This year’s Cool Kids ECO-Fest at Genesee Community College’s Batavia campus is set for Saturday, April 12 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Cook Kids ECO-Fest is co-sponsored by GCC’s Student Activities Office, College Village, and Generation Cool based in Brockport. It’s free and open to the public and aims to increase awareness of important environmental issues while celebrating Earth Day. The first 250 people at the event will receive a free tree seedling to plant.
“The small things we do as individuals have a big impact on our planet,” says Cool Kids’ Steve Appleton. “That’s the theme of Cool Kids ECO-Fest every year. Each of us makes a difference. The items people have brought to Cool Kids ECO-Fest over the years have kept thousands of pounds of waste out of landfills. Let’s keep it going.”
The event is celebrating its ninth anniversary this year and GCC’s Donna Rae Sutherland says there are some changes regarding materials collected for recycling about which visitors should be aware.
“We are not doing the e-waste (computer CRTs, televisions, stereo equipment, microwave ovens, etc.) collection this year,” Sutherland says, noting the shift is a reflection of how the whole recycling industry is ever-changing.
“People can now go to other places to recycle e-waste – we will have a list available of where people can take their e-waste,” she says.
Instead, GCC is teaming up with Habitat for Humanity’s call for non-fabric, wood or metal furniture including desks, bookcases, tables and dressers, Sutherland explains.
“The furniture should be gently used,” she says, “things like drawers should be in working order.” Habitat for Humanity sells the items in their re-use stores, Sutherland notes.
Also new this year, will be the collection of old bicycles and reusable bike parts by Trailside Bikes of Orleans County.
Some favorite recycling initiatives from years past will continue for this year’s ECO-Fest, Sutherland says, including, “…. worn American flags (which are collected for proper disposal), rubber sneakers which are recycled by Nike to make running tracks – no cleats, boots or flip-flops,” she warns, “… Nike is pretty fussy.”
Computer ink cartridges, used eyeglasses and paperback books, which are sent to American troops overseas, are also being collected, Sutherland says.
Materials visitors bring for recycling can earn ECO-raffle tickets for a mountain bike giveaway and other prizes, she adds.
Inside, there will be “forty table-top, hands-on activity booths,” Sutherland says.
Exhibitors include exotic wildlife and make-it, take-it activities.
A new exhibit this year called Seeds of Change – the Earth Charter and Human Potential Exhibit – was created by Soka Gakkai International and The Earth Charter Initiative.
The multi-panel display is seven feet tall and includes dynamic images and messages which teach about community empowerment, water harvesting, the Green Belt, the Paulo Freire Institute and much more.
“It focuses on the larger world outside Genesee County – hot spots in the world that need help,” Sutherland explains.
Genesee Community College is also partnering this year with the Genesee Orleans Regional Arts Council (GO ART!) to show the film, “Comfort Zone” at 3 p.m. in room T102 of the Conable Technology Building.
Sutherland says the film was produced locally by area filmmakers.
The film explores the question, “How big is your carbon footprint?” and the impact of climate change from a personal perspective. It takes an in-depth look at what happens when global climate change issues come to our backyards.
Sutherland says the screening is a fundraiser for GO ART! The cost is $10 for GO ART! members; $15 for non-members and, “volunteers at Cool Kids ECO-Fest will be admitted for free,” Sutherland says.
