Marion County Oregon, October 14th, 2020 – EarthWISE, the Sustainable Business Network for Marion County is pleased to announce the availability of a grant program to support and work long term with businesses to prevent food waste. Five businesses will be awarded $10,000 plus tools and resources to address food waste using the EPA food waste hierarchy. The Marion County EarthWISE Business Program prioritizes the prevention and recovery of wasted food. Food waste is the single largest item thrown away in the commercial collection cart (29%). Food represents wasted nutrients and calories intended for human consumption at a time when 1 in 5 residents seek assistance from Marion Polk Food Share. The loss of resources from wasted food, combined with methane release from landfilled organics, has significant and measurable environmental impacts. Marion County is committed to working with local and statewide partners to find solutions and innovations for food waste reduction in our community.
Key Dates-Marion County EarthWISE will accept applications until 11:59 p.m. Pacific Time on October 23rd, 2020. The link for the application: https://forms.gle/xGJAyHnGPsbJMNBg8 and the Spanish application: https://forms.gle/73oPrRRa8pQqGCDY97
Details- EarthWISE Waste Reduction grants are designed to create multiple financial benefits to sites with a built-in long term resource and network connection. The grant is broken down into an immediate release of $2,500 that a restaurant can use to enhance or support the daily operations of the business. As they move through assessment and audits, the site will work with EarthWISE to identify materials, renovations, equipment, upgrades, or staff training. Each site will have access to $5000 to address one or more of the identified needs. Lastly, on completing the EarthWISE certification the site will receive an additional $ 2,500.
Grant applications can also be found on our EarthWISE homepage.