On April 22, the local community came together to support LBCC’s 2013 Sustainability Fair. Civic, private and
public groups gathered on the Albany campus to celebrate 2013’s Earth Day.
On a beautiful spring day, Linn-Benton students and staff
mingled with members of various groups who support the college’s desire to
become more informed and sustainable individually and as a college. The main goal of those gathered was to educate
and inform interested students and staff on how to recycle, conserve and find
products to help in living a more sustainable lifestyle.
 |
Melinda Sorte, a member of the Untied
Methodist Church's Green Team accepted
shoe donations for the team's recycle
program at the 2013 Earth Day's
Sustainability Fair at LBCC. |
So what is sustainable or sustainability? It is the ability to endure, be diverse and productive. It is the act to make something renewable,
reusable and recyclable to be able to meet the needs of humans and still
conserve the environment for the future and healthy ecosystems.
Members of the United Methodist Church’s Green Team, offered
literature on where to recycle products that are no longer of use to keep them
out of the landfills. The team has two
lists available for the local Albany area, one for items for reuse and one for
recycle.
“We feel strongly that it is our calling to educate everyone
on how to keep these items from our landfills,” said Melinda Sorte, a member of
the
United Methodist’s Green Team. “This
is our third year here and we get really excited to be able to help teach
people how simple it is to reuse and recycle.”
The
city of Albany also had a booth that focused on water
conservation and pollution. Kim
Kagelaris handed out information and conservation bags with a yard water meters
and water conservation nozzles.
Kagelaris explained the importance of conserving water, especially in
the summer, since most of the local water comes from the surface. If too much water is taken, then there will
be less for recreation and fish and wildlife habitats.
 |
Kim Kagelaris with the City of Albany
chats with a young boy about the water
pollution model at the Sustainability
Fair on Earth Day, 2013. |
“Everyone makes a difference if they conserve and prevent
polluted runoff. The biggest contributor
of water pollution is nonpoint sources – us, not industry. So we come to functions like this to get the
word out,” said Kagelaris, an environmental service technician with the City
of Albany.
NRCS, Natural Resources Conservation Service, had representatives
there to offer advice on how to get funds to help with conservation acts on
private land. Thomas Snyder, the Benton
County District Conservationist, explained how there is money available for individuals
who want to do small projects like backyard conservation or large projects like
wetland restorations and everything in between.
The NRCS is part of the USDA and has an office in Tangent that services both Linn and Benton Counties. This was NRCS’s first year at the
fair and Snyder was very happy to be included so that the public
becomes more aware of the services NRCS offers.
 |
Jacobb Miller, a member of the LBCC's
Welders explains how to make metal
sustainable by recycling it into metal
art at the Earth Day's Sustainability
Fair, April 22, 2013. |
Cristina Himka with
Blue Sky was at the fair to help inform
the public about the Pacific Power’s renewable energy program. Pacific Power customers can enroll in Blue
Sky program to help support sustainable energy sources like wind and solar.
LBCC also have several staff members and clubs that had
booths at the Sustainability Fair this year.
The Horticulture Club had a plant and produce sale and offered tours of
the Rooftop Garden and Farm. The LBCC Welders
had a popular booth that displayed how metal can be recycled into art as a way
to make it sustainable. Dennis Green
manned the booth for the
LBCC’s mechatronics program, informing students about sustainable
career opportunities in the industry that stresses sustainability and energy efficiency.
At this year’s LBCC Earth Day celebration, the
fair had plenty of local support, smiles, sunshine and information
for everyone. All the participants were
happy to educate, inform and most importantly, encourage everyone to become
more sustainable, one step at a time.
 |
The Horticulture Club hosted a fresh produce and vegetable
plants at this years Earth Day Celebration. Shelly VanLeuven
enjoyed the sunshine as she sold veggies and offered tours
of the Rooftop Garden and the Farm at the Sustainability Fair. |
At a Glance:
Sustainability Fair
Sustainability: Ability to reuse, recycle and renew resources to meet human needs and conserve resources for the future.
Held on Earth Day, 2013 at LBCC's Albany Courtyard
Community groups: United Methodist Church's Green Team; Pacific Power's Blue Sky; City of Albany;NRCS; LBCC's clubs Horticulture Club and LBCC Welders; and LBCC's Mechatronics program.
LBCC's Earth Day blog:
http://linnbentoncommunitycollege.blogspot.com/2013/04/lbcc-holds-3rd-annual-earth-day.html
