On Wednesday, April 22, people across the world will celebrate the 40th annual Earth Day, meant to highlight our environment and the challenges it faces. To celebrate our planet and all its wonders, several local groups have put together a myriad of events focused on bettering our community and informing the public on how they can make Saratoga a greener, more environmentally friendly city.
"I think we're at a crossroads where currently the way we live is not
sustainable, and it's not something that we can continue," Erica
Fuller, the head coordinator of Sustainable Skidmore, said. "If we want
our children to have the same quality of life that we enjoy, we need to
be responsible and take care of the environment that we live in."
Sustainable Skidmore is the college's task force responsible for presenting and implementing various initiatives geared towards making the campus and surrounding community greener and more energy efficient. Working closely with the student-run Environmental Action Club, the groups plan to host several events in honor of Earth Day over the next week.
The first is on Saturday, April 18 at Case Green on campus. The event, which will run from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., will kick off the Earth Day celebration with live music, food, and a wide range of activities for students and community members to enjoy, Fuller said.
"There's a group that's going to host a seed planting table," Fuller added. "As well as the Outing Club, which is going to offer a rock climbing wall. The Environmental Action Club themselves will host an information table on a Cool Cities campaign, which is an organization that advocates for climate action in local communities."
Bands and local artists set to perform at the event include Matthew Loiacono, April Smith and the Great Picture Show, Sgt. Dunbar and the Hobo Banned, and the much loved Mathematicians. In addition, the day will also feature a tree planting booth and a clothing swap program.
On Sunday, April 19, Sustainable Skidmore is hosting the North Woods Stewardship Day from 1 p.m. until 4 p.m., where students and local volunteers will focus on a variety of trail cleanup programs, including erosion control and general trash cleanup.
On the same day, Associate Professor of Economics Robert Jones is offering an educational tour at 2 p.m. on the historic carriage trails located on Skidmore campus and the North Woods Trail systems. The tour, which is expected to last one hour, will educate hikers on the cultural history of the North Woods, some of whose trails date back more than a century.
"On actual Earth Day, Wednesday, April 22, the Environmental Action Club is hosting a potluck challenge, where students will be cooking their own dishes and bringing them to one of our spaces on campus," Fuller said. "There will be a little competition where judges will give points based on taste and presentation and extra points will be given to dishes that use local ingredients."
The event, which Fuller hopes will highlight the local foods and agricultural movement, will run from 7 p.m. until midnight, located at Falstaffs on Skidmore's campus.
To get involved with Sustainable Skidmore, interested parties are encouraged to contact Erica Fuller at her email address at efuller@skidmore.edu.
Also joining in on the Earth Day celebrations is Saratoga P.L.A.N., a local land conservation organization interested in protecting farmland, important natural habitats, trail corridors and historic sites.
"On Saturday, April 25 we're going to be having the first in a series of six trail days for this year," Maria Trabka, the executive director of Saratoga P.L.A.N., said, who indicated that Saturday's event will be held at the Galway Preserve. "The trail days are a combination of a guided nature walk, lunch and then a workday."
The fourth annual trail cleanup day will start with a guided tour by a local botanist, followed by a good day's work spent cleaning up the Zim Smith Trail.
"This particular preserve is a new preserve that has never really been developed for public access, but it's well suited to it," Trabka said. "So volunteers will be working on the trail, a bridge over a wet area with an Eagle Scout, creating an educational kiosk, a trail registration box, a parking area, and converting an old garage that's on site into a classroom for teachers and students to visit."
For those interested in helping out, you are asked to preregister for the event by contacting Andy Fyfe by phone at 587-5554 ext. 4.
Meanwhile, groups such as the Saratoga Sustainable Task Force led by Saratoga County Supervisor Joanne Yepsen, and the Saratoga County Green Committee chaired by Supervisor Matthew Veitch are constantly working to provide green and energy efficient solutions for the community of Saratoga. Among some of the initiatives within the Green Committee include providing solar power solutions to public buildings, replacing incandescent street lights with more energy efficient LED bulbs, and using various methods to collect rainwater for reuse in watering the city's plants.
