Past Events

This first Sustainable Community Fair was held at the Cumberland County Library Headquarters in downtown Fayetteville and was a great success.  We partnered with the City of Fayetteville Solide Waste Department, Fayetteville PWC and others (click on the above link) to get the "Green" message to concerned citizens.  We are working on plans for a second Fair to be held in Moore County. 

Sustainable Community Fair | June 22, 2007

Over 500 people attended the Sustainable Community Fair at the Cumberland County Headquarters Library on June 22, 2007.  Visitors learned about backyard composting and vermiculture, discussed the final recommendations of the Fayetteville Recycling Task Force, viewed a variety of green-themed displays from local organizations, and listened to the Ozone River Recyclers (aka The Parsons) perform two hours of recycled “Uptown Hillbilly Swing” music!

Participating organizations at the Sustainable Community Fair included the City of Fayetteville’s Public Works Commission (PWC), the Fayetteville Area Metropolitan Planning Organization (FAMPO), the NC Department of Environment and Natural Resources (NCDENR), the Sandhills Area Land Trust (SALT), the ReStore Warehouse, the Cumberland County Cooperative Extension Service, the Cumberland County Soil and Water Conservation District, Sustainable Fort Bragg (SFB), RAFT Swamp Farms, and several area organic farmers.  

The Sustainable Sandhills Materials Waste Team had a number of donated items at their booth to showcase green materials that can be purchased from local businesses. Items were donated from PetsMart, Home Depot, Staples, Hurst Annaho, Carpet One, LCI and Harris Teeter.  The list of materials is too long to include here, but if you look closely at the included photo, you can see the wide range of consumer products with recycled material content.

“We were really excited to have all of the donated items from local businesses,” said event organizer and Sustainable Sandhills Materials Waste Team Leader Melinda Harrington. “Many of the people visiting our exhibit didn’t know that you could locally purchase so many green items and items made from recycled content.” 

Attendees were also encouraged to participate in the Waste Reduction Challenge. Throughout the fair, Harrington had 14 people pledge to reduce their waste streams as part of a local competition to reduce waste. Participants in the Waste Reduction Challenge work to reduce their waste stream using the Reduce, Reuse, Recycle (RE3) concept. Participants will be recognized for the most drastic reduction in waste and the most creative ways to reduce or reuse waste materials. The competition will end November 1--don't forget to sign up!