Sustainability Committee Inspires Environmental Awareness at Somerset County 4-H Fair

SUSTAINABILITY COMMITTEE iNSPIRES ENVIRONMENTAL AWARENeSS AT SOMERSET COUNTY 4-H fAIR

Written by Jennifer Korneski, 4-H Healthy Living Program Coordinator

4-H Garden & Bee Club

The Somerset County 4-H Association’s Sustainability Committee recognized 4-H Clubs and food vendors at this year’s 4-H Fair for their efforts on initiatives that make an impact to our environment.

Three 4-H clubs were awarded a rosette for their outstanding efforts and innovative ways to reuse and re-purpose display items. Congratulations to the Alpaca Club, Garden & Bee Club, and the Poultry Division!

Examples of sustainable practices for fair club displays included the use of fabric instead of plastic table covers, reusing wooden décor and using Velcro instead of tape to preserve posters for use each year by the Alpaca club. The Garden & Bee club used digital codes for information sharing instead of paper, annually reuses burlap for table covers, and re-purposed an old school blackboard into a game table. The poultry division has reused a wooden display table for 30 years, gets their table cover cloths from consignment stores, and donates their straw.

Also awarded rosettes were two food vendors. Congratulations to Temple Beth-El, our lemonade vendor, for using reusable sugarcane products. Made from the leftover fiber of the sugarcane plant after the juice has been extracted, the waste material can be molded into durable, compostable products offering a sustainable alternative to plastic. They also have a system for monitoring inventory to control waste. The Odisha Society of the Americas, our Indian food vendor, uses compostable materials and an electronic menu, an idea from their youth to reduce paper usage.

Congratulations to the following clubs and food vendors for receiving honorable mentions: People Pick Me Ups, Goat Division, Frosty Caboose (Train Division), First United Methodist Church, Boy Scout Troop #156, Boy Scout Troop #46, and Montgomery Rocky Hill Rotary.

During the 4-H Fair, orange recycle bags were distributed to food vendors so that plastic could be recycled for our soft plastic collection drive. We collected 40 pounds of plastic. Thank you to all who support this initiative. Through this program, plastic is collected, weighed, reported, and recycled at the local grocery store. This is an ongoing initiative and once 1,000 pounds of plastic is recorded as recycled, Somerset County 4-H will receive a Trex® bench donated by Nextrex.

How can you help?

Simply collect soft plastics from home such as bread bags, beverage case wrap, food storage bags or cereal bags. Weigh the plastic, take a photo and send to sc4hsustainability@gmail.com then recycle your plastic at a local grocery store. Every time you recycle you make a difference!