By Haley Nolde and Allison Majerus
- NRC is working with several communities, recycling centers, and green teams to improve recycling in Northeast Nebraska. We plan to facilitate conversation to develop hub and spoke systems and assist communities with recycling equipment purchases.
- This fall we’ve been approached numerous times by students interested in recycling and waste management projects. We enjoy working with the students through brainstorming, guidance, and offering resources.
- Haley will graduate from the Nonprofit Executive Institute through the Nonprofit Association of the Midlands on November 14th in Omaha.
- Haley attended the Nebraska SWANA (Solid Waste Association of North America) conference Nov 1-2 and Carina will attend the UNL Extension Transition to Organic Farming conference Nov 8th.
- Did you hear The Nebraska Department of Environment and Energy received a $3 million planning grant from the EPA? The funds are awarded to cooperating state and local governments to develop and implement climate action plans to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Haley and Carina joined the Waste Management and Agriculture / Natural and Working Lands working groups respectively. NDEE also received funds from the EPA to conduct a waste characterization study. The research will conduct a new waste characterization study, quantify the impact of existing recycling programs, identify opportunities to increase waste diversion, and develop recommendations for programs and policies that reduce solid waste landfilled and increase marketability of recyclable materials. NRC offered the department assistance and we’re looking forward to updated information!
Here’s a quick breakdown of our grant project plans for 2024:
- Municipality Toolkits: We applied for grant funding to the Nebraska Department of Environment and Energy to develop a series of municipal toolkits for all sizes of Nebraska municipalities. If you’d like to be involved in the project’s Advisory Council, please contact us.
- Operating Grant: We applied for continued grant funding to the Nebraska Department of Environment and Energy to support our organization’s programming, outreach, and resource development.
- Durable Medical Equipment Rehome and Collection Events: We applied for grant funding to the Nebraska Environmental Trust to host four durable medical equipment rehome and collection events in Scottsbluff, Kearney, Lincoln and Omaha. Citizens could drop off useable or broken durable medical equipment such as wheelchairs, powerchairs, beds, or walkers at a central location. All items would be evaluated, cleaned and then available for one day to be rehomed. Any broken/unusable equipment would be recycled and anything left after the rehome day would be donated to our project partners for their durable medical equipment loan/borrow programs.
- Recycling Equipment Grants: We applied for grant funding to the Nebraska Environmental Trust to continue our long-standing recycling equipment grant program, where applicants can apply monthly for up to $25,000 in grant funds for recycling/compost equipment, with a required cash match.
We are excited for 2024 and hopefully are able to implement these plans very soon! Please reach out to us if you are interested in being involved.