An eco-play, a tree garden and a pocket guide to plants are just three of the many green projects the city funded this week through its annual Environmental Initiatives Grants.
City council approved $30,687 in grants Monday under the Environmental Initiatives Grant program. The annual grant is meant to help community groups improve the state of the city's water, land and air, and is overseen by the Environmental Advisory Committee (EAC). About $30,700 (or $0.50 per resident) was available this year.
The EAC got 15 grant applications this year, said committee president Brent Korobanik, but rejected three as they did not demonstrate significant environmental benefit to St. Albert.
There were definitely some innovative applications this year, Korobanik said, such as the Sturgeon River Research Program's proposal to make a video on water issues in the Sturgeon River watershed. The group received $5,000. He also flagged the application from Leo Nickerson Elementary as "pretty cool."
Green play
Leo Nickerson got a $1,700 grant to purchase costumes, props, and guest speakers, as well as to rent the Arden Theatre to create a drama production on environmental issues in St. Albert.
"I have a lot of students that have a real passion for the environment," said Leo Nickerson drama teacher Kerry McPhail-Hayden, who made the application.
Starting next January, Nickerson students will research environmental issues in St. Albert with the help of guest speakers from groups such as the city's Office of Environment and Sustainability and the Big Lake Environment Support Society (BLESS).
Students will then create a series of scenes based on each issue using different dramatic techniques, McPhail-Hayden said. "One scene could be all in mime. One scene could be sung." Each would be linked by a common element (such as a prop or character), and would try to show all sides of an issue.
"It's not a didactic thing with, 'You must not pollute,'" McPhail-Hayden said. Instead, each scene would be more like a workshop, with the audience working with the performers to figure out how the scene should end. "It's meant to make people think about the issues."
The play should hopefully empower students and help them realize that they can act to help the environment, McPhail-Hayden said. "Maybe some Grade 2 kid is going to see that and grow up to be the next activist that changes something."
McPhail-Hayden hoped to have the play ready for performance before local students at the Arden by March 27.
Tree garden and guide
The city gave the River Edge Enhancement Project (REEP) two grants. The first, for $2,500, will fund the group's annual tree-planting efforts to restore riparian vegetation to the Sturgeon.
The second, worth $7,000, will fund the creation of a drip-irrigation system for a native plant nursery near Meadowview Drive and the grain elevators.
The EAC held a long talk about the second grant, Korobanik said, as these grants are normally capped at $5,000, but approved it due to its considerable potential benefits to residents.
The native plants used in past REEP efforts haven't done well in the wild, said BLESS member Miles Constable, who was familiar with these grants. There are just a handful of suppliers available, and the plants they provide have been too small to thrive once planted.
City arborist Kevin Veenstra got the idea to build a nursery in which native plants could mature for three years before harvest, Constable said. "We really want to get those plants established." The $7,000 will cover the cost of bringing a water line to the nursery. A second $2,500 grant from the Walmart-Evergreen program will pay for the plants.
Garden construction should start this spring, Constable said, with up to 300 plants established per year. Those plants would then be used in local naturalization projects.
BLESS received $5,000 from the city to create a pocket guide to plants around Lois Hole Centennial Provincial Park.
The idea for the guide came from local environmentalist Elke Blodgett, Constable said, and is meant to follow up on this summer's botanical survey of the park.
There are a lot of avid birders out there, Constable said, but most people know little about the plants around them, despite their vital role in the ecosystem. "It's not just birds, deer and coyotes."
The guide, when complete, would provide facts, photos and locations of up to 50 plants in the park and teach people about their importance.
The botanical survey will likely be published by the end of the year, Constable said. The guide would be up for sale sometime in 2014.
See the minutes of the Nov. 25 council meeting for a full list of grant recipients.
