Impact
Empowering young people while educating our community about environmental responsibility is the focus of the Carmel Green Teen Micro-Grant Program. The direct environmental impact of the funded projects is both measurable and impressive. Our program allows every young person in our township an equal opportunity to make a difference in the world. Today’s youth are tomorrow’s world leaders; if we can help them realize and experience the benefits of community service and environmental stewardship now, the future will be a better place for everyone.
Together, from 2009-2021 our program’s 67 funded projects have:
- Directly involved over 1300 young people, ages 5-19
- Benefited every member of our community (over 100,000 people)
- Provided Carmel residents over $120,000 in savings annually
- Reduced carbon dioxide emissions by over 500 tons annually
- Planted over 2500 trees and numerous wildflowers and native pollinator plants
- Facilitated the ongoing recycling of tons of waste from school cafeterias monthly
- Saved over a half-million plastic bags and thousands of plastic water bottles annually
- Provided 105 CFL bulbs to people from 44 different neighborhoods, saving $2100 in electricity bills annually
- Annually provided over 1000 tomatoes, 50 buckets of beans, and hundreds of pounds of other vegetables, all locally- and organically-grown, to school cafeterias and local families in need.
- Involved projects within eight elementary schools, one special-needs school, three middle schools, five churches, five parks, and two high schools
- Facilitated 10 Boy Scout Eagle projects and 4 Girl Scout award projects
- Created sustainable, safe new animal habitats by planting flowers, shrubs, and trees native to Indiana and by removing invasive plant species
- Launched Indiana’s first mono-filament fishing line recycling program
- Raised awareness of environmental issues within the Carmel community
- Fostered a greater sense of community
Download the Carmel Green Teen Impact Calculation Guide to see how these numbers were determined. Due to changes in organizational sponsorship, data from 2019-2021 is not available. This formatted guide allows users to calculate the environmental impact of their projects. It contains useful links to the US EPA and other websites used as resources for these calculations.