YOUR OFFICIAL GUIDE TO THE 2015
Pictured here: An original work by Jessica Elliot
april 18th • 11am-3pm • forsyth park
The Savannah Earth Day Festival is brought to you by:
with support from:
Since Earth Day started in 1970, largely as a response to the cumulative effects of industrialization reaching a critical point in our environment, it has become a day for our community to remember how we effect our planet and each other with the choices we make in our everyday lives. It’s a day to open our eyes to new issues, open our minds to new solutions, and to celebrate— celebrate the good work being done in around us, and the almost 10,000 of our neighbors who turn out in a show of hope for our community’s path for the future. So much in our city looks back at the past, at the ingenuity and leadership of those who built Savannah. Earth Day is when we turn that perspective to the future and support and learn from those sources of ingenuity and leadership around us today, who are committed to creating a sustainable community that will thrive today, and tomorrow. Environmentalism is more than ’10 Easy Tips’ or a political agenda, or a bumper sticker—it’s demanding our children have a healthy place to grow, our businesses will have the resources they need in the future, and the ecosystems we live amongst flourish. It’s with this in mind that every spring we invite the city to come together to open dialogues and build partnerships between citizens, non-profits, businesses, and government that will benefit us all. For the past 12 years the City of Savannah, along with our community partners, have been hosting a free Earth Day event for the public. It has become the largest public Earth Day event in the state and remains one of the few earth day festivals left in the country that truly focus on education rather than just crafts and entertainment. Earth Day Savannah offers a little something for everyone—from those familiar with the issues, to those just starting to learn. With workshops for adults and kids and nearly 100 exhibiting organizations, you’ll find ways to connect and make change.
WWW.EARTHDAYSAVANNAH.ORG Join us on Facebook!
april 18th • 11am-3pm • forsyth park
Festival Schedule Forsyth Farmer’s Market 9:00 AM - 3:00 PM The market will start and be located as usual, but with special extended hours just for the Earth Day Festival! Stock up on fresh fruits, vegetables, meat, eggs, honey, bread, pasta, and more. Come meet your local farmers and get to know where your food comes from.
Workshops & Activities 11:00 AM - 3:00 PM Workshops and other activities will be conducted concurrently throughout the duration of the event. Turn to the next page of this guide for a complete listing and schedule of this year’s workshops and activities.
Children’s Art Activities 11:00 AM - 3:00 PM Children’s Art activities at the Earth Day Festival will be provided by the Empower Savannah Project, a collaboration between 21st Century Community Learning Centers, For Heart Sake and Loop It Up Savannah. Activities will include paint-your-own bird house, found and natural object sculpture, mobile and jewelry making projects. Loop It Up Savannah and For Heart Sake have teamed up with United Way’s Hands on Savannah to create a collection of paper mache globes to decorate the 2015 Earth Day Celebration! The creation of the Earth Day decorations as well as other environmental and community-awareness themed school-residency art projects have been made possible through the generous support from Hands On Savannah’s Global Youth Service Day Grant.
Re-Cycle Art 11:00 AM - 3:00 PM Hands on art activities will be conducted by Art Rise Savannah in conjuction with The Savannah Bicycle Campaign. Come get your bike decorated and join in on the decorated bike parade/group bike ride at 3pm.
Tree Walk 11:15 AM - 12:00 PM Hosted by The Savannah Tree Foundation. Meet at 11:15 at the Savannah Tree Foundation expo table. Knowledgeable guides will walk through the Forsyth Park Arboretum with Earth Day attendees. Enjoy a leisurely stroll amongst the canopy nurtured by the city’s award-winning Park & Tree Department. The Arboretum has a number of species to showcase of native and non-native tree species.
Wheelie Bike Ride 3:00 PM The Savannah Bicycle Campaign presents the Eighth Annual Savannah Earth Day Wheelie Bike Ride. The free, family-friendly, police-escorted ride will depart from the south end of Forsyth Park when the festival concludes at 3 p.m. An after-ride party, the Post Wheelie Dealie, will be held at Blowin’ Smoke Southern Cantina, 1611 Habersham St. The total distance of the ride is approximately 5 miles. For more information, visit the Savannah Bicycle Campaign website: http://bicyclecampaign.org
RecycleRama RecycleRama WILL NOT be held the morning of the Earth Day Festival, BUT WILL BE HELD AT A LATER DATE. Visit: EarthDaySavannah.org For updates and for alternative recycling options.
april 18th • 11am-3pm • forsyth park
Gardening Workshops
DIY Workshops
Growing Up
Healthy Home Cleaners
11:30 AM - 12:15 PM
11:30 AM - 12:15 PM
Learn about the possibilities of vertical gardening for small spaces with OccuGardens. Go ‘Up, up and away’ through herbal pallets, trellis gardening and other creative gardening ideas showcased to grow more vegetables in small spaces for the urban farmer.
