In October 2021, Sustainable Finger Lakes awarded the grassroots volunteer group Zero Waste Ithaca a Neighborhood Mini-Grant in support of their Bring Your Own Container (BYOC) initiative, a campaign inviting local restaurants and food vendors to offer customers the option of bringing their own reusable containers for take-out food. In November 2022, the Ithaca College student publication Ithaca Week ran an article on this now-flourishing BYO Reduces Program, which created Sustainable Finger Lakes in the following excerpt:
“[Zero Waste Ithaca founder Yayoi Koizumi] and her team applied for funding to get the program started and receive a $600 Neighborhood Mini-Grant from Sustainable Finger Lakes (SFLX).
“Without that grant, we wouldn’t be here. We probably wouldn’t have gotten the approval from the health department,” said Koizumi. “It just totally legitimized what we are trying to do.”
Sasha Paris, office assistant and mini-grant program coordinator at SFLX said the funding was mainly to aid in the production of the BYO stickers and other marketing material, but helping the organization’s legitimacy is an important part of what SFLX does.
Paris added, “It’s a small step in our mission of bringing the so-called green lifestyle into the mainstream as something everyone can take part in, rather than a luxury lifestyle for the rich.”
Read the full article by Desiree Holz at https://www.ithacaweek-ic.com/nonprofit-and-local-businesses-push-forward-climate-justice/
The Neighborhood Mini-Grant Program provides seed money to diverse initiatives building environmental stewardship, economic equity, and social justice in Tompkins County. The program is sponsored by Craig Riecke, Beck Equipment, and the Park Foundation. Please donate today and help us support more citizen-driven projects increasing the resilience and well-being of our communities.
