Eagle County sustainability group to be awarded grant
EAGLE, Colorado – On Wednesday, a Department of Agriculture official will present representatives from the Eagle Valley Alliance for Sustainability with a ceremonial check for a $66,550 Solid Waste Management Grant.
Rural Development State Director Jim Isgar will be joined by local dignitaries at 8:30 a.m. in the Commissioners Chambers at the Eagle County Building. The Eagle Valley Alliance will use the funding to focus its efforts on the Eagle River Valley and implement a waste management practice that supports both environmental and economic sustainability.
The grant program supports rural areas with recycling education and solid waste planning.
“This grant will allow the Eagle Valley Alliance to improve upon and utilize the findings compiled through a previous grant awarded by USDA Rural Development to Eagle County government in 2009,” Isgar said.
The new project will use these regional findings along with new local research on recyclables, organics, and construction/demolition debris to develop a waste diversion plan for the Eagle Valley.
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To assist in this endeavor, the Eagle Valley Alliance has created a new part-time staff position funded in part by the grant. Alyssa Reindel was recently hired as the waste diversion coordinator. Reindel has overseen waste diversion projects through her own Zero Waste event business, EverGreen Events, and through Boulder’s recycling nonprofit, Eco-Cycle. As part of this project, Mrs. Reindel will also be leading a committee that will include municipalities, waste haulers, Eagle County, and others, in order to assess and create solutions for the whole Eagle Valley waste system.
