Frogtown Fair this Saturday...

Frogtown Fair is this weekend, some highlights from 2008:

2008 Event Highlights

* An estimated 1500 people visited the Civic Center Promenade to view 36 exhibits by green businesses, organizations and agencies and participate in 11 activities for the young and young at heart.

* Twenty-six participants joined two tours of the Toledo Division of Environmental Services’ rain barrel and rain garden demonstration projects, and approximately 50 visitors enjoyed a recycled fashion show by the advanced modeling students from John Casablancas.

* Volunteers distributed 1000 reusuable grocery bags donated by Kroger and Meijer. Each bag was marked by a Frogtown Fair logo sticker printed by Metzgers Printing and Mailing, Toledo’s first Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified “green printer.”
* American Rivers and the Toledo Stormwater Program distributed 97 preordered New England Rain Barrels and sold an additional 31 during the Frogtown Fair.

* The Gas Cap Testing and Replacement Program sponsored by the Toledo Division of Environmental Services Air Section and TMACOG tested a total of 111 vehicles. Of those tested, there were 8 failures, which resulted in the elimination of 1,592 lbs of evaporative emissions annually. The replaced gas caps are also responsible for saving each driver about 2 tanks of gas per year.

* The Mercury Pollution Prevention Partnership exchanged 56 mercury thermometers for safer digital ones. Funds for the purchase of the digital thermometers were supplied by Sam’s Club and as a supplemental environmental project by Canberra Corporation. Three thermostats and a vial (4 ml) containing elemental mercury were also collected during the Fair.

* The Lucas County Solid Waste Management District’s Specialty Waste Program removed the following household hazardous wastes from the waste stream: 392 lbs of alkaline batteries, 50 lbs of nickel-cadmium batteries, 15 lbs of lead acid batteries, 13 lbs of lithium batteries (total of approximately 5000 batteries), 27 lbs of compact fluorescent light bulbs (35 bulbs), 21 lbs of 4-ft fluorescent bulbs (30 bulbs) and 12 lbs of 8-ft fluorescent bulbs (8 bulbs).

* Affinity Information Management shredded 1500 lbs of documents and collected 10,000 lbs of electronics. All of the electronics collected will be recycled and disposed of in an environmentally responsible manner, keeping them out of landfills. Consumer electronics contribute 40 percent of the lead and about 70 percent of the heavy metals found in landfills.

* 288 participants completed exit surveys. From the surveys, it is quite clear that this event was needed in our community and was considered long overdue.
o 96% of the survey responders indicated that they were “very satisfied” or “satisfied” with the Fair.
o 65% of the responders participated in viewing the exhibits by green businesses, organizations and agencies.
o 52% participated in the three major recycling activities (21% in household battery and fluorescent light bulb recycling, 20% in secure document shredding and e-waste recycling and 11% in the mercury thermometer exchange).
o 63% expressed a need for how-to-workshops to go hand in hand with the promoted ideas.
* The survey also showed that visitors appreciated that the location of the
Fair brought people downtown and that the Farmers Market acted as an
extension of the green living theme of the event.

Toledo will support Earth Hour 2009

CITY OF TOLEDO ANNOUNCES IT WILL SUPPORT WORLD WILDLIFE FUND'S EARTH HOUR 2009

Joins Tens of Millions in Turning Off Lights for Largest Climate Event in History

The City of Toledo announced today it will officially support Earth Hour 2009, a global climate event led by the World Wildlife Fund. More than 240 cities around the world have already committed to go dark for one hour on March 28, 2009 at 8:30 p.m., as tens of millions of people from all corners of the world unite in a call for global action on climate change.

Today, Mayor Finkbeiner released the following statement - "Toledo is known all over the world as one of the leading producers of clean, green, renewable alternative energies, and our participation in Earth Hour reflects our commitment to energy efficiency and natural resource conservation. We are proud and honored to be part of this international effort to raise awareness about climate change."

From Amman to Warsaw, city skylines will go dark for one hour as individuals, businesses, government buildings, schools and major landmarks turn off non-essential lighting in what will be the largest climate event in history. The list of participating cities in the US includes Atlanta, Chicago, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Miami and Nashville with more signing up every day.

"World Wildlife Fund is pleased that Toledo is taking part in Earth Hour 2009. As lights go out in cities around the U.S. and the world on March 28th, Earth Hour will provide world leaders with an unmistakable mandate to take action," said WWF President and CEO Carter Roberts. "The climate crisis threatens the ability of our planet to support its inhabitants. We want the world to know that Americans care about saving the planet and stand united in seeking to find solutions to climate change."

During Earth Hour 2008, more than 50 million people in 400 cities on all seven continents turned off their lights as major icons also went dark, including the Sydney Opera House, the Coliseum in Rome, Stockholm's Royal Castle, the Empire State Building and the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco. Google turned its homepage black for an entire day in tribute.

The City of Toledo is asking all citizens, businesses, and organizations to turn off all non-essential lighting for one hour on March 28, 2009 between 8:30 - 9:30 PM. The City of Toledo also encourages citizens and businesses to commit to actions they can take in the coming year to reduce their carbon footprints and conserve energy.