Collingswood Goes Green at Environmental Festival Saturday

It’s almost Earth Day, and that means the arrival of Collingswood’s quintessential festival celebrating ways to be more eco-friendly. Whether you’re eco-curious or an eco-crusader, the festival will offer many opportunities for learning, as well as entertainment, vendors, and concessions.

The free event will be held from 10 am to 2 pm Saturday, April 21, rain or shine, at Irvin Ave between Haddon Ave and the PATCO Hi-Speedline Station.

This year’s festival has a special focus on sustainably produced food. There will be exhibitors to help you explore why our food purchasing choices matter. Why choose organic? Why avoid genetically modified ingredients? What do labels mean? Why seek local foods?

Food growers, producers, and distributors at the festival will answer your questions about what they do and how to get involved:

• Otolith Community Supported Seafood
• Green Pasture Farms
• Philadelphia Winter Harvest
• Greensgrow
• Trader Joes
• Wild Flour Baker
• Mompops
• Hemp History Week
• Little Baby's Ice Cream

There will be food for sampling and food for sale. Local restaurants The Tortilla Press and West Side Gravy will be dishing up some delicious eats for festival attendees. If you’re still hungry, Wild Foodies Philly will offer you pointers on safe foraging--yes, it’s possible, even in the suburbs. When you're done eating, find out more about composting your food waste, and maybe buy a new composter!

Ride your bicycle over, and Collingswood Bike Share will give it a free tune-up over some tips for safe riding. Bring your odds and ends for special recycling: Crocs brand shoes, corks, cell phones, ink cartridges, bagged packing peanuts, rechargeable and button batteries, alkaline batteries, and Capri Sun pouches.

Learn how to better conserve energy and water with rain-barrel-making demonstrations, and pick up a kit to take home amid other information on green home-building and home improvements. Get involved in native plant gardening at Knight Park, or create a habitat in your own backyard. Area gardeners can take home free soil test kits, buy some plants, and meet with the Collingswood Community Garden organization. And don’t forget to wear your green--eco-artisans will retail green clothing, accessories, and home décor.

Finally, be sure to bring your children! Roots and Shoots is Collingswood’s newest  organization for involving young citizens in environmentalism. The festival’s Kid Zone will have face painting and story time as well as live music and entertainment.

The festival coincides with the Camden County Hazardous Waste Collection event at the Collingswood Borough Municipal Building. For more information and to see a short video about the fest, please visit the Collingswood Borough Green Festival site.

The Fourth Annual Collingswood Green Festival is Saturday, April 21, from 10 am to 2 pm. The event will be held on Irvin Ave between Haddon Ave and the PATCO Hi-Speedline Station.