Yahoo Finance Beach-cleaning robot honoured with $1K grant
An idea to use robots to scour local beaches for litter has earned an Ottawa woman a $1,000 grant from local group Awesome Ottawa, which rewards those working on "awesome projects."
Erin Kennedy created Robot Missions — a social enterprise that uses robots to find litter on beaches — was honoured with the "micro-grant" at a ceremony on Thursday night.
Every month, local chapters of the Awesome Foundation hand out these $1,000 grants after reviewing short online applications. Globally, more than $3 million has already been awarded — $100,000 of that by Awesome Ottawa.
Kennedy was the local chapter's 100th honouree.
"The objective of our robot is to improve our environment by collecting tiny-trash pollution found on beaches," Kennedy said.
"This type of pollution poses a threat to our ecosystems, but is often ignored by manual efforts, and large machinery does not collect it."
Kennedy said her group also engages the public to help operate the robots and learn more about environmental issues facing shorelines all over the world.
The grant money will be used to host volunteer gatherings and help Kennedy create signs for beach cleanup days, she told Alan Neal of CBC Radio's All in a Day..
According to Kennedy, she's also teamed up with engineering students at the University of Ottawa to develop new modules for the robot to perform environmental restoration in park spaces, as well as collect water samples.
Awesome Ottawa trustee Nick Bachusky said the grant money is more than a financial shot in the arm.
"We give them $1,000 and it gives them a springboard and the confidence to go forward," said Bachusky.
He also said one of his favourite grant recipients is Hidden Harvest. It's a group of volunteers that collects fruit and vegetables from homeowners, which would normally go to waste, and distribute them to people in need.
Bachusky also mentioned Shakespeare in the Park, a company that is going to take its live show into rural communities such as Merrickville as a result of an Awesome Ottawa grant.
