2010-11 Grant: Clean & Green

The “Clean and Green” grant project focused on two main areas: neighborhood beautification and resource utilization.

Neighborhood beautification involved two primary activities: the establishment of an annual cleanup day and a semi-annual neighborhood garden tour. Neighborhood resource share and utilization involved two activities as well: a new harvest share/walkabout and the establishment of “free cycle” efforts in concert within the designated cleanup day.

Our designated cleanup day featured city-sponsored dumpsters that were strategically placed in the neighborhood for neighbors to discard garbage and larger, non-recyclable or non-reusable items. During the free cycle event, neighbors gathered up unwanted but still usable items to donate and these were placed near the dumpster for others to claim. Unclaimed items at the end of the event were picked up by volunteers and donated to local nonprofit organizations.

For the neighborhood garden tour, we created a walking map that identified participating Cherryhill residents. During the tour, hosts opened up their yards to neighbors and answered questions about their gardens. These homeowners spruced up their yards in preparation for the tour while Cherryhill Neighborhood Association provide refreshments for visitors.

Our first Freecycle/Dumpster Day and first Garden tour were featured in our Summer 2011 Newsletter.

In addition to the above events, we inaugurated a Harvest Walkabout (modeled on our annual Holiday Walkabout) where neighbors could share the bounty of their fruit and vegetable harvests. During the walkabout, neighbors visited participating households and were able to enjoy a free version of a farmer’s market. Homeowners set up tables and/or pop-up tents in their front yards to display their selection of produce and other garden items. Our first Harvest Walkabout was featured in our Winter 2011 Newsletter AND the Sunnyvale SUN! (see below)