. We could make quite a difference.

These funds would help me build and equip a small greenhouse and toolshed in my yard for us to share. And I’d invest in rain barrels and compost bins for each yard. I’d get started by planning what crops to plant and then organize our volunteer efforts to tend, harvest, and ultimately distribute the bounty.

We could start right away by building the garden beds and preparing them for the first planting season. We could plant different lettuces and greens so everyone could have delicious fresh salads in no time. I’d love to inspire families who aren't already a part of the local food movement. Community would be formed and fences would be brought down. I see this as something that can support a healthy neighborhood culture, and can also benefit our climate as growing more of our food at home cuts down on food miles and carbon emissions.

I hope my idea of a neighborhood community garden catches on. It would build healthier neighborhoods, help improve our environment, and possibly even support the training of a new generation of farmers to care for our lands and feed our people.

What: Our Green Effect idea is to give kids a tool kit to get up close and personal with the planet … to help the next generation know it, love it, and ultimately want to take care good care of it.

If our organization were awarded $20,000, we’d use it to fund Nature Appreciation Kits for the 100 fifth- and sixth-grade students at our public school. We have a focus on inspiring young people to care for the environment, and these funds would add real momentum to the work we’re doing with like-minded local teachers, assisting them in creating class materials.

How: The kit would include a bike to encourage fresh air activity and exploring; a magnifying lens and a set of binoculars to get closer to plants, bugs, and animals; a nature book for reference of the world around them; and a sketchbook and pencils to document their discoveries.

We would get started right away by canvassing local businesses to get involved by donating bikes, helmets, supplies, and so on. This hopefully would bring the cost down to below $150 per child so that even more kids could benefit from this program.

The effect: By teaching kids to better understand and enjoy nature and by instilling happy memories of playing outside, we hope that our next generation will grow up with a stronger appreciation of our planet—and a stronger voice to make changes to take good care of it.

If I won the grant money, I’d use it as seed capital to begin a composting program and start by diverting about 500 pounds of food waste from going to our landfills every day! These funds would run the program in Year 1 and I’d start working right away to line up funding to ensure it continues.

I have a three-step approach to implementing my project and investing the funds:
1. Create materials to convince up to 20 restaurant and business owners in my neighborhood to compost in their back alleys (10%).
2. Donate high-quality compost bins and starter supplies/materials to participants (60%).
3. Make monthly visits to provide advice on maintaining the compost heap and removing the "black gold" for distribution (30%).
In exchange for the commitment, participants must train their workforce to separate organic waste from other trash. Once the bins are in place, and sorting is under way, it will just take a bit of time for a rich collection of compost to build up in the kitchens and back alleys of my neighborhood.

The final piece of the puzzle is distribution. There are a growing number of community vegetable gardens and runoff-preventing rain gardens across Washington, D.C. They facilitate local organic agriculture and prevent rainwater from collecting pollutants, like oil and fertilizers, which carry into our streams. Composting is great for the planet, but these local gardeners will be the real winners when they can put the compost to such good use!