Skip to main content

cool kids eco-fest

Cool Kids ECO-Fest is Saturday at GCC -- NO ELECTRONIC WASTE accepted this year

By Billie Owens

Press release:

Just a reminder that the 9th Annual Cool Kids ECO-Fest at GCC is Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., followed by the documentary "Comfort Zone" at 3.

Coordinators would like to emphasize that this year Cool Kids ECO-Fest will NOT BE ACCEPTING ELECTRONIC WASTE!

Instead, planners are excited to be welcoming Habitat for Humanity's call for non-fabric, wood or metal furniture including desks, book cases, tables and dressers. In addition, old bicycles and reusable bike parts are being collected by Trailside Bikes of Orleans County, as well as paperback books, rubber sneakers, worn American flags, ink cartridges and eyeglasses.

In addition, the first 250 people will receive free tree seedlings to plant. New this year will be the Seeds of Change -- The Earth Charter and Human Potential Exhibit created by the Soka Gakkai International and The Earth Charter Initiative.

ECO-Fest 2014 features more than 60 exhibitors, exotic wildlife, make-it take-it activities and all kinds of opportunities to celebrate Earth Day. Participants receive an ECO-raffle ticket for each recycled item and at the end of the event, the ECO-Raffle features a drawing for great prizes including the grand prize, a mountain bike from Batavia's Adam Miller Toy and Bicycle (winners must be present).

This year planners are also very excited about the screening of the environmental film "Comfort Zone" at 3 p.m. after ECO-Fest in the Conable Technology Building through GoART! The film has screened at numerous film festivals and helps people understand climate change on a personal level. Two of the producers of the film, including Batavia native David Danesh will be at the screening and the Q&A session following the film.

The film was made entirely in Western NY and discusses the impacts that climate change will have on Western New Yorkers. Tickets are $15 for non-GO ART! members, $10 for GO ART! members. For further information about the film, please go to: www.COMFORTZONEproject.com

6th annual Cool Kids Eco-Fest set for April 9 at college

By Billie Owens

This information comes from Genesee Community College.

Genesee Community College's Earth Club, Student Activities Office and College Village are once again joining Cool Kids to collectively produce the 6th annual Cool Kids Eco-Fest.

This free, fun-filled, yet educational event aims to increase awareness of important environmental issues and it celebrates Earth Day.

From alternative fuel cars to kites, solar power displays to a big plastic bag bash, water bugs to a giant map of the Earth, Eco-tips to Eco-button making -- it's all at the Batavia campus from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, April 9.

Both indoor and outdoor activities will be happening throughout the four-hour event, which winds down with the Eco-Raffle of great green prizes, including the Grand Prize -- a mountain bike provided by Adam Miller Bikes and Toys. (You must be present to win.)

While many of the popular eco-opportunities will be back -- such as the annual residential E-Waste Collection and Sloat Tires Inflation Station outside in the parking lot -- there will also be many wonderful new green alternatives to explore and enjoy.

New to this year's celebration will be the collection of worn American flags for honorable disposal by Sheppard, Maxwell and Hale. In addition, this year's ECO-Tips Illustration Contest, sponsored by ESL Federal Credit Union, features fun and unique prizes in the following six categories:

  • Children's Coolest Category: Pre K through Sixth Grade
  • Most Unique Reused Item
  • Best Illustration
  • Longest Term Impact for the Environment
  • Greatest Innovation / Absolutely Cool Awesome Idea
  • Most Fun or Funny

Last year, we had some incredibly clever contributions to the Eco-Tips Contest and we are looking forward to seeing what local citizens, from pre-K classes to senior citizens' groups will create.

"It's a great way to 'get your green on,' " said Donna Rae Sutherland, Genesee's Earth Club co-advisor and associate director of Marketing Communications. "Eco-Fest continues to grow each year and the upcoming festival promises to be the best ever."

Entries for the ESL Eco-Tip Illustration Contest are being accepted now through to 11 a.m. April 9 for the Eco-Fest by sending them to Donna Rae Sutherland, GCC, One College Road, Batavia, NY 14020.

All entries will be on display at the event, and from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. contest judges will review entries and select the six prize winners. There is no limit on the number of Eco-Tip entries any one person or group can submit, and there is also no limit on the size of paper or form for each submission.

For Eco-Tip guidelines and the official entry form go to: http://marketing.genesee.edu/images/eco_tip_guidelinesform.pdf

Also new this year will be the bird-banding demonstration by Tom Klotzbach, a local birding expert and researcher, as well as a GCC alumnus and employee. He is currently in the second year of a three year bird-tracking project featuring more than 60 bird boxes located at GCC and on the western portion of the Ontario State Parkway.

The seasonal outdoor effort starts in early April when he will once again begin tracking various species of native and non-native birds. Through banding and bi-weekly nest box checks, Klotzbach is collecting bird data such as age, sex, fat score, and body mass. The collected data is used to study migration patterns with the U.S. Geological Survey, and is the foundation for his research on nest site fidelity.

The 6th annual Cool Kids ECO-Fest also includes more than 35 exhibits, presentations and activities, including the Cool Kids Wild Life Show and the Big Bag Bash.

As in years past, hundreds of people of all ages are expected to attend the event enjoying environmental fun and educational opportunities, and the more green things they do – the more Eco-Raffle tickets they collect to increase their chances of winning the mountain bike.

Among the ways to earn Eco-Raffle tickets:

  • Donating residential E-Waste or electronics such as old computers, monitors, calculators, TVs, VCRs, stereo equipment, video games, and microwave ovens (No other kitchen appliances, please.);
  • Donating paperbacks books for American troops overseas;
  • Donating worn American flags for proper disposal by Sheppard, Maxwell and Hale;
  • Donating cell phones and ink cartridges for Oakfield-Alabama Schools collection;
  • Creating an Eco-Tip for the ESL Eco-Tip Illustration Contest;
  • Getting your tire pressure checked by Sloat Tires Inflation Station;
  • AAA mercury hood lamp switch-out (for 2002 or older cars);
  • Being an Eco-Fest volunteer;
  • Wearing green.

 For further information contact Donna Rae Sutherland at 343-0055, ext. 6616.

Authentically Local