Environment Grant funds environmental projects at cottages

As our lakes become more and more crowded with humans, many cottagers are becoming increasingly aware of the need to be better environmental stewards. Today, to co-exist with nature, cottagers must ensure shoreline habitats remain intact, aquatic plant life is allowed to thrive instead of being removed, harmful runoff and erosion is prevented, and important animal habitat such as dead trees are left standing rather than chopped down.
cottagelife.gif Long before solar energy and wind turbines were trendy in Canadian homes, cottagers were experimenting with renewable energy systems. So it shouldn’t come as a surprise that more cottagers are also incorporating green building practices into their construction to minimize the footprint on the environment.
Cottage Life, Canada’s premiere cottaging magazine and a winner of multiple National Magazine Awards over the years, has launched a new program, the Cottage Life Environment Grant. The program offers financial assistance to projects that will enhance and preserve the environment of cottage country. It’s a terrific initiative — let’s face it: cottaging is not going to decline in popularity, so a stewardship program like this from one of Canada’s most highly decorated niche magazines will go a long way to promoting environmental awareness.
Individuals and/or groups can qualify for up to $5,000 towards an eco project. The possibilities, big or small, are endless and Cottage Life is encouraging all project proposals.
“The cottage-country environment is facing great challenges,” says Al Zikovitz, publisher of Cottage Life magazine, in a press release. “The Cottage Life Environment Grant program is one way that we can help cottagers and cottage associations to meet those challenges. We’d like to move beyond simply encouraging positive change for the environment. We want to enable the cottage community to take action.”
Application details and information can be found at cottagelife.com/grant.
Submission deadline for 2010 grants: December 31, 2009.