Mini-Grant Projects

Every year, EarthKeepers teams up with other campus organizations to offer a pool of money for the funding of student-led sustainability projects that can positively impact EMU for years to come. You can see many of our past projects listed below.

Apply here!

Anyone on campus – staff, faculty, and students – can apply for a mini-grant, and we encourage collaboration! Feel free to dream big: we accept proposals anywhere from $100 to $2000.

To apply for a mini-grant, you must prepare a 400-word proposal outline, complete with budget estimate and implementation timeline, and submit it on the EarthKeepers Mini-Grant Proposal Form. After the submission deadline, our team will evaluate each proposal based on the merits of:

• Creativity
• Durability
• Visibility
• Education
• Collaboration

Upon receiving a mini-grant award, project proposers are expected to conduct the project in accordance with their proposed timeline, usually through the spring semester.

Here’s what previous recipients have done with their Earthkeepers mini-grants!

2017-18

• $850 to the Cycling Club led by president Aaron Dunmore, to purchase bike frames and parts, which will be put together by the spring semester commuter cycling class in partnership with Wyse Cycles and added to the EMU bicycle co-op fleet;
• $350 to the Student Solar Panel Project led by student Dylan Grove and Greg Sachs, facilities management, to help purchase food and supplies of an all-volunteer solar installation work day in the spring;
• $300 to the Engineers for a Sustainable World led by student James Paetkau, to assist with the cost of mounting solar panels on the roof of one of the Facilities Management electric golf carts with the aim to have it fully powered by solar energy;
• $300 to the Sustainable Food Initiative, to purchase hazelnut and cherry trees for a new perennial garden designed by students Clara Weybright and Megan Good behind the Suter Science Center;
• $100 to the music department, to assist in purchasing a water bottle filling station in the basement of Lehman Auditorium; and
• $100 to the education department, to assist in purchasing recycling receptacles in Campus Center 203.

2015-16

• $500 to Sustainable Food Initiative for the installation of a drip irrigation system in two gardens and the hoop house
• $250 to Engineers for a Sustainable World in partnership with the Student Athletic Advisory Committee for their sustainable stationary bike project, which generates electricity when ridden and is located in the fitness center
• $250 to the library to assist in the purchasing of water bottle filling spigots on its water fountains

2012-13

1. $300 for clotheslines/clothes racks in the dormitories
2. $250 for desk-side recycling bins for all campus offices
3. $300 for a cement base to a bike and bus shelter on Park Road
4. $150 for timers on the tennis court lights

2011-12

1. $250 for compost bins for 15 lounge/kitchen areas in campus offices
2. $100 to Sustainable Food Initiative for creation of a raspberry hedge as edible landscaping near Northlawn
3. $125 purchase of local food to reinforce learning in a Food Writing Workshop
4. $125 for compost bins for traditional residence halls
5. $400 to technical theater Class for LED theater light fixture

2010-11

1. $200 for the asparagus hedge by Elmwood and the Science Center
2. $200 for the construction of a compost sifter to improve the quality of our finished compost for use around campus
3. $200 for the summer 2011 cross-cultural to Nicaragua and Costa Rica for various sustainability activities
4. $300 to Common Grounds Coffeehouse for the purchase of reusable stainless steel travel mugs

2009-10

1. $500 to found The Bicycle Cooperative
2. $300 to build the trash/compost counter at the tray return in the cafeteria
3. $200 to the Theater Department for productions of “Wild Blessings: A Celebration of Wendell Berry”