Climate Action Evanston and Evanston Township High School hosted a community open house Monday evening to gather input on a $10 million to $20 million grant the organization and school are applying for through the Environment Protection Agency’s Community Change Grant Program. The goal is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and toxic pollutants while creating community and economic development.
The EPA program funds environmental and climate justice projects to aid disadvantaged communities. Based on the EPA’s Climate and Economic Justice Screening Tool, applicable areas in Evanston are the core of the Fifth Ward and most of the Second Ward north of Dempster, which are the focus of Climate Action Evanston’s outreach for the grant application.
“We can come up with our own ideas as a climate group, but we think that residents and the people that are in local businesses, just everyday people, also have great ideas. They might know better than us what we should go after,” said Jack Jordan, executive director of Climate Action Evanston.
The group is partnering with ETHS on the grant as the school is within the area of funding and is one of a few high schools nationwide with a comprehensive sustainability policy, according to Jordan. ETHS hired a full time sustainability director a few years ago, one of a few high schools in the country to do so. ETHS has also launched a sustainability plan to reduce waste and emissions, locally source cafeteria food and implement climate and sustainability education in the curriculum.
At the open house, Climate Action Evanston received community feedback on what projects should be pursued at the high school and locally in the grant application. Regardless of whether the group is awarded the grant, the information from the meeting will be used for future funding opportunities, Jordan said.
There were two workshops at the event, one focusing on climate action and pollution reduction projects for neighborhoods around the city and another on possible sustainability policy projects to implement at ETHS.
The hope for the neighborhood projects is to benefit small-business owners and individuals, such as by providing businesses with an air conditioner that’s the most sustainable option, or opening a community garden for residents, Jordan said.
Attendees’ ideas, shared on sticky notes, included adding more bike lanes, replacing lead pipes and planting more trees in residential areas. At the ETHS level, some people said to create a sustainability class for planting and recycling, provide free or discounted bus passes to low-income students and fund a climate justice conference.
There are two portions of the grant that are finalized, the first being to target renewable energy and energy efficiency projects at ETHS to reduce the school’s energy use and greenhouse gas emissions. Secondly, the grant money would be used to provide additional funding to the Green Homes Pilot Program, a project funded by the city to support free or low-cost energy efficient upgrades to homes.
ETHS junior Jexa Edinberg, a member of E-Town Sunrise – a student-led climate justice group that spearheaded ETHS’ sustainability policy – said they helped organize the event to spotlight youth voices in environmental action.
“A lot of climate work has been worked on for a long time with older generations,” Edinberg said. “It’s needed to have the refreshment of people who are actually being affected by this in increasing numbers, especially youth who are going to feel the impacts of climate change more and more.”
Edinberg added that including youth voices in the proposal might be most compelling to the EPA.
ETHS Director of Operations and Sustainability John Crawford said the open house revealed various new ideas, such as improving the bike rack designs at the school to fit more bikes or adding charging stations for electric vehicles.
“Outdoor spaces [at ETHS] has been something we’ve been talking about for well over a year already,” Crawford said. “So, a place where the teachers could go outside and teach or schedule a block class. … It’s proven that students learn more outside, [with] sunlight, fresh air.”
The grant will be submitted by Aug. 1 in order to receive feedback before the hard deadline in November, Jordan said. The grant is valid for three years.
Climate Action Evanston, ETHS teaming up to seek EPA sustainability grant is from Evanston RoundTable, Evanston's most trusted source for unbiased, in-depth journalism.