Ginger+Olive present information regarding major toxic ingredients we can avoid in common household cleaners, and simple alternatives to make at home with essential oils and other easy-to-find ingredients. DIY tutorials will include a countertop spray, their version of ‘Oxy-Clean’ stain remover, laundry detergent, a linen spray, and wool dryer balls to replace your dryer sheets!
Composting
Benefits of Activated Charcoal In DIY Beauty Products
12:30 PM - 1:15 PM
12:30 AM - 1:15 PM
Want to turn your kitchen scraps into nutrient rich soil for your garden? Composting can seem intimidating to some folks, but local compost guru Andy Schwartz of Grow. Eat.Repeat & Well FED Compost, will send you away motivated, confident, and well prepared to start composting at home. Starting from the basics, learn different ways of composting—including worm bins—and how to use your compost and compost tea for fertilizing and disease control.
The allowed toxicities in cosmetics can make a girl swoon! But Lacy Counts and Cailyn Blair created Ginger+Olive to help create more sustainable lifestyles for us all. They will present information regarding major toxic ingredients we can avoid in common cosmetics, and simple ways to use the detoxing power of Activated Charcoal to create healing alternatives at home. DIY tutorials will include a whitening toothpaste, pore-shrinking face scrubs, and Cleopatra-esque eyeliner and mascara.
Get Back on Your Bicycle 1:30 Polinators, Pesticides and People 1:30 PM - 2:15 PM Join Annie Quinting of the Oatland Island Wildlife Center and Coastal Empire Beekeepers Association, for an overview of common household pesticide use and how it may impact our pollinators. What are the alternatives? And what can you do to help the pollinators that are so critical to all life on earth.
PM - 2:15 PM If you have a bicycle that’s been collecting dust in your garage — over the winter or over several years — this workshop is for you. Bicycle mechanic Jen Colestock of The Savannah Bicycle Campaign will help you spot common problems that can be solved with minor adjustments. She will also teach you to identify more serious issues that require attention from a professional mechanic. In addition, the workshop will cover riding tips to make the experience of getting back on a bike safer and more enjoyable. Please note this is a demonstration only. Bicycle repair services will not be offered during the workshop.
www.earthdaysavannah.org
Community Forum Weatherizing our Homes and Schools 11:30 PM - 12:15 PM
Presented by US Green Building Council Georgia Chapter (USGBCGA), Samuel Olin will discuss opportunities to weatherize your homes, save money, and help the environment. They will also share information about the High Performance, Healthy Schools (HPHS) Program. HPHS helps transform Georgia’s schools into places where all children can enjoy enhanced schoolwork performance and attendance improvements that come with a healthier indoor environment.
Drum Circle 12:30 PM - 1:30 PM Invoking the spirit of the very first Earth Day Festival of 1970, join us for a Drumming Circle hosted by Unity of Savannah. Join folks of every age and description to share rhythm with each other. Anyone can participate by drumming, bringing your own drum or we will have drums you can use too! We are going to end with a Gratitude Circle . It will make you feel good all over!
Shop the Farmers’ Market NEED HELP APPLYING FOR FOOD ASSISTANCE? Do you qualify for food stamps? Was your case closed? Do you want to apply ONLINE?
FREE SCREENING, ENROLLMENT & RENEWAL Wholesome Wave Georgia will be on hand during the Earth Day Festival to assist in erollment for food assistance. This activity is partially funded with federal funds of US Department of Agriculture. This institution is an equal opportunity provider and employer.
World Cafe 1:30 -2:15 PM Emergent Savannah will also be hosting a World Cafe, a simple but powerful social tool for engaging people in conversations that matter. Based on the understanding that conversation is the core process that drives personal, business, and organizational life, the World Café is more than a method, a process, or technique - it’s a way of thinking and being together sourced in a philosophy of conversational leadership. Participation is limited to 40 people.
The Forsyth Farmers’ Market accepts SNAP/EBT and doubles the first $30 spent at the market, for a total of $60 that can be spent on fresh, healthy food grown by local farmers.