The good folks at Georgia Forest Watch wonder what you think about this poster. They’ve got it on display at Patagonia in Atlanta, where they’re competing for a nice $4,000 grant. I don’t know what the other groups have on display, so we’ll have to evaluate this one on its own merits. So weigh in — would you vote for them? If not, why not?

Thanks to Lori, the group’s outreach director, for volunteering her work!

So who do you think deserves $50,000 in grant money and free advertising? West Virginia’s Friends of the Cheat? The Southern Wisconsin Chapter of Trout Unlimited? American Forests? Nature Corps? or the Catamount Trail Association? Zip over to Redwood Creek Wines Great Outdoors Project and click or send a text message to support your favorite.

I’ll be casting my vote for Friends of the Cheat, since I’m a part-time West Virginia resident.

This kind of thing is called “cause marketing” — business put their advertising muscle into promoting a good cause, hoping that consumers will remember them for it. I don’t remember any others that were contests like this, but it’s a neat idea. Maybe there’s a business in your neck of the woods that would like to follow suit?

And here’s a Water Words That Work reminder: Everyday citizen hear the word “business” and think “good company.” They hear the word “corporation” and think “bad company.”

Click here to vote for the good cause of your choice!

The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection is now seeking grant proposals from public water systems and municipalities for (among other things) education programs that help address drinking water losses through local water conservation and education programs. Individual grants can range up to $60,000 with a 25% match.

I’m making two assumptions here: if they want behavior change out of this “education,” then they are amenable to action-oriented social-marketing style campaigns. Also, I’m betting that only public water systems and municipalities in Massachusetts can apply for these grants.

The RFR for the 2009 Water Conservation Grant Program has been posted on the state’s Comm-PASS website (http://www.comm-pass.com/). Click on “Search for Solicitiations”, then enter BRP 2008-03 into the “Keywords” box to find it.

If you have questions, contact Malcolm Harper at Mass DEP at (508) 767-2795 or malcolm dot harper at state.ma.us.

Good luck, applicants.

This time it’s in Montana, where the Department of Environmental Quality is seeking:

… applicants for mini-grants of EXACTLY $1,500 to fund local education and outreach efforts that address water quality and nonpoint source pollution issues,” according to the email announcement….Focusing on education and outreach, the grants provide a mechanism to increase awareness of local nonpoint source pollution issues and to improve water quality through educational activities.

The agency envisions that those seeking grants will be:

• Local watershed groups
• Conservation districts
• County extension services
• Schools

Etc… and must have the ability to manage federal funding.

To read the call for mini grants, click here.
To download the mini-grant application, click here