4th Annual Fayette County Earth Day Festival

The 2010 Fayette County Earth Day Committee is currently seeking vendors for the 4th annual Fayette County Earth Day festival. This event will be held on Saturday, April 16, 2011 at the Stonewall Avenue Complex from 10:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.

Educators, mentors and leaders in the community are wanted to provide Educational Exhibits to help our community learn about sustainability, ecology, and green practices.

We are also looking for eco-friendly businesses to provide Vendor Booths in our Green Market, with products and services such as organic produce, Fair Trade gifts, eco-fashions, and items made from renewable resources. Food vendors are also needed to keep our attendees happy and well fed!

Join us and share your products, services and knowledge with hundreds, gain visibility for your company or organization, and connect with other successful businesses and organizations by participating in this county wide sustainability event.

The 2010 Fayette County Earth Day Festival, FREE to all attendees is hosted by Fayette County and coordinated by the Fayette County Earth Day Committee.

Fees:

Green Market & Food Vendors: $30 for 12 x 12 booth space if registered before March 1; $45 thereafter

Educational Exhibitors: Free for non-profits, government agencies and educational institutions only.

Electricity: $10 extra if required.

To become a Green Market Vendor, Educational Exhibitor, Sponsor, or Volunteer for the festival, please go to www.fayettecoearthday.org to obtain additional information for the 2011 Earth Day Festival.

Georgia Natural Gas(R) to Give Away Free Saplings in Celebration of Earth Day at Atlantic Station

/PRNewswire/ -- The first 200 visitors to the Georgia Natural Gas (GNG) venue at Atlantic Station's Earth Day Fair will receive a free sapling (one per household) to celebrate the event. Provided to GNG by the Georgia Forestry Commission, the young trees are native to Georgia and ideal for planting and cultivating immediately. The trees will be distributed on a first-come, first-served basis.

GNG representatives will be available at the Earth Day Fair to share weatherization tips with the public and to provide copies of It's a Natural -- the company's guide to free or low-cost energy-efficient solutions for the home. The company's representatives also will share the internal sustainability efforts under way at GNG's Atlanta headquarters. In 2009 GNG received the Clean Air Campaign's Pace Award and, for the second year in a row, the Metro Atlanta Better Business Bureau's Torch Award for Community Service.

Georgia Natural Gas is Georgia's first and only natural gas marketer to obtain recycled natural gas from a landfill. GNG is using a waste material as a clean-burning resource for Georgia. Thanks to new technology, methane gas at Georgia's Live Oak Landfill is collected and made ready for consumer use. It becomes recycled natural gas when it is processed and injected into the existing natural gas distribution system for delivery to homes and businesses.

Georgia Natural Gas serves more than half a million residential, commercial and industrial customers throughout Georgia. GNG is part of SouthStar Energy Services, a Georgia-based joint venture between AGL Resources (NYSE:AGL) and Piedmont Natural Gas Co. (NYSE:PNY) . SouthStar also operates in Ohio as Ohio Natural Gas, in Florida as Florida Natural Gas, in the Carolinas as Piedmont Energy, and in other parts of the Southeast as SouthStar Energy Services. For more information, visit www.onlygng.com.

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Get Started Composting At Home In Time For Earth Day

(StatePoint) With Earth Day on the horizon, it's the perfect time to get the whole family involved in doing something at home for the good of the environment.

Composting is a great project to get you started going green: It's easy for the entire family, costs nothing, is simple to keep doing and can save you money on fertilizer.

A natural form of recycling, composting turns your organic garbage -- such as food waste, paper, disposable tableware, grass clippings, and much more -- into one of nature's best mulches for your garden or yard. By setting up a compost pile or bin, your family can take positive steps in reducing its carbon footprint while saving money on commercial fertilizers.

"The average American produces four pounds of landfill waste daily. That's more than 50 tons over a lifetime. About half of this waste is compostable, which means we have fantastic opportunities to put our garbage to use to help save the planet," says Julie Stoetzer, brand manager and environmental expert for Chinet disposable tableware.

And with gardening the number one pastime in America, all that waste can be added to yards to improve soil fertility and root development in plants and grass.

