Derrell Slaughter noticed a gap in the green economy movement. The lower socio-economic neighborhoods and the people living in them were absent. So he founded Greenation to change that picture.
Slaughter, 22, hopes to teach inner city youngsters ways to be part of a green economy while addressing poverty and joblessness. The Michigan State University (MSU) political science major dreams of an inclusive, sustainable community in which lives have been changed through his group's leadership.
One of his first projects reaped fruits and vegetables — the bounty of a summer youth garden project. Fifteen teens from St. Vincent’s Home for Children collaborated with Lansing's South Side Community Coalition to manage the garden.
Now, Slaughter is hosting the Greenation Youth Recycling Program to raise funds for more youth projects.
He’ll be managing a free-to-the-community luncheon at the Lansing City Market 12:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. Oct. 10 and will host a 10 a.m. door-to-door canvass of the surrounding neighborhoods to gather empty laser cartridges, inkjet cartridges and used cell phones.
They’ll be shipped to the FundingFactory, an organization that will exchange them for a choice of technology or cash to benefit Greenation.
Slaughter is seeking drop box locations throughout the community for the empty cartridges and used cell phones for ongoing collection and fundraising.
The luncheon is part of the Michigan PowerShift 2009 Conference in Lansing, Oct. 9-11. College students from across the state come together to participate in a series of panels and workshops and community, hands-on, green and sustainability projects; hear speakers; attend concerts; and join a march and rally at the Capitol for green jobs and a new economy.
For more information about Greenation, contact Slaughter here.
Source: Derrell Slaughter, Greenation
Gretchen Cochran, Innovation & Jobs editor, may be reached here.
Enjoy this story?
Sign up for free solutions-based reporting in your inbox each week.