PORT TOWNSEND — The group Earth Day, Every Day is offering contests, venues and activities to this year’s fifth annual Earth Day Festival Weekend.
“Our Earth, Our Community,” will be the theme for the weekend.
Events planned today (Friday) and Saturday lead up to Sunday’s Green Living Expo, which will be from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Jefferson Memorial Field at Washington and Monroe streets in Port Townsend.
“We always try to come up with something new every year to make it interesting,” said Val Johnstone, coordinator of the event.
This year the expo will be new from the start.
For the first time, the expo will include a processional at 11:30 a.m. from the U.S. Bank parking lot.
“Mayor [Michelle] Sandoval will lead us down Water Street and into Memorial Field,” Johnstone said.
“At that point she will speak, and read a proclamation from the city.”
Also new this year is the green market place which will feature vendors from the area selling sustainable and environmentally-friendly products and services.
A community tent will be set up on the field to allow for community demonstrations and panel discussions with community members.
Information will be available on everything from solar electric systems to “green” building designs and materials to sustainable agriculture, vehicles that use little or no gasoline, and ways to control pollution and protect land and water.
Johnstone also said that this year would feature several new contests involving reducing and reusing.
“Those concepts are actually more important than recycling,” she said.
There will be a contest for who can come up with the most innovative ideas for reusing and reducing, and another for the most unique bicycle.
There will also be a raffle to win an electric scooter, and the Food Co-Op will give away free bags to the first 100 visitors. The bags can be decorated on site.