Here are simple steps from Stoetzer and the experts at Huhtamaki, the makers of Chinet, to get underway composting:

* Select a convenient spot. It should be semi-shaded and well drained. Don't put your compost pile under acid producing trees like pines. If you do not have space for an outdoor pile, use a bin indoors which can be purchased or made at home.

* Combine organic wastes such as yard trimmings, food wastes and biodegradable paper plates into a pile. Add bulking agents such as wood chips to accelerate the breakdown of organic materials, allowing the finished material to fully stabilize and mature through a curing process.

* When choosing disposable tableware such as plates, bowls and platters, select those made of 100 percent pre-consumer recycled content, such as Chinet Casuals and Chinet Classic White lines that also are biodegradable in home composting.

* A properly managed compost bin will not attract pests or rodents and won't smell badly.

* Typical compost will turn into rich soil in two to five weeks. Use compost in home gardening or donate it to city or public benefit projects.

* Examples of what can be composted: Cardboard rolls, clean paper, biodegradable disposable tableware, fruits and vegetables, yard trimmings, coffee grounds and filters, dryer and vacuum cleaner lint, eggshells, fireplace ashes, hair and fur and tea bags.

Items that should NOT be composted:

* Coal or charcoal ash which may contain substances harmful to plants.

* Dairy products such as butter, egg yolks and milk, which can create odor problems and attract pests.

* Meat or fish bones and scraps may contain parasites, bacteria and germs. Fats, grease, lard and oils which can create odor problems.

* Diseased or insect-ridden plants that can contaminate other vegetation. Yard trimmings treated with chemical pesticides may kill beneficial composting organisms.

"Composting is a simple solution to reduce the waste your family puts into a landfill. We kept this in mind when developing premium disposable Chinet tableware, using recycled materials that otherwise would have gone into a landfill, to produce new biodegradable plates and bowls," stresses Stoetzer.

For more tips on composting and other environmental activities, visit www.mychinet.com and click on "Environment."

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Make Every Day Earth Day For Recycling

(NAPSI)-According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the average American produces approximately 1,600 pounds of trash per year. Too much trash going into landfills contains material that can be recycled instead. Here are a few simple tips for recycling plastic bottles and bags on Earth Day (April 22) and throughout the year.

Be Plastics Smart: Find out which plastics are recycled in your community. Though recycling varies across communities, most curbside programs collect plastic bottles and many grocery stores recycle plastic bags.

Recycle These Items with Your Bottles: Milk jugs; beverage bottles (e.g., water, soft drinks, juice, beer); shampoo, toiletry, detergent and household-cleaning bottles; salad dressing, cooking oil and condiment bottles; food jars (e.g., peanut butter, mayonnaise).

Recycle These Items with Your Bags: Grocery and retail shopping bags; newspaper bags; dry-cleaning bags; bread bags; wraps from paper towels, napkins, bathroom paper and cases of soda.

Clean and Empty: Recycle only clean and empty bottles and bags. Unless directed otherwise, remove bottle caps. Do not recycle bags that have food residue or material that has been painted or glued.

Bring it Back to the Bin: Many bottles and bags are used away from home, so remember to bring them back to the recycle bin. When you're out, store them in a backpack or briefcase, or simply leave them in the car until you arrive home or at the grocery store.

Pitch in Beyond the Kitchen: While many recyclable bottles come from the kitchen, don't forget to check bathrooms and the laundry room for recyclable plastics, such as shampoo and detergent bottles.

When in Doubt, Leave it Out: Keep in mind that mixing the wrong types of materials can lower the quality of the recyclables, so include only the items your community accepts. Avoid recycling items such as automotive, pesticide or solvent bottles, the pumps from spray bottles (the bottles themselves should be recycled) and toys.

Remember that recycled plastics are valuable and go on to become second-generation products. Bottles are used to make hundreds of everyday items, including carpets and fleece jackets. Plastic bags can be made into durable backyard decks, fences, benches, shopping carts and new bags.

For more information, visit www.plasticsinfo.org/recycling and www.plasticbagrecycling.org.

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