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Climate Action grant awardees report midyear progress on reuse, pollinator and waste-reduction projects
Summary
Three Climate Action Grant recipients told the Iowa City Climate Action Commission they are reducing single-use waste, supporting native pollinators and cutting plastic in home-delivery services. Presenters described pilot results and next steps.
At its regular meeting, the Iowa City Climate Action Commission heard midyear reports from three recipients of city Climate Action Grants: Antelope Blending Library, Bur Oak Land Trust and Nomadic Foods/Kindred Coffee.
The presentations described practical, funded experiments to reduce waste and support biodiversity. Alexis Kurth, assistant director of Antelope Blending Library, said the library replaced single-use plastic delivery bags with durable tote bags made from repurposed boat sails. “We purchased 60 of these bags,” Kurth said, and she told the commission the new totes replace the roughly 550 plastic bags used over five years to deliver about 1,600 books to 1,300 homes in Johnson County.
Jason Taylor, executive director of Bur Oak Land Trust, said his organization used grant funds to increase native shrub plantings aimed at improving early-season forage for pollinators, including the endangered rusty patched bumble bee. “We have the opportunity as residents of Iowa City to really help one specific type of … pollinator,” Taylor said, describing a plan to distribute packets of four native shrubs (arrowwood viburnum, hazelnut, serviceberry and wild plum) and a set of prairie potted plants for renters.
Molly (Nomadic Foods) and her business partner Connor described a reusable-jar program at Kindred Coffee (their café) and at their farmers-market stand. Customers pay a $1 deposit for a glass jar and receive a 10¢ discount when they use it; Nomadic Foods also added a 10¢ charge to disposable cups. “Within 10 uses of the jar, you get your dollar back,” Molly said, and she reported approximately 50% of customers chose glass on first offer, above her 25% goal.
Staff and commissioners asked about implementation details and equity outreach. Jason Taylor said the shrub packets are supplied by local nurseries and the Iowa DNR Forestry Program; he said more than 50 shrub packets had been claimed in the first days the program was available and the group will prioritize neighborhoods with documented pollinator resource deficits. Kurth said her organization worked with a volunteer-run business, Renegade Marine, to fabricate the repurposed sail totes. Nomadic Foods described storage and sanitation logistics for jars, and told commissioners it is considering a phased purchase plan to avoid large upfront storage needs.
Commission staff said the Climate Action Grants application will open March 1 and invited commission volunteers to serve on the scoring panel. Staff also said grant managers have been connecting awardees with city resources to broaden outreach and target underserved neighborhoods.
The presentations illustrated a range of small-scale, locally run projects using city grant dollars to test climate-minded practices with measurable pilot outputs and described concrete next steps and outreach plans.