The next meeting for the Green Committee will be held on April 29 at 7 p.m. located at the Stillwater Community Center. The public is more than welcome to attend, where they will be encouraged to comment and ask questions on the committee's various initiatives.
"I think there's always an opportunity to do better," Veitch said. "Being wasteful is not a good thing. So it's really just the right thing for us to do, and I think this is a really good first step."
Sustainable Skidmore is the college's task force responsible for presenting and implementing various initiatives geared towards making the campus and surrounding community greener and more energy efficient. Working closely with the student-run Environmental Action Club, the groups plan to host several events in honor of Earth Day over the next week.
The first is on Saturday, April 18 at Case Green on campus. The event, which will run from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., will kick off the Earth Day celebration with live music, food, and a wide range of activities for students and community members to enjoy, Fuller said.
"There's a group that's going to host a seed planting table," Fuller added. "As well as the Outing Club, which is going to offer a rock climbing wall. The Environmental Action Club themselves will host an information table on a Cool Cities campaign, which is an organization that advocates for climate action in local communities."
Bands and local artists set to perform at the event include Matthew Loiacono, April Smith and the Great Picture Show, Sgt. Dunbar and the Hobo Banned, and the much loved Mathematicians. In addition, the day will also feature a tree planting booth and a clothing swap program.
On Sunday, April 19, Sustainable Skidmore is hosting the North Woods Stewardship Day from 1 p.m. until 4 p.m., where students and local volunteers will focus on a variety of trail cleanup programs, including erosion control and general trash cleanup.
On the same day, Associate Professor of Economics Robert Jones is offering an educational tour at 2 p.m. on the historic carriage trails located on Skidmore campus and the North Woods Trail systems. The tour, which is expected to last one hour, will educate hikers on the cultural history of the North Woods, some of whose trails date back more than a century.
"On actual Earth Day, Wednesday, April 22, the Environmental Action Club is hosting a potluck challenge, where students will be cooking their own dishes and bringing them to one of our spaces on campus," Fuller said. "There will be a little competition where judges will give points based on taste and presentation and extra points will be given to dishes that use local ingredients."
The event, which Fuller hopes will highlight the local foods and agricultural movement, will run from 7 p.m. until midnight, located at Falstaffs on Skidmore's campus.
To get involved with Sustainable Skidmore, interested parties are encouraged to contact Erica Fuller at her email address at efuller@skidmore.edu.
Also joining in on the Earth Day celebrations is Saratoga P.L.A.N., a local land conservation organization interested in protecting farmland, important natural habitats, trail corridors and historic sites.
"On Saturday, April 25 we're going to be having the first in a series of six trail days for this year," Maria Trabka, the executive director of Saratoga P.L.A.N., said, who indicated that Saturday's event will be held at the Galway Preserve. "The trail days are a combination of a guided nature walk, lunch and then a workday."
The fourth annual trail cleanup day will start with a guided tour by a local botanist, followed by a good day's work spent cleaning up the Zim Smith Trail.
"This particular preserve is a new preserve that has never really been developed for public access, but it's well suited to it," Trabka said. "So volunteers will be working on the trail, a bridge over a wet area with an Eagle Scout, creating an educational kiosk, a trail registration box, a parking area, and converting an old garage that's on site into a classroom for teachers and students to visit."
For those interested in helping out, you are asked to preregister for the event by contacting Andy Fyfe by phone at 587-5554 ext. 4.
Meanwhile, groups such as the Saratoga Sustainable Task Force led by Saratoga County Supervisor Joanne Yepsen, and the Saratoga County Green Committee chaired by Supervisor Matthew Veitch are constantly working to provide green and energy efficient solutions for the community of Saratoga. Among some of the initiatives within the Green Committee include providing solar power solutions to public buildings, replacing incandescent street lights with more energy efficient LED bulbs, and using various methods to collect rainwater for reuse in watering the city's plants.
The next meeting for the Green Committee will be held on April 29 at 7 p.m. located at the Stillwater Community Center. The public is more than welcome to attend, where they will be encouraged to comment and ask questions on the committee's various initiatives.
"I think there's always an opportunity to do better," Veitch said. "Being wasteful is not a good thing. So it's really just the right thing for us to do, and I think this is a really good first step."
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