Waste not want not - deadline for eco grants is approaching fast!

Thanks to the Waste Action Grant scheme, organisations can apply for funding from the City of Edinburgh Council to support waste-related community projects aimed at reducing, reusing and recycling.

Since the programme was launched in 2005, as part of the Council's Waste Aware Edinburgh Education Campaign, it has:

awarded £50,000 to local waste projects;

diverted 263.5 tonnes of waste from landfill.

The latest deadline for grant applications is Monday 27 August. Around 20 grants are awarded annually of amounts ranging from £500 to £2,500, while smaller grants of £50 to £200 are available at any time of the year.

Environment Vice Convener Councillor Jim Orr said: "The Waste Action Grant scheme is an excellent way to inspire community groups to become more environmentally aware, and also to support ongoing initiatives. Several excellent projects have already benefited from this programme, and I would urge any group to apply for a slice of the funding."

Schemes which have already successfully applied for grants include the Inverleith Allotments Compost project, which involved communal compost bins to be used in a bid to reduce the dumping and burning of green waste.

Gowrie Care Limited's Clothesline project in Bruntsfield, which provides clothing for homeless people, recieved a grant last year and has now been nominated for a Care Accolades award.

Damian McGowan, Managing Director of Gowrie Care, said: "Gowrie Care's Clothesline project was only made possible after securing a Waste Action Grant. The £2224 that we received allowed us to transform an area in our project into a bright, welcoming shop where we can provide people we support with good quality, free clothing."

You can apply if you are part of a:

• constituted community group (and individuals working with a community group)
• group of interested residents (to form a constituted Waste Action Group)
• not-for-profit community sector organisation (for joint applications with community residents or groups)
• youth group (supervised by an affiliated group, organisation or school)
• school, Eco-Committee, Parent and Teacher Association
• church or Eco-Congregation.

Interested groups can read the guidelines and download an application form here.