Avalon Holds Green Fair in Conjunction with Seafood Festival

AVALON — The borough held its first “Green Fair” Oct. 10 with dozens of vendors at Avalon Community Hall explaining products and services that help make the borough an environmentally savvy community.
Just next-door from Community Hall, the Avalon Chamber of Commerce’s annual Seafood Festival was taking place at 30th Street parking lot Oct 10-11.
“We’re very pleased to have Avalon’s Green Fair take place along our Seafood Festival,” said Ed Galante, president of the Avalon Chamber of Commerce. “This is the biggest post-season event in Avalon.”
Dozens of vendors sold merchandise, crafts and of course seafood. There was live music by The Snake Brothers, a performance by the Joanne Reagan Dance Studio and a magic show. The public voted for their favorite during a chowder contest.
Meanwhile, vendor tables at the Green Fair offered many giveaways and educational opportunities.
Students of Avalon Elementary School are asking the community to help in an environmental service project in which they are collecting plastic bottle caps and silver juice boxes (from Capri Sun and Honest Kids brand drink packaging) that will be recycled into book bags.
Eighth grade volunteer students Ray Baylock and Stephen Corbo explained that the two-part project involves Aveda’s “Flip Your Lid” campaign and TerraCycle, a company that collects and recycles products for re-sale. The school will be awarded money for its contribution, which it will donate to a charity called “Earth’s Birthday.”
Community members can drop off items in the school lobby.
“Students learn conservation and recycling through examples of how it affects their lives,” science teacher Catherine Krauss told the Herald.
Avalon Planning/Zoning Board member Michele Petrucci dressed in a costume of a compact fluorescent light bulb (CFL) to spread the word about Project Porchlight, an effort to get more residents to use CFLs sponsored by the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities and state Clean Energy Program.
Susan Rhoads, a member of the borough’s “Green Team,” a volunteer group with the intent to promote green practices in the borough, gave away free CFLs and told attendees how the bulbs save energy.
Vendors demonstrated energy-efficient toilets, green insulation and solar systems, among others.
Each Green Fair vendor donated a product or service that was given away during a random prize drawling at the end of the day.