Circular Economy Funding - Previously known as ``Zero Waste Funding``

$20,000 to Community Fruit Rescue for Roots to Fruits Initiative

Community Fruit Rescue (CFR) is a woman-led nonprofit with the mission to reduce food waste, increase equitable access to fresh fruit, minimize conflicts with local wildlife, and care for Boulder County’s historic orchard legacy. Since 2014, CFR has built a unique community-based model that combines education, volunteer engagement, and local partnerships to keep tremendous volumes of fresh fruit from going to waste. CFR is expanding its work beyond core harvests to include more robust tree care and new fruit preservation initiatives. Funds were awarded for a harvest and preservation tool library, translation of materials and bilingual support for workshops, and volunteer harvest leader stipends. Activities include establishing the tool library, developing and hosting workshops and resources on fruit tree care and fruit preservation, and expanded fruit harvesting operations.

$13,050 to Growing Gardens for Reducing Single Use Plastics in Greenhouses

Growing Gardens is a Boulder County nonprofit that increases access to fresh, healthy food and gardening opportunities for community members, including low-income and historically excluded community members. For the past 27 years, Growing Gardens has offered gardening education, seeds and plant starts, community garden plots, and hands-on food-growing experiences at schools, homes, seven community gardens and three farms in Boulder and Longmont. Support from this grant will allow Growing Gardens to significantly reduce single-use plastics in their greenhouse production, reduce waste and emissions, and model climate-smart practices for the wider community. The award will fund equipment necessary to convert to and manage purchases of bulk soil, rather than plastic bagged soil, as well as durable, reusable seeding trays.

$5,600 to Harvest of Hope for Increased Efficiency in Rescue Food Operations

Harvest of Hope Pantry’s mission is to provide healthy supplemental food to Boulder families and individuals in need of food assistance within a safe, welcoming and non-judgmental environment. In 2024, Harvest of Hope rescued 100,000 pounds of food for redistribution. The purchase of key equipment will enable Harvest of Hope to double this amount to an estimated 200,000 pounds of food annually for their clients. The award will fund the purchase of a display cooler, a pallet jack, two U-boat carts, and a stocking cart.

$2,650 to Coal Creek Meals on Wheels to Transition to a Zero-Plastic-Waste, Reusables-Only Café System

Coal Creek Meals on Wheels (CCMOW) supports the independence and quality of life of residents in Lafayette, Louisville, Erie, and Superior by providing daily, made-from-scratch, nutritious meals through home delivery, congregate dining, and community access points—ensuring that no one in their service area goes hungry or feels alone. Their work focuses on older adults, individuals with chronic illnesses, low-income families, and others in need of food and social connection. The Coal Creek Café has primarily used single-use containers, this award funds the purchase of durable, reusable serviceware alternatives to reduce operational waste.

$50,000 to the Latino Chamber of Commerce of Boulder County for Circular Economy and Zero Waste Initiative for Underserved Businesses
This project addresses the need for more sustainable waste management practices in Boulder County’s food and hospitality sector, especially among minority-owned businesses. It aims to overcome barriers such as limited access to capital and knowledge by offering education, infrastructure support, and financial assistance. The project will promote circular economy models, helping businesses transition to reusable and compostable materials, reduce waste, and improve operational efficiency. Additionally, public awareness campaigns will foster community engagement, encouraging support for eco-friendly businesses and aligning efforts with Boulder County’s climate and zero-waste goals. The program includes bilingual workshops, personalized consulting, and mini grants to help businesses acquire reusable materials, composting tools, and recycling infrastructure. The program’s goals include reducing waste, improving operational efficiency, and integrating circular economy models. Key outcome objectives are to increase the adoption of reusable and compostable materials, divert waste from landfills, enhance community support through public awareness campaigns, and establish partnerships that ensure long-term sustainability across the region.

$25,000 to Green Girl Recycling for a 11-foot Hydraulic Stake Bed Truck
This project is to purchase a new 11-foot hydraulic tipping stake bed to put onto an 84” cab-to-axel 4×4 truck chassis to support more hard-to-reach mountain residential and commercial pickups. This would more than double the amount of recycling volume that Green Girl can haul from the mountain communities, improve driver safety, create more efficiency in unloading at the Boulder County Recycling Center, and allow Green Girl to divert more recycling from the Boulder County waste stream. Green Girl received funding from this grant 20 years ago for a 10-foot stake bed truck that is still in active use today and has been crucial to Green Girl diverting over 2,200 tons of recyclables from the mountain communities in Boulder County. Providing recycling services to harder-to-reach mountain communities lowers carbon footprint by reducing individual recycling trips. Green Girl specializes in serving mountain communities that face challenges from weather and wildlife.

$10,000 to Bridge House for Reuse of vegetable scraps to transform into broth for sale and for Mission Meals for the Homeless
This project funds the initial startup of a new broth social enterprise that will repurpose vegetable waste/scraps both from the ongoing Community Table Kitchen (CTK) food preparation business and turn the scraps into healthy, nutritious, high-quality, and sippable vegetable broth that will be sold in the Boulder JCC and CTK Cafes. The funding would help support, in part, the salary of one Trainee, who will be involved in the startup and implementation of the new broth business. Funding will also help purchase compostable certified containers to package the broth product in for sale. The Community Table Kitchen is an enterprise of Bridge House’s Ready to Work program, a “Work Works” model, transitional employment program for adults experiencing homelessness and rooted in social enterprise. In 2023, Community Table Kitchen prepared and distributed over 130,000 meals to food insecure persons.

$5,000 to Pig & Pearl Secondhand for Renewing an Inclusive Circular Economy in Boulder
The project is focused on upgrading infrastructure. The outcome objectives are (1) to facilitate greater quantities of items that are recycled and reused, (2) create new opportunities to reach our community to assist in recycling and reuse, (3) improve infrastructure and processing capabilities, (4) create a more efficient and safe environment for staff and volunteers that includes less lifting; particularly for those at greater ages and with significant disabilities, and (5) overall increase to the output of reusable items into the community that did not require new resources and/or plastic to make so that we have a more sustainable and lower footprint world, at least starting locally.

No, we cannot offer application extensions.

The list of ineligible uses of funds includes “funds for start-up business.” This means that funding cannot be used as seed funding for start-up businesses. However, start up businesses that are already operating may apply for funding for projects or programs.

Yes, a vehicle may be considered eligible equipment for this fund if it is necessary and used to achieve the circular economy goals of the fund.

Yes. Funding cannot be used to fund existing program operations but may be used to expand existing programs to new areas or populations or to include new materials streams or similar objectives that will increase waste diversion or another circular economy objective.

No. Land acquisition itself is not an eligible outcome for this funding.

No.

Potentially. Only work or projects in the service area are eligible.

Yes. The project or program work must be in the service area.

Yes, each application will be evaluated separately.

Yes

No, there is no advantage either way; do what make most sense for your organization(s) and the project.

Probably not. Salary for existing staff is an eligible use of funds as long as the staff time is dedicated to the project, and the project work hours are not already covered by another specific funding source. Funds should only be used to pay expenses that do not have a specific funding source dedicated to covering such costs.

Yes, paying a contractor is an eligible use of funds whether or not equipment is a part of the application.

No, feedback and revision are not a part of the process. The review committee may decide on partial funding. Award decisions with partial funding may specify which components of the project are funded, may specify that funded components will be determined with the county, or may specify that the applicant can determine which components can be achieved based on the partial funding.