West Windsor Environmental Commission, West Windsor Farmers Market, and Friends of West Windsor Open Space hosted “Greening of West Windsor” (GroWW), an environmental education fair on Saturday, September 20, where community members, governmental agencies, corporate exhibitors, and regional businesses came together to illustrate and celebrate opportunities to make West Windsor, Mercer County, the State, and the world more environmentally sustainable.##M:[more]##
The Fair brought together over 2,”000 participants from all of Mercer County and helped to create awareness of the importance of recycling and reusing items.
Recycling totals for the day included collections of cell phones, rechargeable batteries, clothing, computers, and electronic equipment. More than 1,”096 pounds of paper was shredded and 110 recycling buckets were distributed.
West Windsory Library introduced its “Reuse, Recycle, Reinvent” student environmental art contest for ages 8 to 17 years to submit craft entries using materials that would otherwise be disposed of as trash. Amy Frankel chaired the judging committee with members of the West Windsor Arts Council. Kaija Greenberg, West Windsor Library branch manager, presented awards.
Age group 8 to 10 years winners include: First prize, Alex Neumann, ‘My Tenth Birthday,’ a sculpture with welded recycled pipes. Second prize: Avni Mandhania, ‘Ear-rings,’ jewelry made from Sprite cans and electrical wire.
Age group 11 to 13 years winners include: First prize: Mrigank Saksena, ‘Rebot Server’ using paper cups, yogurt container, plastic lids, water bottles, biscotti can, medicine carton, and a used dusting cloth. Second prize: David Van Dyke, ‘Cork-comet’ using lollipop sticks, a curling ribbon tube, bottle caps, and corks.
Age group 14-17 years winners include: First prize: Rachel Shin, ‘Naturally Musical,’ an arrangement using newspaper, cardboard, masking tape, and paper bags. Second prize: Henggao Cai, ‘Dino Egg’ using recycled newspapers and tape.
“I was blown away by the quality,” says Ilene Dube of the West Windsor Arts Council. “These kids really took the theme to heart and executed it in a sophisticated way.”
