Local News - Sustainable Mullica hopes to show, Kermit aside, it's easy being green
By MICHELLE LEE, Staff Writer | Posted: Wednesday, June 2, 2010 | 0 comments
A composting presentation, a geothermal heating and cooling system display, and recycling programs for books, shoes and crayons are just some of the attractions that will be featured at Mullica Township's first-ever Community Green Day.
The event is organized by Sustainable Mullica, a new grassroots environmental group founded earlier this....Continue Reading
year by township residents, the township government and the Mullica Township Recreation Association.
Sustainable Mullica is trying to make the township "get greener and a get a little healthier," and the community day is just one way to promote more environmentally friendly activities, said Susan Polk, the group's president and a township committeewoman. The group holds a monthly environmental talk and has worked on a campaign to reduce car idling at schools.
More than 40 different community groups and government representatives are expected to participate in the community green day. Vendors and local students will sell a variety of environment-friendly items. Other highlights for children will include a helicopter landing, rock climb wall, a bounce house and firetrucks from the Elwood and Sweetwater volunteer fire companies, Polk said.
First-grade teacher Jean Gallagher has organized an adult book swap in the morning and collection programs for used athletic shoes and scrap crayons.
About 200 pairs of shoes will be recycled by Nike and turned into tracks, playground surfaces and other new products. The crayons will be transformed into new crayons by an Etsy artist (Etsy is a social commerce website that finds new uses for old items). Another collection will take non-fiction and textbooks and send them to Better World Books, an organization that diverts books from landfills and uses them for literacy programs.
Gallagher, the Sustainable Mullica treasurer, said she likes to get inspire caring in children. Her students will be gathering and recycling Elmer's glue bottles and sticks. Her daughters, Emily and Allyson Schlee, and other students, made recyclable produce bags to sell and will run an Alex's Lemonade stand to raise money for childhood cancer research.
"I just hope our community can demonstrate to the members within the neighborhood how easy it can be to be environmentally conscious," Gallagher said. "I hope our community can be setting a great example in that regard."
Contact Michelle Lee: 609-272-7256 MLee@pressofac.com
If you go
Mullica Community Green Day will take place 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday at the Mullica recreation fields, 1513 Elwood Road. The event is free and open to the public. For more information, call the township clerk's office at 609-561-0064 or visit http://sustainablemullica.blogspot.com
This story was taken from the news source stated above. It's content and comments are not necessarily the opinion of The Elwood Vol. Fire Company or it's members.
