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You can sign up for the challenge now. Once you sign up and create your profile, browse the categories and actions, check off the actions you already take, and select up to five one-time actions and five daily actions to make progress on during the four-week challenge. The challenge has more than 40 actions to choose from in five categories. The challenge will go from September 14 through October 11.

Hennepin County is working to raise awareness about the need to reduce the amount of contamination, or non-compostable materials, being put into the organics recycling.

Starting September 8, Hennepin County will begin enforcing stricter contamination standards for organics recycling delivered to the county’s Brooklyn Park Transfer Station. Most organics recycling collected in the county from businesses, schools, multifamily housing and other commercial programs is delivered to this facility before being sent to a compost site.

Organics need to be free of non-compostable materials

These stricter standards and focus on reducing contamination are happening to ensure the viability of local organics composting facilities and the organics recycling programs they support.

Receiving organics free of contamination allows local composters to consistently produce clean, nutrient-rich compost that people want to purchase and use. Compost that contains plastic, glass, and other contaminants is very difficult to sell and can only be used for low-value, low-end purposes.

A recent grantee – the Hook & Ladder Apartments site in Minneapolis – used grant funding for soil cleanup. The project transformed a once blighted site into 118 units of affordable and workforce housing. The site now also features artwork made from upcycled materials, like the pictured James Brenner's sculpture, "Passages.”

Applications for Environmental Response Fund grants are due November 2. Learn more. Prior to applying for a grant, contact brownfields@hennepin.us to discuss your project and funding needs.

The Clark property is part of a larger joint effort between Hennepin County and the Minnesota Land Trust to protect 500 acres of habitat within Hennepin County and restore 250 acres to a more natural state. Natural lands like the Clark property play an important role in filtering surface and groundwater, maintaining wildlife corridors, and creating opportunities for outdoor recreation.The county has funding available to help establish conservation easements on remaining natural areas in Hennepin County. 

For more information, contact Kristine Maurer at kristine.maurer@hennepin.us.

An upgrade was recently completed on the county’s gravel-bed tree nursery, ensuring the county will continue to have access to about 1,000 hardy, diverse, and cost-effective trees each year to transplant to county projects and properties.

The ground under the gravel bed was paved to reduce the amount of soil that gets mixed in with the gravel, which was happening when foresters used heavy equipment to install and remove the trees.

Trees grown in a gravel-bed nursery develop a healthy, fibrous root structure that is superior to the root systems of containerized or balled and burlap trees. Having too much soil mixing in with the gravel restricted the movement of the trees’ roots, preventing them from developing that healthy root structure.

Maintaining and improving the gravel-bed nursery is a key part of the county’s forestry efforts that focus on planting a diversity of tree species, increasing the resiliency of the urban forest, and addressing threats from tree pests and disease.

For more information, contact trees@hennepin.us.

The county recently awarded 10 school recycling grants totaling $149,800. These projects will allow schools to expand recycling and organics collection, start composting on-site, and reduce waste from single-use packaging and food service ware.

Grant recipients include four public school districts, four charter schools, and two non-public schools. The schools are located in Bloomington, Brooklyn Park, Brooklyn Center, Crystal, Eden Prairie, Golden Valley, Maple Grove, Minneapolis, Minnetonka, New Hope, Osseo, Plymouth, Richfield, and Robbinsdale. The county is working with schools to adjust their project timelines and activities based on their circumstances this fall. Learn about the grants awarded.

For more information, contact Kira Berglund at kira.berglund@hennepin.us.

Deconstruction, a process that involves dismantling a building to salvage reusable materials, rather the demolition is gaining popularity in the Twin Cities. Since launching a grant program to help offset the added costs of deconstruction earlier this year, Hennepin County has already awarded grants to 12 projects. Homeowners are motivated by the environmental benefits, with one grantee in a recent story on KSTP reporting that it’s amazing how much material can be salvaged and reused. Funding is still available for deconstruction projects in 2020. 

Learn how to make compost in your backyard! Upcoming webinars will cover how to set up and maintain a compost pile.

• Thursday, September 10 from 5 to 6 p.m.
• Tuesday, September 22 from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m.

There is no charge to sign up, but space is limited, and registration is required. Register online.

The annual Metro Area Children’s Water Festival provides upper elementary students with hands-on opportunities to learn about water and its importance to people and our natural environment. At past festivals, students have learned about topics such as how scientists measure the quality of water, where the water goes when the toilet gets flushed, how tiny bugs can serve as indicators of water quality, the importance of wetlands, and basic water science.

The 2020 festival will be offered virtually September 28 through October 2 and feature a variety of speakers and activities – providing many opportunities to participate over the week of the festival! Sign up to be notified when the virtual festival goes live.