First Annual Environmental Fair Sunday

January 3, 2023
By Rachel Scofield

This Sunday, January 7 from 2 pm – 4:30 pm, Greener Violet will present the first ever Environmental Education Fair at Combustion Brewery & Taproom.

The organizers describe the event as “an opportunity to educate on the intrinsic value of natives, the importance of pollinators, insects, and other wildlife, the identification and removal of invasives, protection of our waterways, winter sowing, and more. The goal is to provide the ‘why’ through education, the ‘how’ through what you bring as area resources, and an action plan.”

The fair will feature demonstrations from conservation experts and nonprofits including Columbus Garden School, Fairfield County SWCD, Coyote Run Nature Preserve, the Ohio State University and many more.

Registration is not required, but free winter sowing kits were promised to the first 45 people who signed up. The kits were based on designs created by the Ohio State University Bee Lab for its 2023 Plant by Numbers campaign. They provide all the necessary supplies to sow a new pollinator-friendly native garden for 2024. Registrants chose from one of the three possible themes: Butterflies and Moths, Bumble Bees, or Specialist Bees.

The fair’s registration page also includes a sign-up for a children’s activity led by nationally renowned artist, Michelle Stitzlein. Children under the age of 10 must have an adult present while they complete the craft.

Reserve a space for your child to participate in the free art activity.

“The dire environmental outlook we are facing can feel entirely overwhelming,” said Greener Violet president Michelle Hill. “Many of us in the community have spent a long time absorbing the information and looking for ways to quell those feelings, channeling them into actions.”

Hill hopes the fair will educate visitors regarding local environmental issues, while simultaneously introducing them to the community invested in addressing those issues.

“The fair will show them how they can make an impact in their own space, empowering them to get to work today,” Hill said. “We hope to highlight how an individual can use this knowledge to begin to rebuild our fragmented and ever deteriorating ecosystems.”

Greener Violet is a Pickerington-based environmental nonprofit focused on restoring the native flora and fauna of our community as well as protecting local watersheds. Follow them on Facebook for informative articles as well as volunteer opportunities such as the Pickerington Earth Day Cleanup (Litter Pick Up & Tree Planting/Invasive Control) and weekly invasive plant remediation. Or you can email Michelle Hill at pro.pollinator.initiative@gmail.com for more information.

EVENT SCHEDULE

2:00-2:30 pm Pickup your “Pollinator Passport”, visit area resource tables, grab a drink and a seat.

2:30-3:00 pm Presentation on the importance of native plants.

(2:30-3:00 pm quiet nature themed activities will be available in the “butter room” for kids during the presentation.)

3:00-4:30 pm Art activity opens, visit area resource tables, winter sowing demonstrations and winter sowing kit distribution begin. Reminder – winter sowing kits are only available to those who have pre-registered.

Dos Patrones Food Truck will be present throughout the event.