Austin's Bright Green Future Grants by Amy Wu

Ever noticed what’s outside a classroom window? Schools in Austin can apply for City of Austin grants for school-based projects that could include up to eight environmental areas. These areas included bees saved, chickens raised, eggs produced, gallons of water saved, miles traveled by bike, pounds of vegetables produced, native species planted, and roosters raised. Each image shows how a school-based grant contributed to the environment and changed these learning spaces.

More than $300,000 was distributed to 133 grants over six school years. Of the 133 grants, 105 of the schools used them to create projects in at one or more environmental areas. This viz includes the $238,415 distributed to the 105 school-based grants, that participated in one or more environmental areas.

Between the 2012-2013 and 2017-2018 school years, the grant awards given for schools that participated in at least one of the eight environmental areas grew from $9,000 in the 2012-2013 school year, to $61,000 in the 2017-2018 school year.

These Austin schools should be commended for creating curriculums that incorporated environmental projects. In the 2012-2013 school year, the grants only included 3 brave schools. By the 2017-2018 school year, the winds of environmental programs had swept across 22 schools, each of which had participated in at least one of the eight environmental areas. Together these schools helped to create a greener Austin, and a better future for their students.