Howard County Government Hosts 10th Annual Green Fest

From Howard County Government: Howard County Government will host its 10th annual GreenFest on Saturday, April 22 from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. at Howard Community College’s (HCC) Burrill Galleria, 10901 Little Patuxent Parkway in Columbia. This free event offers something for all ages, featuring exhibits, demonstrations, workshops, outdoor activities and practical tips for easy ways to “green” your home, workplace and lifestyle.

As Howard County’s largest annual celebration of Earth Day, the event aims to connect residents with the resources that our local businesses, non-profits and government provide to help anyone be a good steward of the environment. This year’s theme, “Earth Day Every Day” offers attendees the opportunity to learn how to support their local environment and economy.

GreenFest 2017 will host approximately 75 vendors, including solar companies, environmental non-profits and government agencies, and the popular native plant sale. There will be informational workshops on topics such as attracting backyard butterflies, northern snakehead fish in Maryland, in-home energy saving strategies, keeping chickens in your backyard, composting, rain barrels and more. Attendees can also learn about local wildlife, with live reptiles on hand, or learn about their watershed and how residents can identify pollution, and watch a chainsaw carving demonstration.

Back by popular demand is the FREE shredding event, where residents can shred up to three bags or boxes of paper documents per person from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. (or until the trucks are full) in Parking Lot F.

GreenFest will also feature opportunities for attendees to donate used items to help others.

Cell phones will be collected for victims of domestic violence, binoculars for youth birding programs and eyeglasses will be collected to be donated to the needy. Goodwill Industries, Inc. will be collecting items for reuse such as electronics, toys, shoes, clothes, furniture and games. A food drive to benefit HCC’s food pantry, which assists students in need will also be held. Worn out denim jeans can be dropped off for textile recycling, and CD/DVD recycling will again be available.

New this year is a Repair Café hosted by Transition Howard County, from 12:00 to 2:00 p.m.Visitors can bring in broken items from home, such as toasters, lamps, clothes, toys or electronics. Volunteer repair specialists will evaluate the items and fix as many as they can for free, and can also provide advice about items too large to bring along.

Also, awards will be presented by the Howard County Recycling Division to winners of this year’s Coloring Book contest. The Community Ecology Institute will also be presenting awards to local environmental leaders. The awards ceremony will start at noon in the auditorium.

Attendees are encouraged to think green with their means of transportation to this year’s event. Consider walking, carpooling, biking or using public transportation. There are bike racks located throughout HCC’s campus and Regional Transportation Agency (RTA) will be running its normal route from Columbia Town Center to HCC throughout the day. For RTA route information and schedule, call its customer service line at 1-800-270-9553 or visit www.transitrta.com. HCC Radio will also be broadcasting live from the event.

For more information and the day’s event schedule, visit www.HCGreenFest.org or contact Alan Wilcom, GreenFest Co-chair, at 410-313-6444 or email awilcom@howardcountymd.gov.

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