Wilton Go Green is switching things up this year. Instead of its annual outdoor Wilton Go Green Festival, the group will put on a Zero Waste Faire at the Wilton High School Field House on Sunday, March 25, from 11 to 4.
The goal of the Zero Waste Faire is to educate and inspire people to divert waste to compost and recycling and offer a wide variety of ways to reduce what they purchase, repurpose what they can, and donate what they can’t.
The engaging, educational and fun event for people of all ages will feature a broad range of interactive exhibits to help people become involved in Wilton’s effort to become a zero waste community, including:
- Trucks in the Clune Center parking lot, where people may drop off electronics, furniture and household items for recycling and hard drives for shredding.
- Exhibitors sharing ways to compost, repurpose, donate, and reuse, and information about recycling a variety of materials.
- Farming education, including raising chickens, planning a backyard vegetable garden, growing seedlings, hydroponics, beekeeping, making maple syrup, and more.
- Displays and exhibits on a variety of topics on going zero waste at home, including how to conserve water using rain barrels, preserve food to reduce food waste, plan a zero-waste party, eat out zero-waste, shop package-free, and more.
There will also be food demonstrations, short films on various topics, entertainers, electric cars like the BMW i8 and i3 and Tesla Model X, a silent auction, and giveaways throughout the day.
For children, there will be interactive nature education featuring wildlife exhibits, Earthplace’s Enviroscape exhibit, vermicomposting for kids, marine environment protection, and more, as well as crafts and activities like upcycling art, poster-making, family yoga, and recycling relays.
Visitors will also have the chance to join the 10-week Zero Waste Challenge and hear from exhibitors from around the area who have made progress in promoting zero waste in schools, municipalities and their communities.
A schools roundtable will be held among teachers, students, administrators, parents, and community members to talk about how to build on their efforts, and a Sustainable Wilton map will allow everyone to share how they are contributing to Wilton’s sustainable community.
The fair will feature a daylong roster of speakers talking about topics ranging from furthering food scrap recycling in Fairfield County and going beyond how we see objects and how we value stuff, to solving the garbage problem while creating a generation of kids who care and Native American approach to sustainability in Connecticut.
As for food, there will be a Zero Waste Feast, featuring a special zero waste menu offered by Chartwells, and a hydration station where people may bring their water bottles to fill up. No single-use plastic such as water bottles will be sold, so people are asked to either bring their own bottle or coffee tumbler or buy one at the fair.
There is no charge to attend the Zero Waste Faire, but Wilton Go Green welcomes donations and suggests $5 per person, $10 per family.
All funds raised will go to benefit Wilton Go Green’s programs, such as the Wilton No Idling initiative and the Wilton Zero Waste Schools program.
Information: wiltongogreen.org, daphne@livegreenct.org.