NU Is Offering Funding For Local Environmental Initiatives

BERLIN — Northeast Utilities is offering grants to provide motivated groups and individuals with the means to put their environmental ideas into action and make a positive contribution in their communities.

Environmental Community Grants of between $250 and $1,000 are available to support environmental initiatives that improve or preserve the environment in communities, or teach others the value of doing so. The grants, distributed each spring and fall, support initiatives with modest funding needs that may otherwise be overlooked by other funding sources.

Teachers, scout troops, and land trusts have all applied for and received grants to turn their creative ideas into reality and provide real local benefit. Recipient projects make meaningful and self-sustaining improvements to the environment or in public attitudes about the environment.

In the past, grants have been used to begin community recycling programs, protect animal habitats, and teach others about the ecological wonders in their own backyards.

Applications are being accepted through the April 15 deadline for grants that will be distributed in May. Applications should be for proposals in Connecticut, Massachusetts, or New Hampshire that can be fully funded by the grant without utilizing other funding sources.

Funding requests are evaluated based on the environmental benefit they would produce. Applications that meet program guidelines but are declined may be resubmitted for the next grant period.

For more information, or to apply, contact the Northeast Utilities Environmental Management Department at 860-665-3951 or apply online at nu.com/environmental/grant.asp