Peter Wege is pictured with his greenest of friends offering their best environmental tips:

1. Bring canvas bags to the grocery store; forget the paper and plastic bags.
2. Plant a tree.
3. Learn your 3 Rs. Recycle. Recycle. Recycle.
4. Don’t EVER buy helium balloons.
5. If you need to go somewhere, know your ABCs. Amtrack. Bike. Carpool.
6. Use your microwave instead of your oven. It uses 1/3rd less energy.
7. Your grandmother was right. Don’t warm the outdoors by leaving the door open. Same goes for summer and air-conditioning.
8. Replace your burned-out lightbulbs with fluorescent twister bulbs.. Turn off all the lights in an empty room.
9. Eat less meat: raising beef uses 4 times as much water as raising poultry and takes up 17 times more land.
10. Don’t EVER leave your car running.
11. Don’t run water when you’re brushing your teeth.

 

 

Peter Melvin Wege created the Wege Foundation in 1967 to honor his father, Peter Martin Wege who founded Metal Office Furniture in 1912, today’s Steelcase. The Wege Foundation’s Mission is to enrich the lives of the people in greater Grand Rapids, Michigan, by improving their:

EDUCATION

ENVIRONMENT

ARTS & CULTURE

HEALTH CARE

HUMAN SERVICES

Because the Wege Foundation advocates collaboration for programming and financing, we typically consider funding only a portion of the project’s costs.

The Wege Foundation will only consider capital projects that are seeking LEED certification under the U.S. Green Building Council’s guidelines. We give priority to projects in the greater Grand Rapids area.

Complete the grant-application form and submit it with a letter signed by your organization’s executive director. Please include brief statements of your project and its expected results; the amount of grant funds you’re seeking; the project’s total cost; and a copy of your IRS 501(c)(3) determination letter.

Wege Foundation staff may meet with grant applicants or conduct a site visit related to your project. Proposals will be presented to the Foundation’s grant-review committee two or three times during the calendar year. The review process might take three to four months.

If you have questions about the information required on your application, please contact the Wege Foundation at info@wegefoundation.org.