Earth Day Celebration taking shape at Summit Park


Earth Day is a celebration of the natural community we share and one regional group is leading the efforts to educate the families of Greater Cincinnati on Earth Day.

The Greater Cincinnati Earth Coalition is a community of not-for-profit organizations, businesses, government agencies, and individuals from the Ohio-Kentucky-Indiana tri-state region who work cooperatively and actively to promote the beauty and environmental quality of the tri-state area.

Greater Cincinnati Earth Coalition’s sole activity is to produce the Cincinnati Earth Day event at Summit Park in Blue Ash on Saturday, April 21 from 12-5pm. That includes helping more than 125 exhibitors with hands-on displays representing environmental groups, government agencies and businesses. You'll also find local music, local foods, and regional craft beer on display.

The theme for 2018 will be “Food Waste” and promote activities with Green Umbrella’s Waste Action Team and its plan to reduce food waste, which makes up more than a fifth of our landfill volume.

This year, the Earth Day event will kick off with a Scavenger Hunt at noon along with a Kids Zone including inflatables, games, face painting and animals. Families can learn tips and tricks to reduce grocery bills, learn more about recycling, and find out how to setup your own composting at home thanks to lessons from Gorman Heritage Farm.

Live music starts at 2pm and includes performances by Room For Zero, the Brandon Coleman Quartet, and Hickory Robot.

Although there will be plenty to see, hear and do at the event, the Greater Cincinnati Earth Coalition is still in need of individuals to help with the Greater Cincinnati Earth Day celebration.

"We need individuals to help set up vendor booths before the event starts, individuals to help run specific booths during the event, and to help tear down the event after 5pm," says Lauren Campbell, the volunteer coordinator. 

The Coalition will provide water bottle filling stations during the event so volunteers and attendees can bring refillable water bottles instead of the disposable variety. The event runs from 12-5pm this year and the Coalition needs volunteers from 8am-7pm.

"There are a myriad of tasks that we need volunteers for, from crafts and face painting, to heavy lifting and logistics," says Campbell. "It is my goal to leverage individuals’ strengths and passions for this day, please let me know if you consider yourself crafty or enjoy painting or if you can lift heavy objects (up to 75 lbs) as I need those specific, hard-to-fill tasks, filled." 

The Greater Cincinnati Earth Coalition will provide volunteers with free t-shirts and free food as a thank you for their hard work. Anyone interested in volunteering for the Earth Day celebration should contact Lauren Campbell at [email protected] now.
 

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Read more articles by Jerry Jackson.

Jerry Jackson is the managing editor of Soapbox and has a passion for technology and innovation. He has lived and worked in the greater Cincinnati area since December 2000.