Aspen Skiing group doles out $100,000 in green grants

ASPEN ” The Aspen Skiing Co. Employee Environment Foundation announced Thursday that it awarded $100,000 to 18 projects in its latest grant cycle this spring.

The grants were made possible by $34,000 in contributions from Skico employees over the past four months, along with matches from the Aspen Community Foundation and Aspen Skiing Co. Family Fund. A 15-member board of directors comprised of Skico employees selected the grant recipients.

One of the big winners was the Carbondale Senior Housing Corp., which received $10,000 to help install solar hot water and photovoltaic systems at Crystal Meadows Senior Housing. The systems will eliminate 43,000 pounds of carbon dioxide emissions annually while reducing utility costs for the elderly residents on a budget.

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Other recipients of grants were:

– Carbondale Community Nonprofit Center, $8,000 to help install solar thermal panels;

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– Aspen Center for Environmental Studies, $6,000 for environmental education for school kids;

– Aspen Public Radio, $5,000 to produce one environmental story per week;

– Carbondale Environmental Board, $2,500 to purchase 40 plastic recycling bins;

– Colorado Conservation Voters Education Fund, $7,500 to undertake non-partisan education efforts in Garfield County to “impact conservation policy, engage conservationists in local initiatives and hold local elected officials accountable”;

– Colorado Rocky Mountain School, $4,000 to expand its organic garden;

– Habitat for Humanity, $6,500 to support its Re-Store, which sells slightly used construction materials;

– Independence Pass Foundation, $2,500 for rehabilitation of the Discovery Trail;

– Mount Sopris Nordic Council, $2,000 for trail maintenance at the Spring Gulch Cross Country Center;

– Pitkin County Land Management, $2,000 to aid private land owners with weed eradication;

– Roaring Fork Mountain Bike Association, $7,000 to help develop a trails master plan for the Roaring Fork Valley;

– Roaring Fork Outdoor Volunteers, $9,500 for trail maintenance projects;

– Rocky Mountain Climate Organization, $5,000 to develop a statewide climate action plan;

– U.S. Forest Service, $2,950 to purchase 2,000 waste bags that backpackers to the popular Conundrum Hot Springs will be encouraged to use to pack their waste out;

– Western Colorado Congress, $5,000 to inform and organize a grassroots constituency to reduce the environmental impacts of energy development on the Western Slope;

– Western Resource Advocates, $10,000 to support efforts to stop development of coal-fired plants;

– Wilderness Workshop, Colorado Mountain Club and Colorado Environmental Coalition, $5,000 to support the Hidden Gems effort to secure wilderness designation for 400,000 acres of public lands.