Beginning July 17-31 rethink your commute. Take the Commuter Challenge and try a more sustainable form of transportation for at least one day. Bike, walk or carpool. Try public transit. Alternative transportation can have an important effect on Northeast Ohio's air quality and your health and your wallet.

“For every 20-mile round trip you eliminate, you save a gallon of gas and keep about 25 pounds of pollutants out of the air we breathe,” explains Amy Wainright, an environmental planner at the Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency (NOACA).

NOACA’s Air Quality Programs are excited to announce this year’s prizes! By participating in Commuter Challenge, and completing the survey at the end, you will be registered for a drawing that includes the following prizes:

• Cleveland Indians Baseball Tickets
• Mr. Hero Sandwich Gift Certificates
• Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Admission Tickets
• Bodies Exhibition Tickets

In addition, NOACA has a limited number of Laketran bus passes for use during Commuter Challenge. These are available first come, first served, by emailing your name and address to aschmitt@mpo.noaca.org.

Participating organizations:

In July, the Ohio Third Frontier will release a Request for Proposals (RFPs) for Fuel Cell, Photovoltaic, and Advanced Energy projects. RFPs will be due in October, with awards made in December. Do you need help to prepare a successful proposal that gets funded?

NorTech Energy Enterprise, in partnership with the Ohio Fuel Cell Coalition, will host a full-day, intensive workshop on July 22 covering various aspects of writing winning Third Frontier proposals, focused on advanced energy technologies. This workshop is a great opportunity to learn everything you need to know to successfully submit a proposal for the Ohio Third Frontier Advanced Energy Program in FY2011. Individuals seriously considering submitting a proposal for Ohio's Third Frontier Energy Cluster Program should attend.

Registration here.

Learn more about completing the budget for a NC proposal. Neighborhood Connections, the small grants program affiliated with the Cleveland Foundation intended to benefit grassroots neighborhood groups in the city of Cleveland, is requesting proposals for their next round of funding. The program offers grants of $500 to $5,000 twice a year to groups that organize projects to improve the quality of life in their neighborhood.  Groups are encouraged to work with partners, and to propose creative solutions to challenges in their neighborhood. Grants are available to any group of residents in the city of Cleveland. Groups do not need to be recognized as an official 501(c)(3) organization to receive a grant. Neighborhood Connections does not provide funding for individuals, individual businesses, or for capital projects. The deadline for proposals is Friday, August 13th, 2010. For more information, please visit www.neighborhoodgrants.org or call 216.393.4642.

Green Map Launch Party

Green Map System promotes inclusive participation in sustainable community development worldwide through digital map-making. Green Map plots the locations of a community's natural, cultural and sustainable resources such as recycling centers, heritage sites,community gardens, toxic waste sites and socially conscious businesses.

Each Green Map is a local project, created by people who live or work in the community.  Now there is a Green Map for Northeast Ohio! Come celebrate its launch, and learn how to add to the map. Hosted by GreenCityBlueLake Institute.

To learn more about Green Map go here

To visit the Northeast Ohio Green Map go here

Audubon Ohio invites you to a special presentation:

The environmental impact of what is now reckoned as the largest oil spill in U. S. history continues to unfold. Oil is now being seen from Louisiana to Florida, and there are fears that the loop current will carry it up the Atlantic Coast. Audubon has hundreds of staff and volunteers on the ground helping with recovery efforts.

Please join us in Cleveland on Thursday, July 22nd to hear an update directly from experts on the ground in the Gulf Coast states about the impacts on wildlife and how everyone can help not only clean up the mess, but make sure it never happens again. This important discussion will feature the National Audubon Society's Director of Bird Conservation, Dr. Greg Butcher, who has been tirelessly assisting with the recovery efforts. A recent sobering article in USA Today features Greg’s comments on how birds are being impacted by the oil spill.