It does not take much for anyone who wants to reduce his or her carbon footprint on the environment to get started, and officials in West Windsor are hoping to lead the way, and encourage more residents to do so.##M:[more]##
After months of planning, the first Greening of West Windsor (GroWW) environmental fair is scheduled for Saturday, September 20, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the West Windsor Farmer’s Market at Vaughn Drive off Alexander Road. The event is hosted by the West Windsor Environmental Commission, the West Windsor Farmers Market, and FOWWOS (Friends of West Windsor Open Space).
The brainchild of West Windsor Township Councilwoman Heidi Kleinman, who chairs the fair, the event is meant to showcase the township’s environmental efforts, as well as businesses with green initiatives. More than 50 exhibitors will line up on tables throughout the parking lot to provide environmental information and describe their particular approaches to curb adverse climate change, reduce greenhouse gas, minimize solid waste, and limit negative environmental impacts of everyday life.
Throughout the day, six different student groups from high schools North and South will be providing background ensemble music, says Kleinman, adding that two local garage bands will also perform music they have written that contains green themes. “These kids are working on getting the message out,” she says. “The idea is that they’re promoting green awareness through music, furthering the fair’s cause by providing enjoyable music for everyone present.”
From 10:30 to 11:30 a.m. the fair will feature appearances by various governmental officials, including Assemblywoman Linda Greenstein, Senator Bill Baroni, as well as Assemblyman Wayne DeAngelo. The officials will discuss green initiatives at the state level, and will be available for a question and answer period. West Windsor Mayor Shing-Fu Hsueh will also highlight the township’s own environmental initiatives, Kleinman says.
Following that event, a panel of green living speakers, lead by the township’s Environmental Commission, will discuss ways to save energy, including using healthier cleaning products and composting. That panel is scheduled for 12:30 to 1:30 p.m.
But the GroWW event will also feature more hands-on activities for all ages, including an environmental scavenger hunt. Every person who attends the fair will receive a card with about a dozen questions. The object is for each participant to look for the answers among the exhibitors, “where we can all learn about the businesses and about good, sustainable practices at the township,” says Kleinman.
The “sustainability hunt” was created and managed by members of High School South’s ReFRESH, a community problem solving program that is a part of the Future Problem Solving Club. The club, according to oo-president Jenny Yu, was started to help elementary school students in one after-school program become more aware of proper nutrition and exercise though arts, crafts, physical activities, and cooking projects. It has expanded to include two more elementary schools and include visits to health classes at Grover Middle School. Members of the club will be stationed throughout the fair to hand out game forms, answer questions, and direct general traffic.
“A lot of the exhibitors will have displays that are interactive,” Kleinman says. “It should be a fun family day.” Throughout the day, there will also be six magic shows with environmental themes for the fair’s younger attendees. Those shows are slated for 11 a.m., 11:40 a.m., 12:30 p.m., 1:15 p.m., 2 p.m., and 2:45 p.m.
And there will be a table at the fair giving residents the opportunity to discuss their ideas for starting a community garden and sign up to volunteer. The idea was first brought up by Councilman George Borek during a council meeting over the winter, and he and Kleinman have been looking at several potential sites within the township.
Also scheduled to be showcased at the fair is the artwork created as a result of an environmental student art contest called “Recycle, Reuse, Reinvent,” which was conducted by the West Windsor Library and the arts council. The contest gave 8 to 17-year-olds the chance to create art from items they would usually discard as trash. The art contest ran all summer long, and the top five entries in each age category will be displayed at GroWW fair.
In addition,there will be a discussion about sustainable foods from the Northeast Organic Farming Association (NOFA).
Art Exhibit. The West Windsor Arts Council will run an art exhibit all day at the fair, featuring artwork also based on green themes. “They will be a doing a hands-on art project with any person who sits down,” Kleinman said.
Members of the arts council invited artists to create a work of art that expressed how they feel about environmental issues, like climate change, greenhouse gases, water quality, and others.
In addition, the visual arts activity will be culturally oriented and will use recycled items, including cups, containers, newspapers, and magazines. Participants will use the materials to create vessels decorated in the style of Mexican textiles.
Recycling. While organizers of the event hope to educate residents about green practices, they will also enable them to get started, with a recycling program that will allow township residents to bring items to recycle that they might normally throw out simply because they do not know these items can be recycled.
During the event, visitors will be able to donate or recycle items that are not part of the township’s bi-weekly recycling collection, such as used electronic, portable rechargeable batteries, used cell phones, used clothing, eyeglasses, and documents.
In addition, the township received funding from the NJ Clean Communities Council and has arranged for a shredding truck from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the fair, where documents can be shredded for recycling.
The township’s Department of Public Works will be collecting the used electronics, including CPUs, modems, printers, keyboards, mouses, fax machines, copiers, circuit boards, televisions, monitors, scanners, electrical wire, stereo equipment, laptops, and laptop peripherals, phones, networking equipment, VCRs, camera equipment, and telecommunications equipment. Additional yellow and green recycling tubs will also be available for West Windsor residents who show their driver’s license for proof of residency.
Used cell phones and rechargeable batteries weighing up to two pounds each can be brought to the recycling station at the fair. Alkaline, non-rechargeable, or lithium batteries will not be accepted.
Used eyeglasses will be donated to the Lions Recycle for Sight program, and the Rescue Mission of Trenton will collect gently used adult and children’s clothes and small house wares.
Film. Also in coordination with the GroWW event, the West Windsor Arts Council will be hosting a film event that night at 7:30 p.m. at the West Windsor library.
The film, Manufactured Landscapes, follows renowned artist Edward Burtynsky through China as he shoots the evidence and effects of the country’s massive industrial revolution. Burtynsky is internationally acclaimed for his large-scale photographs of manufactured landscapes such as quarries, recycling yards, factories, mines, and dams. “With breathtaking sequences, the filmmakers also extend the narratives of Burtynsky’s photographs, allowing us to meditate on our impact on the planet and witness both the epicenters of industrial endeavor and the dumping grounds of its waste,” stated a press release about the event.
Following the film, artist and recent Fulbright scholar Aron Johnston will speak. From August, 2007, to May, 2008, Johnston was living in Bangalore, India, on a Fulbright Grant, researching the history and tradition of hand-painted signs.
Throughout the day at the GroWW fair, free food will also be provided at the event. “People can come and have a very nice lunch, listen to speakers, enjoy music, learning something about what West Windsor is doing in terms of environmental planning, and can ask questions of their environmental leaders,” Kleinman said.
Kleinman says she has one goal in running the event: “If everyone took away one thing that they could change in their life that would minimize their carbon footprint on the planet, I would think of this as successful.”
