Vancouver Foundation Presents the Green Generation Awards

In honour of Vancouver’s 125th anniversary celebration – the Vancouver Foundation is inspiring youth to paint the town Green! The Generation Green Awards have offered up to $12,500 in cash to support environmental projects run by youth. In this post, we’ve highlighted some of our favourite eco-friendly projects to receive this prestigious award.

 

Kreative Find #1 Beaver Lake Boggers – Age Group 6 – 12 (Award: $1,250)

Beaver Lake in Stanley Park, photo courtesy of Yuen-Hui, Flickr

12-year old Maja Lampa is on her way to making some big changes to the “secret bog” near Beaver Lake in Stanley Park. Invasive species threaten the sensitive plants and amphibians, like salamanders, native to the area. Maja’s project is aimed at educating the public about bog life, and she’s doing an impressive job so far! Check out the awesome bog website she made which includes a “bog blog”, a series of photos and even a volunteer sign up form (for kids 10 and up).

Kreative Find #2 Fruit Trees for the Future – Age Group 6 – 12 (Award: $1,250)

Fruit Tree photo by WxMom, Flickr

The family that cultivates crops together, grows together and that’s exactly what 10-year-old Keegan Lott aims to do with his project, Fruit Trees for the Future. Lott, along with 15 other neighbourhood families are in the process of planting fruit trees in a local park so that they can later eat and preserve the fruits of their labour (sorry, we couldn’t resist that one). Not only will this benefit the families involved, but Lott intends to share what he’s learned with other park users. Check out their progress here.

Kreative Find #3 BIoCYCLE – Age Group 13-17 (Award: $12,500)

Compost run, image courtesy of Zane Selvans, Flickr

The Green Team over at David Thompson Secondary (consisting of project leader Angela To and teammates Jessica Ye, Madeleine Tsoi, May Yuen and Teresa Law) have devised a multifaceted project that not only involves eco-friendly transportation (riding bicycles) but that exact mode of transport will be used to collect compost in the community and then use it in plant beds near the school and at nearby residential gardens. No wonder this project was awarded a handsome sum, there’s a lot to do! Follow the Green Team’s updates for this great project.

Kreative Find #4 Run for the Sun – Age Group 13 – 17 (Award: $12,500)

Solar panel image courtesy of Mike Weston, Flickr

A project of this ambitious scope deserves every hard-earned penny it can get! Students and staff members at Eric Hamber Secondary School (with project leader Chapman Ng) are taking advantage of their location at one of the highest points in Vancouver to set up solar panels on the roof. The award from Generation Green can afford them about half the solar panels they’ll need, so they’re organizing a 5 km fundraising run to raise the rest! Check out their project page here.

Kreative Find #5 First Nations Ethno-cultural Garden Revival – Age Group 18 – 24 (Award $12,500)

Growing gardens, photo courtesy of Moonrat42, Flickr

Think gardens can alleviate stereotypes? They will once the First Nation Ethno-cultural Garden Revival project is completed. Project leader Geronimo Alec and four other students from the Native Education College in Vancouver are planning on revitalizing the gardens on school property, which haven’t been tended t since 1985. This revitalization effort seeks to illuminate First Nations traditional understanding of native plants and their uses. Check out the project page and latest updates on the project.

About the Generation Green Awards

Launched in January of 2011, the Generation Green Awards program was founded by the Vancouver Foundation to not only honour the City of Vancouver’s 125th anniversary, but also to support the city’s goal of becoming the greenest in the world!

In all, 19 projects (out of 110 submissions!) were awarded up to $12,500 in cash for environmental projects created by youth aged six – 24. These projects are required to be completed by October 2011 and will be showcased at the Vancouver Foundation’s Community Celebration on October 27, 2011. In the meantime, the Vancouver Foundation is running ongoing Green contests, so make sure to enter your youth now!